Terrible swelling after breaking ankle and leg
Posted , 3 users are following.
I broke both bones in my lower leg, resulting in a lot of skin damage as they broke through the skin. I also managed to fracture my ankle.
I had two surgeries. there is an IMB nail in my bone and my ankle is pinned in places. Hard to know whats been done exactly as I am still waiting to see my surgery notes and was too out of it when they explained it in hospital.
Mainly in hospital they were focused on my horrific skin damage. Now 6 weeks later they are pleased with how my frankenstein looking leg has healed. However i have yet to see an ortho doctor and am
concerned with how swollen my foot is every day and how much my ankle currently hurts. They had me weight bearing from day 4 as couldn't have a cast due to the skin damage and bandages needing to be changed.
Was doing really well with my walking and exercises but now it hurts too much to do them. Feeling like I've taken a massive step back in my progress.
Anyone else suffering bad swelling?
0 likes, 3 replies
loxie katy05923
Posted
Hi Katy. I had a very similar injury some time ago. I too have two plates and multiple bolts (I believe the procedure is called ORIF). I splinter fractured both the tibia and fibula. My bone breaks tented inside the skin rather than pushing through, yours was a compound fracture which does carry a high risk of infection. I am very surprised you were weight bearing so soon as the bones need time to bond and heal. This is totally unrelated to wearing a cast - the bones cannot support weight until such time as they have grown back. The fixation devices are not sufficient to carry the whole body weight alone. Crutches are supplied and I learned to hop very successfully. I was six months non weight bearing. I had a cast put on in the operating theatre but soon after they removed it and fitted a boot which was adjustable as my leg swelled badly too and the cast was restricting blood flow. Even after I was allowed to remove the boot I was still told not to walk too much on the leg. It was a year before I could walk unaided. Swelling is unfortunately common and will continue for a while but over using the leg will cause issues. Rest it more frequently and have it elevated - ie when lying down make sure the ankle is raised above heart height to ease blood flow, this will keep the swelling down somewhat.I had extensive nerve damage, both due to the original injury but also the surgery obviously has to cut into nerves too - basically two injuries at the same time to get over. My scars ran down both sides and looked initially like railway tracks. Both scars (long ones, one each side of the ankle) have faded considerably. My ankle is still misshapen but I consider myself very fortunate in that I didnt break my neck rather than my ankle and although my foot was almost severed internally they saved the foot and I can walk. I have now developed OA in the ankle as the cartilage was destroyed so it's bone on bone but that's a small price to pay for still being alive and still being relatively mobile.
amkoffee katy05923
Posted
Wow! You had quite the ordeal. As loxie stated I am surprised that you were told you could walk on it after only 6 weeks and without a cast no less. I only broke my ankle but it was in three places and I too had to have screws and plates. I was told to stay off of it for 3 months. I came out of surgery with a specialized splint on my foot. After a week or two they change that out to a removable boot. At the end of the three months I did physical therapy and wore the boot when I walked. I also used a walker during that time. after so long of not using of my foot, it lost a lot of muscle tone so I had to work on gaining that back. I think your doctor is doing you a disservice by not sending you to an ortho doctor. I'm even rather surprised that it wasn't an ortho that did the surgery. I would certainly inquiring to see an ortho.
katy05923
Posted
amkoffee and loxie thank you so much for your replies
sorry to hear you both had such bad breaks.
i had two surgeries, one to align the bone, then the second surgery was the big one. the othro surgeons went first doing all the bone and metal work. Then the plastic surgeons did the skin grafts and skin flap repair. I did see both doctors while still in hospital but everyone just seemed concerned about the skin and were quite casual about the bones. The ortho team wanted me up walking straight away but the plastics made me wait 4 days. Then it was physio twice a day whilst in hospital and weight bearing since, they even had me climb a staircase before i was allowed to leave!
its only been this last week that the swelling and ankle pain has happened. My physio assures me its all normal but am keen to get an xray for my own peace of mind, plus am dying to see what they've done inside!
I had been doing really well with all my exercises but now the swelling is holding me back
Currently sitting with it up on pillows but i have a two year old at home so can't do this all day.
I've been told the swelling could last a full year!!!
How are you both coping with the after affects of your injuries on a day to day basis?