Any one have an ankle fracture in the past. Broke mine friday ortho evaluation on monday any advise thoughts would be great thanks

My wife shattered hers a couple years ago. Broke in 11 places and required three pins to repair.

Be patient during the rehab and massage as aggressively as is tolerable. This will prevent the scar tissue from healing onto the bone(s) which will thereby restrict movement and make painful

Broke mine in 1971 on a bad skydiving landing. Hurt like hell for weeks. I was in a cast for a couple of months but the outcome was and is fine.

Just a bump in the road.

Yes.

I shattered my ankle mid December 2017. I slipped on ice while carrying a weighted backpack. Mine ended up being a trimalleolar fracture so I broke 3 bones, my foot was basically just hanging there with no support from the bones. It took me about 36 hours to get to the hospital and I had an emergency surgery to bolt a cage to May leg in order to hold the bones in line while the swelling went down, 3 weeks later I had the ORIF surgery where I got a steel plate and several screws to hold things together.

It was a long recovery for me, 16 weeks no weight bearing in addition to the 3 I had aired to get the surgery, physical therapy was very hard, the docs kept telling me to “focus and just push” but they didn’t realize just how weak my leg was after not walking for 5 months. I couldn’t use my calf muscle at all.

It gradually got better, most days now I forget I was hurt but I spent a lot of time strengthening and stretching it out, I probably won’t be able to run any more but I can still do everything else, I’m back to climbing mountains, hunting, hitting the gym etc.

As was said be patient with rehab. Tossed my crutches for mobility. Threw my leg in an arc for weeks...then needed months of rehab for spinal realignment.

I broke mine about 4 weeks ago on a hiking trip in Northern Scotland. I got to ride the helicopter as a patient. Ankle fractures vary a great deal in their severity/disability and time to rehab. Reading the above posts scare me!
Here is what I can tell you that may help you.
1) Elevation and immobility are your friends, get your ankle above your heart.
2) Take Tylenol/Advil alternating, to get off narcotics as fast as you can. Avoid alcohol, limit your total dosing of Advil for time and amount as recommended.
3) Get a good friend to put handicap rails around your toilet and around and in your shower.
4) Get a knee scooter, they are about $150 but are very much worth it.

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Get a knee scooter, they are about $150 but are very much worth it.

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Your insurance should cover DME ( Durable Medical Equipment). Just make sure it gets prescribed for you.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ZSMICHAEL,

I did a bimalleolar dislocation and fracture to my left ankle in 2011. I have three screws holding the fibula together and a pin holding the ligament back on the bottom of the tibia (on the other side of my ankle). I had a stabilizer screw holding the bottom of the fibula to the tibia to help the screws set, then it was removed two months later.

I didn’t do PT for that injury, but I did a ton of exercises my doc showed me once he gave me the go-ahead to start.

The only time I have problems or pain now is when the barometer either takes a nosedive or shoots for the stars.

It took me 14 months to walk normally without a brace (over-the-counter lace-up style). Started with the boot and crutches, then the boot and one crutch, then the boot with a cane, then the boot with no cane, then the brace with the cane, then just the brace, then the brace only when I knew I was going to be on my feet a lot. I did exercises whenever I was awake and had my foot up - I just took off the boot and did them. My doc was happy with my progress and never prescribed PT, because he never saw the need for it in my case.

My right humerus, however, I did the PT. But I have 7 plates and 13 screws, plus 1 cc of demineralized bone matrix, in there. I broke it from the bottom of the distal humerus (the knob that forms the top of your elbow) up about to mid-shaft, where it exploded into a displaced fracture. Hurt my wrist a bit at the same time and ended up with frozen shoulder from my arm being immobilized. So the PT, all 7 months of 3 visits per week, was totally necessary - and really helpful. I wouldn’t have the range of motion that I achieved without the PT.

I slid late into 3rd base in a church league softball game. Hollywood bases are set on a 1/4" steel plate with a 1" sq tube welded to the plate. That fits into a 1" square socket in the groung. Male/female thing.

Beauty is they do don't shift when you're running bases. Bad news is if you get your heel under the edge it separates your heel from your ankle. Mine was a compound fracture. I did it in May of 1981 and I've remembered it every day since. I've had 5 surgeries and am high functioning considering there was a good chance I would lose my foot.

The stretched tendons caused many problems, especially hammertoes. My little toe was amputated and my three middle toes have had a section cut out of them to shorten, then a V cut in the top. Bend them straight and a 4" ss pin inserted in the end of my toes so they healed straight. Worked great but it took me years to find the doctor that knew how to do it.

If you are on crutches get forearm crutches. Much more mobile than under the arm style.

In May of 04 I shattered my talus in a motorcycle accident. I had surgery a couple of weeks later. Thankfully, the first orthopedic that I saw referred me to one of the best foot/ankle surgeons in the country who happened to be located in Atlanta. I'm 100% convinced that any other surgeon would have done a fusion based on the damage and I'd limp for the rest of my life. I went almost five months after surgery with light PT and no weight bearing. Once I started walking, I was happy to make it to the mailbox and back. For months after my ankle hurt every night from the stress of the day. Gradually it got better and better and now most days other than some limited movement, I don't notice it at all.

Fifteen years out from the injury, I'm in a much better place than I thought I would ever be.

I work in the pedorthic department of a shoe store. We see a lot of broken ankles. My suggestion is if you end up in a boot (they usually have a really thick sole/base, get a shoe to wear that has a sole about the same thickness as it will help keep your back & hips from being thrown off balance. A shoe that generally works well is the brand called Hoka One One. I suggest the Bondi or Clifton models.

Thanks To all Who Replied Good News Not So Bad Only A Avulsion Fx adjacent To Calcaneus Boot For 4 Weeks And Reevaluate Then

Be very happy its not a Pilon Fracture. I've worked on so many I've lost count. Glad yours is minor, although not glad you fractured it in the first place.

Heal well, friend.

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Originally posted by well1147:
Thanks To all Who Replied Good News Not So Bad Only A Avulsion Fx adjacent To Calcaneus Boot For 4 Weeks And Reevaluate Then

Oh, good. I'm glad it was the easiest fracture to manage. That was the fracture on the inside of my ankle, where they put a pin. That has never caused any trouble at all.

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Originally posted by well1147:
Any one have an ankle fracture in the past. Broke mine friday ortho evaluation on monday any advise thoughts would be great thanks

hope all goes well--

my wife recently broke her wrist so we have been going through the surgery / PT thing

make sure you see a foot / ankle specialist

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