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Walking in a boot post-op 4 weeks after trimalleolar ankle break

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Kara0514
Kara0514

Hello. I broke my ankle 6 weeks ago. It was a trimalleolar ankle break. They operated 2 weeks later. I have a plate and 6 screws. I went to the doctor last week. I was in a partial cast. He ended up putting me in a walking boot and said I need to start weight bearing on my ankle. I can put about 25% weight on my ankle with crutches.I am worried if I push it too far I will end up breaking it again. I have no pain when weight bearing just an annoying stiffness in my leg. I am 30 years old. I know it takes 6 weeks for a bone to heal. Any advice? I have a 1 year old, so I am trying to recover quickly but I worried I was put in a walking boot too soon..

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2 Replies

  • rose71920
    rose71920 Kara0514

    Posted

    Hi Kara, 

    My doctor had me step right down on my ankle. He saw I was going slow to do it and told me not to be scared. I did it and it was fine. I mean hurt like no tomorrow.  I walked for a bit and when it started to hurt badly again (with in a about 10 mins) I used my aids. 

    He wasn't mad at the fact I was using them, but certainly didn't want to see my scooter anymore! LOL  

    Just keep using it every day. You won't break it.  We all have that fear we will but in  a cast and now a walking boot  you should be fine to give it a try with out hurting yourself to badly. 

    Good luck to you!

    Rose

  • kpower
    kpower Kara0514

    Posted

    Kara,

    It's normal to be apprehensive about putting weight back on a broken ankle, so you are not alone.

    But if your practitioner wants you to start weight bearing he or she has looked at the x-rays and other info and knows your fractures are healed enough to take it. So unless you do something crazy like vigorous jumping jacks you aren't going to re-break your ankle.

    Estimating 25% weight on an ankle is not an exact science, and your doctor doesn't expect you to hit that on the nose. Just go easy and err on less rather than more weight. The key thing is to get some weight on that bone tissue to speed up complete healing.

    If you are unsteady on crutches you might consider a walker (frame) for stability and to fine-tune weight bearing.

    Good luck.

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