Hi All
My previous message was written to encourage people bc I was starting to walk with little pain after 6 weeks of NWB. It took 2 weeks n PT but I was sure I was on the mend. Well.... I followed up with a different Dr because I am now living in another state and this Dr says my fraction is not healed and he no longer wants me to go to PT. He is OK with me walking with a brace and would have had me walking from the beginning. I am confused bc I thought the PT was helping but he implied it was interfering with my healing. The first dr had told me I wasn't completely healed but sent me to PT. Two different opinions and the fact that 9 weeks out I still have a fracture on my fibula. Think I need a 3rd dr. Why haven't I healed??
Took specialists 4 months to discover I had a non union. I too thought I was healing. Bone graft 4 me. Nearly 8 months later not fully weight baring yet.
*Ask questions
*Demand answers
* fractured or snapped?
Get another opinion.
Ah life b4 the break! @(*+*)@
This must be so frustrating! Maybe it was good you moved and got the new doctor who noticed this! I guess if it's still broken, it's best you don't manipulate it through PT perhaps? Only guessing here. My doc didn't let me walk on my leg until he checked the X-rays that showed I was fully healed, so it's interesting he has you walking on it.
I'm not sure if I missed the discussion but were you in plaster or a surgical boot and do you have any plates and screws. I didn't start weight bearing for small periods of Time until after three months. If you still have a fracture nine weeks on, what is supporting it. Sorry, but I am a little confused
Many years ago I had a complete fracture of the right tibia and double stress fracture of the fibula sustained whilst playing football (soccer to you guys!). The tibia was internally pinned with no cast. After several weeks I was given the go ahead to start PWB. I soon noticed that in certain situations ( i.e. Standing at the sink cleaning my teeth!) I could feel and hear a clicking in my leg. On my next visit to Outpatients I mentioned this to the duty doctor, who said that I was probably overdoing it and should go back to NWB for a couple of weeks and then start again. He said he was happy with my recovery so far and sent me on my way. The nurse who was attending me could see that I was upset with this and went out of her way to contact my Consultant for a second opinion. He took one look at my X-Ray's and informed me that it was obvious to him that for whatever reason the bone wasn't naturally knitting back together, so within a day or so I was back under the knife having a bone graft from my right hip. This time I was in a cast for several weeks. The graft was a success and I've had no problems for the last 25 years, although I never played competitive football again!!
The conclusion to my story...... Get that 3rd opinion. Don't always take their word as gospel if you aren't happy. You know your own body.
Good luck with your recovery 😊
Great advice. Trust your gut. Demand copy of xrays. I always take a snap of Specialists computer with xray on screen. I insist on truth now. Don't be scared to ask. Your leg! Good luck. We're all here for support. :+)
Does anyone have any advice or recommendations on how to wake up once foot in the morning. I am now 17 weeks post surgery and can walk for about 10 minutes without my crutch. I still sleep With my foot slightly elevated so it's not swollen in the morning, but it is very stiff. I find I have to keep rotating it and then I soak it in hot and cold water and do my exercises. Can anybody give advice as to when one wakes up in the foot feels just like I foot
Does anyone have any advice or recommendations on how to wake up ones foot in the morning. I am now 17 weeks post surgery and can walk for about 10 minutes without my crutch. I still sleep With my foot slightly elevated so it's not swollen in the morning, but it is very stiff. I find I have to keep rotating it and then I soak it in hot and cold water and do my exercises. Can anybody give advice as to to when I can hope to wake up wirh a foot that feels just like I foot
After 31 weeks, half of that post surgery, I have the luxury of little swelling- mostly now from 5pm to bedtime. And for 8 weeks I have been able to sleep in the recovery position either left or right side. A pillow can help here. Yeh. No stuck on back. I can have my legs on top of each other- so fairly normal.
I take it easy when I get out of bed. Always worried it will snap again if I don't! It gets easier but setbacks occur if I over do it.
Morning is my easiest time. A few slow laps of house with my Walker, then I try to walk a bit smoother heal toe fashion. Then I sit down and elevate it. Rinse and repeat. Little and not lots. Pain dictates.
Wish I had a magic spell for us. Keep sharing and we'll help each other.
Aside for the physical damage, its easy for others to lose sight of the extreme mental damage we go through. ©{°∆°}©
Hi Roach. My Dr. told me that you can only see bone fusion on an x-ray from between 8 and 12 weeks after surgery. I know there are other methods that are used to try help with bone fusion, so I would ask the Dr. about it if I was you. Hope you recover soon .
I was told I didn't need surgery. Was given a choice of cast, boot or air brace. I was NWB for 5 1/2 weeks. I choose the air cast bc I knew I would be careful. Dr said people choose the cast or boot if they didn't trust themselves to be careful.
When I first started to walk I had pain but was told it was the ligaments stiff from not moving. After 3 weeks of PT I was walking w/o pain just stiffness. That is why I am so confused. Will definitely go for 3 opinion.
I was wondering yesterday, how long one needs to sleep with their injured foot in the air on pillows. I am 3 months out from injury and surgery trimal ORIF and still need to sleep with it up in the air. I see from Tituscanby1 that it may have been almost 8 months in his/her situation. What is everyone else's experience with this? Thank you as always for all of your comments and help!
Hi. I think the general rule is that you need to keep your foot elevated if you need to reduce swelling. I spent the first 10 weeks with my foot in the air most of the time. It seems to have worked as my foot does not swell now
I'm in week 12 and it still hurts if I try to sleep without a few pillows under it.- so it must still swell in my sleep, even though the foot doesn't look too swollen now, only the bad ankle still looks bigger and less defined that the other still. Not sure when they will look similar again, but I am curious how long it all takes for that too. Boy, it will it be great to sleep permanently on my side again some day. We have been though a lot. Sometimes, I think we just have to give ourselves a hand for making it this far already 
Hi Patti, it is now 12 weeks since I broke my ankle and 10 weeks since orif, and I also sleep with my foot elevated, I still have some swelling around my ankle and foot during the day, so sleeping with the foot slightly elevated definitely helps. I don't have much pain anymore, but my scars from the surgery are still slightly tender. I sometimes look at my ankles and wonder if they will ever look the same again. But as you say we have come a long way already.
Hello Pattie and Daphne. I was concerned about the appearance of my inside and lateral ankle as i broke the bottom of tibia and fibula and am full of pins and screws. My Consultant told me that once the swelling had gone between 6months to a year, my ankles would always look different and larger than my other foot
Hello Pattie and Daphne. I was concerned about the appearance of my inside and lateral ankle as i broke the bottom of tibia and fibula and am full of pins and screws. My Consultant told me that once the swelling had gone between 6months to a year, my ankles would always look different and larger than my other foot
Hi Daphne- Please remind me. Have you started PT exercises? I had no real pain last month until I started the exercises. I think they are the necessary culprit of my current pain or maybe it's the trying to put weight on my injured foot without the boot on. I'm trying to slowly strrenghen it. That's fantastic if you can do them and don't have pain later in the day! Yay!! I feel good when I'm doing the exercises and then later in the day I seem to have to pay my dues. I probably overdo the exercises though, because I'm trying to speed things ahead a bit too much at times I think. I haven't had any tenderness on my incision (4" long) for several months now, but I massaged it a lot through the healing process and put fresh aloe vera on it for a whole month. I thnik it helped. Maybe that would help you.
A C.T scan revealed my non union very clearly. Maybe you could ask for one?
Hi Patti, I never had a boot, went from a cast ( back slab ) to ok walk 6 weeks after surgery and nwb. I have been to physio twice, first time more an evaluation and given a page with exercises to do twice a day. I start my morning by massaging from my toes all the way around up to my knee with bio oil concentrating on the scars, and massage with more pressure under my foot and heel. This seems to help with the circulation. The I do my exercises. I start with moving my toes up and down as fast as possible about 50 times then I stretch them open and hold for 20 counts, do 20 of these . Sitting on a chair take a clot put it on the floor, keeping your foot flat scrunch the cloth up towards you, do as many as you can, I found this difficult but it gets easier and now I put the cloth on a carpet to make it more difficult. Take your foot point you toes down and stretch them doing towards the floor, hold for 20 counts, do 20 of them. Sit on a chair take a rubber exercise band around the foot. Push against the rubber band pointing the toes towards the floor. Slowly return to starting position. Do 20. Sit on a chair put the rubber band around the side of your foot. Turn your foot upwards and outwards against the band. Do 20. Do the same by turning the foot upwards and onwards against the band. Do 20. Then sit with the injured leg straight out in front of you. Put the band around your foot. Gently pull the band and feel the stretch in your calf muscle, hold for 20 counts. Do 20 of these. Stand in a walking position with the leg to be stretched behind you. The other leg in front of you with the knee bent. Lean your body forward and down until you feel a stretching in the calf of the back leg. Do this holding onto something stable and do as many as you can. Stand, holding onto a table or chain for support. Push up onto your toes then slowly relax. Do as many as you can. The last two exercises I do in my running shoes as it hurts a little if I don't have them on, but I will do it without shoes as I feel more comfortable. If you can't do the repeat times I gave you do as many as you can and work up from there. I am doing a bit more each day. Hope this helps. X