Hi Tony.

I have had the same problem with my surgeon. I broke my ankle on 20/1 when I fell thru our deck (a plank snapped). I have a broken tibia and fibia,have 1 plate and no idea how many screws, think just a couple. I wasn't in as much pain as you but this week I have been feeling much better. Doesn't feel so much that there is a piece of metal sticking in my foot!
I have xrays on 3/3 and will then find out about the next stage, am desperate to drive as am feeling v isolated. Only thing I was told was that it would be 12 months before it would feel right.
Hope you feel better soon.

Thanks for replying crumbiecrusader.
Like you say, I guess I'm feeling isolated. It,s nice to hear from somebody who's going through the same type of experience.
I can tell you that some of the worst pain has passed and I've been able to cut back on the drugs a bit. It's still a race to get my foot raised if I have to get up though. I go back to the surgeon on Mar 5/09 to have the temp cast removed and a regular cast put on. I am curious to see what they did to my leg, it's starting to get itchy every once in a while. I've been told by my family doctor that I'll be in a cast for at least 8 weeks.
I'm a little concerned about long term effects because I'm a cabinetmaker and on my feet most of the day. Will I still be able to stand most of the time?, or should I start looking at a change in duties to programming or something?
Anyways, thanks again for replying and I'll be sure to post again after I see the surgeon and hopefully get some answers.

Hi

I was quite shocked when I saw my foot, it was really swollen, black and blue with 2 v unattractive scars. BUT....... 2 weeks down the line, it looks so much better. Scars are healing, sweling is right down , so is bruising. it is feeling a whole lot better too.
Good luck.

Hey

I saw my foot today! It sure was ugly. I ended up down at the hospital because my temp surgery cast was pinching a section on the bridge of my foot, very painful. They took the cast off and wow was it a surprise, just full of dried, crumbly blood, kind of felt like sand. It felt very, very good to let the air get at it while they X-rayed it and cleaned it up. Three nasty looking cuts full of staples and lots of blue.
It's kind of funny, while it's nice and safe in a cast you just want to move your ankle to work out the stiffness and yet when I was there without the cast on for a while I was scared to move it at all.
I still have to see the surgeon this Tuesday to get the staples taken out and I'm looking forward to hearing what he has to say about how it's healing and how long I'll have to keep the weight off of it.

Hello All,
I am so happy to have found the site. I feel like no one really understands what I am going through. I slipped on some black ice getting into my car at the end of a "first date" this past Saturday night. I fell straight back, didn't even break my fall. I sat up and tried to recover my dignity then I saw my foot laying to the side while my knee was still pointed up. I didn't feel any pain at first, in extreme shock the doctor explained. My date heard me fall and came to my rescue. He picked me up and he nearly slipped with me in his arms. I jerked my leg up to avoid further injury and then I passed out. Next thing I know he somehow got me into the back seat of the car and drove me to the nearest ER. I woke up in extreme pain so much that I could barely concentrate to hear what they were asking me at the EM checking. My foot (ankle) was dislocated and broken in 3 places. They sedated me and performed the reduction to line the bones back up best they could (the first part of putting humpty dumpty back together). Then they put me in a soft cast and took more x-rays. They didn't have an orthopedic doctor that could operate so they sent me home with orders to see a orthopedic doctor as soon as I could get an appointment. So two days later I did and I will have surgery on Monday, March 9th. I am worried, and a little scared. I mom is flying in today to stay with me for a few days. I didn't want her to come but I needed the help. Hang in there everyone, I am going to try and do the same!

Hello,

Sounds like a bad break, I,m thinking most of the members on this forum are from the U.K.? I'm from Canada(Calgary) and I think our doctors do things differently than yours. I broke my ankle on Feb 13, went to the hospital and stayed there for three days until after the surgery was completed. I can't imagine going home while everything was still flopping around or loose, I hope you have some good painkillers. They were giving me lots of morphine in the hospital before and after the operation and I went home with percocet. The surgeon told me last Tuesday he might let me put weight on it starting in mid April.

Krisitie,

You will need lots of help in the first couple weeks so I'm glad your Mom is coming to look after you.

Hi TonyL,

I broke mine a year ago this month. It was not as bad as yours by the sound I only have one plate and 9 pins in the tibia but I broke right down into the joint. I still have pain in it the odd days and discomfort most days. If I sit for any length of time I limp when I get up and it always takes a while for it to warm up in the morning. It is badly affected by damp weather which doesn’t help living in Ireland.

I was out of work for 4-5 months and on crutches for another month after that. All I can say is that recovery is very slow and the better job they do on it the slower the recovery will be. My break is apparently healing very well but it is much weaker and will remain so compared to what it was like before the break. The only real problem I have now is that the screws are starting to rub a bit and making it a bit tender.

It is not all bad news though as I am back horse riding and was riding for 3-3.5 hours straight the other day with no real effects.

Peter

Hello Peter,

I sincerely hope my recovery doesn't take upwards of 4 or 5 months. My breaks are in the joint like yours are, the doctors called it an intra-articular(inside the joint) distal tib-fib + y45, whatever that all means. Three bones in all were broken.

Can you tell me how long it was before you could stand all day? I'm a little worried about how long it will be before I can effectively go back to work.

You also said that you have some screws rubbing, is this making your skin tender on the outside, or is it an inside pain? I already have a sharp kind of bump on my ankle, maybe it's the bottom of a plate or the head of a screw, I wonder if that's going to be a problem as well with the skin getting rubbed raw.

This whole thing is just bad, worse than I thought it would be. Good thing I'm a fast healer with a positive attitude most of the time.

Tony

Hi Tony,

I cant remember what they called it. I only broke my tibia but I broke my ankle bone off had 3 other large chips that had to be screwed back together and finally split my tibia up the center. My break was an impact break so it may be slightly worse than yours. I also bruised the bone badly and the surgery weakened it further. They thought it would take half an hour to fix but it took two and a half hours in the end. The problem with my recovery was that as I was told not to put weight on it for so long the bone starts to loose density. Therefore it takes longer to heal as you have to heal the break and build the bone back up but this can only be done once full weight bearing begins.

I would say I couldn't stand all day for at least 6 months. Having said that I didn't try as half of my day is in an office with the other half on building sites.

The rubbing really depends on what shoes I wear now. But in the early days it would get sore from rubbing in the cast and then rubbing on the bed sheets. This doesn't seem to bother me anymore its is just the foot wear now.

Don't worry though, there are ways around things if you cant stand. I would get a stool and stand on my good leg and kneel on the stool so as I could stand at a counter. The most important thing is to do your physio religiously. The more you do the quicker you will heal.

Hope this is of some help.

Peter

Hello Peter, or anyone else who wants to join in.

I guess my break is worse than I was led to believe. I saw the surgeon who did my operation yesterday and was very surprised when he told me that everything looks good and it would be another 6-8 weeks of absolutely no weight on it...
I couldn't believe it, he had previously told me that maybe mid-April I could start putting weight on it. Do you think maybe it was a better x-ray this time or what? He explained by saying that it is a very bad break in a bad place and if I put weight on it, it will fall apart. There are apparently a lot of chunks in there that couldn't be fastened together, even with 3 plates and 16 screws.
It's starting to look like I'm going to be off my foot for at least 3 months, maybe 4 months, and then have to go thru rehab. Is this sounding like your scenario Peter? You said you missed 4-5 months of work, was this all non-weight bearing time? or a combination of physio-therapy as well?
Has anyone else out there had to stay off their foot for a similiar amount of time? Also, I wonder if I'll need a walking stick after all this?

hi guys! i just found this site last night as i guess we all surf the net when we are in dire straits! i broke my ankle in a fall from my horse last thursday (26/3/09) and went to A & E in portsmouth where they tried to re set it manually (aaagh and ouch) but then after re x raying it discovered that i needed to have an operation to put in a plate and 6 screws to bring it all back together again (as someone said above - humpty dumpty). It was very painful after the op and for the following 2 days but the pain has gone down now and i am only taking co codemol at night and anti inflams during the day. They have told me 2 1/2 weeks till stitches out and then full but lighter cast to go on. no weight bearing for 6 weeks in total.
Of course my big worry is when can i get back on a horse and be well enough to compete (I'm an eventer). the surgeon told me within a month after the plaster comes off, after some physio. Hope this is realistic. My trainer has a friend who was back riding 9 - 10 weeks after the operation (pretty much same thing).
I am going to a clinic in brighton tomorrow where they have specialist machines to speed up the healing process - laser and light i understand. Has anyone else tried this? Apparently there are 3 in the country. Thought it worth a go. I'll let you know how we go tomorrow.
It feels much better elevated which it is pretty much all the time. When i use my crutches to get something or go out to the yard to explain things it feels very tight and uncomfortable and my toes go a kind of purple!
Am just through my first week since the accident and am counting the seconds till i can ride again. Trying so hard to be patient and good. Hope someone can give me some encouragement!! aaagh!!!

Sarahlou.

Hi,

I was not allowed to put any weight on it for 4 months but went for physo once the cast was taken off. Then over the next month i went to physo to start weight bearing exercises. These started with putting my toe on the ground when walking with two crutches. Over the next few weeks i was allowed to put more weight through my foot. After about 4 to 6 weeks i could put all my weight through it and then went on to one crutch. I was only allowed to drive at this stage with extreme care as if i had to stand on the brakes i would not have enough strength in my ankle to do it.

Sarahlou your break sounds relatively clean. I was told that if they leave a small gap in the break it will heal in about 6 weeks and will be stronger than before the break. I was also told that i was not allowed to go riding for at least 1 year but i went back after about 8 months just hack and no trotting. It is a year now and i am only back cantering but i am not allowed to jump until after i see the surgeon next month. Now all i have to do is to get my horse to behave himself as it is a long way down from 17 hands.

Peter

oh dear peteri that sounds horrendous. poor you. Thats a long time to wait - who rides your horse in the meantime? where are you based?
my horsey had the chiropractor out today who said that his bronco style bucking is probably caused by back pain and he treated his lumbar sacral region which was locked, so iam hoping that his behaviour will be good enough for me to get back on him when i am fit enough. he is only 4 yrs old and 16.2hh. my other horse is 16.3 and not naughty at all so i hope that i can get back on him sooner.
Did you have good physio? good surgeon? its all such a lottery.
I had treatment at this guy in brighton today which speeds up the healing process with laser machines and short wave machine. people apparently show great results from this so i am going with that.
how is the pain now when you ride? can you put your heel down?I'm going to try visualising riding untill i get cast off cos power of the mind is so great isnt it...
take care. Sarahlou.

Hello Peter

Did you have any problems with muscle cramps(calf) in your good leg?
The calf muscle on my good leg has been knotted up for three days, it kind of feels like a charlie horse, its hard and sensitive to touch. I've tried painkillers and muscle relaxants but niether seems to help. It's making it very uncomfortable to get around. Any suggestions?...

Thanks, Tony

Hi Tony,

The simple answer is no. I had very little pain in my dad leg and no pain in my good leg. The worst pain was pressure soars from the cast but these went after a few weeks when the full cast was put on. The best advice I can give is to get someone to give it a good hard massage. It will hurt when they do it but it will feal better after. Also keep stretching it out.

Peter

Hi Peter,

Thank's for the tips, the cramps passed after a while and everything is normal as it can be for now. I go back for more X-rays on April 28, hopefully I'll get the OK to start putting weight on it but I'm not really optomistic about it. Actually I'm kind of resigned to the fact that it could be another month or more. My ankle actually aches more now than it used to, I guess that's just from lack of movement etc.?? Starting to think about rehab and how painful that's going to be.

Tony

Hi Tony,

Just to let you know that I have to back in on Tuesday the 22nd to have the metal work removed. I will let you know the details on recovery when they tell me. All I know is that there is no contact sports for 3 months but I don't know what the short term recovery is, i.e. how long I will be out of work.

Peter

Hello Peter,

Good luck with your hardware removal. I was at my doctor's yesterday and he says my x-rays continue to look good, all the screws are intact etc., I started to put wheight on it about 3 weeks ago and can continue to increase the amount within comfort levels. He hinted that I may be able to start physiotherapy in 3 weeks depending on how the wheight-bearing goes. I have one very sore spot where the bottom of the plate on my tibia is rubbing inside the walking cast, if it continues to bother I wonder if I'll have to get my metal removed as well? The doctor has told me that the metal will stay unless there are problems.

Again, Good Luck.

Tony

Hi Tony,

Had the pins out on the 19th and was walking, using crutches, with in 3 hours of the op. I was operated on at 2:00 and was on my way home at 5. It got quite sore 2 days after the op but by the end of the week I was only using one crutch at home and with in 10 days i dumped them when i was in the house though i was told to use them for 3 weeks. No problems now an even ran a bit today while walking the dogs. In fact I would say I have more movement with the pins out and the rain doesn't make it sore anymore.

Best of luck with the physio and keep me posted.

Peter

Sarahlou,

Sorry but I only saw your post now. I have no problems riding and can put my heal down. When I started back riding my ankle would seize up if I went on a gentle hack so I would trot for a while to stretch it out. The horse was a school horse but since then I got my own a 17h, 5 year old gelding. He is a gentle giant. I had a great surgeon and as you can see from the post above I got most of the pins out a few weeks ago. The Physo told me not to come back any more, so I can start back riding this week for the second time, though my guy is a bit fresh so I will have to lunge him a lot and get him ridden before I get back up on him just to be on ht safe side. Don't want to fall off again and all that.

By the way I am based in Westmeath in Ireland.

Peter

Hello Peter,

Well, I have been full weight bearing and going to physio for about 3 weeks now. It sure is taking longer than I thought it would. The therapist was a little aggresive at first and caused pain and a lot of swelling, she's doing acupuncture on it now and it seems to be a better approach. It's more of a proccess than an event. I guess I thought the normal walking would come faster than it has. I'll just have to be a little more patient I guess, it's already been 4 1/2 months, what's a couple more weeks eh? The doctor gave me a prescription for Celebrex which is an arthritis medicine for pain and swelling and it seems to work very well. I can just now walk without my walking stick, although I'm still limping.

I'm wondering how long it was before your ankle stopped swelling during the day? My doctor said it would be up to a year before all is back to normal. I just want to be able to put a running shoe on my foot.

I'm still not back at work yet, my therapist figures maybe 3 more weeks before I can comfortably handle the extra weight from doing my job. You know at first I thought your 4 to 5 months seemed like a long time for recovery but here I am with the end just now in sight.

Tony

Hi Tony,

I cant remember how long my ankle was swollen for however it was a long time, in fact there was a still a small bit of swelling before my last op 14 months on. I was told to put it in a basin of hot water then cold water and back to the hot again and so on several times a day. Now that you are back walking and using your calf muscle it will help with the swelling. I didn't any real pain at this stage unless i twisted it or went over on it. As for the limping if i sat down for 30 minutes my ankle would seize up and i would limp when i started to walk again. However it would ease up in a matter of steps. This has only eased up since the pins came out.

I couldn't really wear trainers as they were two flat and i would limp as my ankle doesn't have full movement. I have only got back into them this week now that the swelling from the second op has gone down.

Hang on in there as you are nearing the end and you will see big changes over the next few weeks. Just remember to do your exercises. If you stick to the program you will get better quickly strengthen your ankle and be less lightly go injure it again.

Peter

Hi there, I have been reading all these forums and go from encouraged to discouraged the more I read. I am a newbie. Broke my fib and tib 29th june, plate and screws inserted 5th July, Plaster from below knee to toes. Told it is weight bearing!( no way Jose)
Please tell me how long I must have this excrutiating feeling when the blood rushes to my foot when I stand up, also the pins and needles and numbness of the toes etc. Is this all normal.

Hello,

The feeling like your foot is going to pop or blow up lasted about 3 or 4 weeks for me. After that it still hurts after a while but its not a race to sit down and get your foot up. As far as the numbness goes thats hard to say. On my foot there is a lot of nerve damage, numb areas on the sides of my foot and toes etc. which I'm told may or may not get feeling back. I'm still numb and waiting for the nerves to heal after 5 months. I think everyone is different in this regard depending on how bad the break was, how the operation went and how the injury happened etc.

Hi Tony,
Thank you for your feedback, Had the stitches out on Tuesday and put into a walking boot, but only allowed to do PWB, which is really no more than a slight glance of foot to floor. Have been told not to go back for 6 weeks and no mention of Physio till then..shouldn't I be trying to move my ankle..I am so worried that it will get stuck at this angle.. Thank you again..Mandi

Hi Tony,
Thank you for your feedback, Had the stitches out on Tuesday and put into a walking boot, but only allowed to do PWB, which is really no more than a slight glance of foot to floor. Have been told not to go back for 6 weeks and no mention of Physio till then..shouldn't I be trying to move my ankle..I am so worried that it will get stuck at this angle.. Thank you again..Mandi

Hi people,
hope someone can give me some advice! I broke my ankle playin football 6 weeks ago yesterday, quite a bad brake as the fibula was broke clean through, the tibia had a slight hairline fracture about a quarter of the way through and the talus had shifted from its original position. I was told I had to stay in hospital and had an operation on my ankle the next day, I had 7 screws and a plate inserted. I was then put in plaster, I had my plaster removed after 5 weeks and 5 days which was only 2 days ago! I am starting to worry because the doctor said it had healed well, due to my youth (I'm 19) and told me to put my full weight on it, which I can do albeit with a little discomfort. My ankle is still swollen and my foot turns a very dark red/purple colour when upright and walking. Is it right that it is swollen all the time or is there something wrong?? I am very concerned at the moment and would really appreciate some advice from people who hav experienced something similar, thankyou.
Paul

Hi Paul,

It sounds like you've done a similar thing to me. (i'm 22) I broke my left fib whilst turning playing 5-a-side back in March. I'm plated with 5 pins and was in a cast for 5 weeks, then partial weight bearing for another six. It wasn't until early June that i could put full weight through it and start driving.
Everybodys different but for the first few weeks out of cast, mine would swell pretty badly whenever i was stood up - even looking like the wound would split! This soon went down when elevated and also reduces in the amount it swells after time. Ice it when possible and do the excercises.
It's now about 4 months since and I can now walk pretty much normally, and have near full range of movement back. The ankle is still weaker than the other but not massively. It is important you do the exercises the physio recommends, otherwise you find it'll remain hard and stiff.
I hope to get my first round of golf in this week, though i have been down the range a few times to make sure it's ok. Although not running yet, i am cycling and cross training to get back some fitness.
Don't hurry back if you don't need to. As tempting as it is, at 19 it's best to make sure it's fully healed with an extra couple of months off it, rather than rush and be paying the price for years to come!

Hi everyone
I am four months post break of tib, fib and tallus right across the joint (nasty but no surgery as no displacement due to swift airlift). I was in plaster for two months and told to get the ankle moving as soon as I could. Easier said than done! Just to give some encouragement to others I am walking normally except first thing in the morning for a little while. I cycled miles yesterday, walked miles today and in the gym doing all my exercises as often as I can to get this pesky ankle back to as normal as possible. Physio has been invaluable and the advice of a physical trainer. I work full time and a busy grandmother so it's been difficult sometimes to fit everything in but determined to get back to running. I had some very down days and sometimes could never imagine getting to this point. The best moment was carrying a cup of tea into another room so now the rest is a bonus!!
Best of luck to everyone
Liz

Its now 2 weeks and a day since I got my cast off and I am walking unaided. My ankle is still stiff and swollen however it has improved alot in the 2 weeks so far. I havent had any physio, the doctor said he didn't think that I would need it. Just an update!! :) thanks for the reply.

If anybody has any exercises that can help to speed up the process of getting my leg and ankle back to normal I would really appreciate reading them, thank you!