Right ORIF ankle fracture

You don't say what all he broke. I had a trimalleolar fracture not quite a year ago and I was not allowed to bear any weight until 6 weeks after surgery and that was weight bearing as tolerable with a boot and down to using 1 crutch. I wasn't released to just 'walk' as usual until 12 weeks and still said to use a cane. Now I am in my 60's but if you and your son are not comfortable call the doc and explain your comcerns. If not satisfied I would get a second opinion. Hope he gets better.

I am about a month behind your son. It's an uphill battle from what I hear.  I will be following you to see how he makes out.

Hi hun; I broke my ankle in 3places on the 2dec; I was in cast till 18 of Jan2017 but had x ray to check first and was given a brakes/splint type thing to wear when walking which is still hard due to able still sore and swollen....I said physio tomorrow I've also tried exercising in the bath to get movement back xxx

Hello. It sounds like I had the same surgery as your son and when my cast was taken off I was able to start weight bearing straight away too. Which I did. And also I organised my own physio. But I had my cast taken off and was then put into a moon boot so I still had support.

Is your son taking any pain killers? I didn't really have any pain but I did ache a lot. So I kept taking paracetamol and diclofenac for quite a while once I started weight bearing.

Plus the swelling and redness is quite normal. Mine looked really purpley red for a while after. Still swells now too. Some days are definitely better than others.

I thought that once I had the cast off and was weight bearing and in a moon boot life would be great. But I cried a lot during that stage. At one point I thought that I might actually have a bit of depression. But it passed.

So sorry to hear this. It is early days and it is understandable to worry at every pain and lump. You didn't say where his fracture is. I broke my ankle inside and out and had ORIF surgery and was in a boot for a long time. I needed crutches for months. I needed the guidance of a physiotherapist to give me the daily exercises as it really does take a while to get all the damaged attendant tissues out of the inflammatory stage and back to healing. In fact my foot needed the boost of a guided steroid procedure to break the inflammatory cycle. The whole process needs a lot of patience. Have you been advice to follow RICE protocols

REST

ICE

COMPRESS

ELEVATE

I think the boot and crutches and Physio and RICE will be needed for a while

Do get as much professional advice as you can and don't let them fob you off

It is a scary time

I am now one year post operation and only just beginning to feel reasonably normal

Your son is younger and will recover more quickly

Good luck with it all

He is 19 yrs old. We have had a trip to a+e as he was in soo much pain he couldnt sleep and nothing was helping. Since then they have xrayed which all looks ok. Been to physio but he did look up things he could do to help before we went. he is managing a few steps without crutches but struggles as his ankle movement is very restricted, and doing his excercises causes unbearable pain some nights.. I think we have come to realise its gunna b long time with ok,good and bad days.. Pain and swelling too... Thanks again and hope you all recover quickly. :-)