Great news Pix!! Do you wear your normal size regular shoes or one half size up? Do you wear an ankle brace or tight sock? Can you walk barefooted yet? I find that hard to do very well still. I am trying to strengthen my foot and leg this week to be able to do that better. I can practically run/walk in the boot, but barefoot walking seems like a different skill
Thank you Cynthia for your kind words 🙂
I think we all second Cynthia on this one
Hi Leeah, I'm Susan, also from the US, I'm 59. don't have the answers you need now but I will update you as I make headway on my injury since I am about 8 weeks ahead of you. I broke my fibula and had to have it surgically reattached with a screw, and my surgeon was able to forgo the plates, which was a lucky break for me.
Right now, Just concentrate on elevating your leg and eating well. I read somewhere that eating beets helps with bone growth, so does 500mg of Vitamin C.
Don't take NSAIDS because they can reduce the rate of bone growth and the tensile strength of your healed bone. I used ALeve twice when I had nerve pain while the incision was healing. I was scolded for using it but all I had to take at the time was Tylenol which I am sure you already know is a joke. I elevated and ate beets and Vitamin C and my surgeon proclaimed that my bone healing was great at 4 weeks and put me into a boot with orders to start putting weight on it. I am now In a splint at 8 weeks and am on one crutch some of the time but still use my scooter for longer distances (Ilive in a condo and I would be a recluse without it!)
Use your pain meds as you need them, and try to save some for rehab. DOnt fall for that "stay ahead of the pain" BS. Take them when it hurts in the lowest dose that will get rid of the pain, that way they will last longer. I'm sure you have narcotics but they are stingy with them in the US now because so many people have become drug addicts and have died from their abuse. GOne are the days when you will be on Oxy for 3-6 months for something like this. I was really mad about this when I needed them and could not get more. Just prepare yourself ahead for your surgeon to tell you that you don't need any more, if you are having pain it's probably nerve pain from tissue damage. If you run out of "the good stuff" you can probably get a less potent opioid like tramadol. My surgeon used it as a step down pain med and when it ran out my primary care doctor was willing to give me a prescription. No one will want to give you Norco, Percocet, OxyContin, or any of the narcotic opioids that are documented with high abuse and death rates. Tramadol does not work as well but it's been a good bridge for me. If you can save some pain meds, do so for the start of your rehab. I find that if I take 1 tramadol I can get more home PT done and from what I have read that is the key to a faster and complete outcome. I never, ever consume alcohol with them. If they are not potent enough while you are early in your recovery, try marijuana if you can get it in your state, it really works for pain relief and it will helped reduce narcotic use.
Get a knee scooter if you can. I ordered one off of amazon and had it in 3 days. It has allowed me to walk my dog and socialize with my dog friends. It makes it easier to get out and about and stand upright even if you have to limit the time you do it. It's well worth the money. Really.
Figure out where you can go to get into a pool and jacuzzi once your incision heals. I have made more progress towards walking since I started doing this. 20 minutes jacuzzi soak to warm up ligaments and muscles, 20 minutes walking - yes walking! - in about 4-5 feet of water, more jacuzzis then elevate.
Don't let anyone (especially people who know nothing about broken ankles) get in your head about how fast you should be healing, No one gets it or will ever understand unless they go through this. Co-workers are the worst. You are not milking this, you are making sure that your ankle, and your future quality of life, are your top priority. RIght now, you are getting sympathy but that wears thin after a while and you will feel like people are judging you, and that you should or could be doing more to bounce back. They don't know so just ignore them. They have the ability to make you more depressed if you let them get to you. Stay positive.
I started referring to my ankle as her majesty because she rules my life. I started listening to comedy tracks on Pandora, I took my good foot in for a pedicure to show it how grateful that I only have one bad ankle and all the work it's doing for me now ;-) I watched a lot of TV and Netflix and that's fun for a while. I lost weight because it's hard to go shopping and run back and forth to the refrigerator
Yes, I'm wearing regular size sneakers, I loosened the shoelaces in the affected foot. Still a little tight but do able. I have been walking barefoot also, at first with aid of one crutch but no assistance needed now. I take it very slow and easy. I found after walking more with the boot I became weaker in my foot... Because it kept my foot in the 90 degree angle and didn't allow any other movement. I had more movement in my cast as the swelling went down! 😮 While I was in my cast I did start moving my toes a lot.
I saw my Orthopedic surgeon yesterday & he said I'm doing great at 13 weeks post surgery and to take it really easy. My redness should go away in 8-12 months (which I've read on this page). I WILL be starting PT (as soon as one closer to my home, who takes my insurance can be located) 3x week for a month per his instructions. The only hurdle I've had at this point is the pain & numbness on the top of my foot- from the toes to the curve of my ankle... It caused severe pain after surgery and now is tingling some. My incision sites have actually never been a problem. My Dr did tell me to get compression stockings to help swelling etc... I had a sock lick one (open at the toes) from tendon surgery 11years ago but it's way too tight right now!! I have a brace from when I had that surgery, that you can wear in a shoe, but I haven't worn it like that yet... I have worn it at night though.. It helped me get up at night barefoot to let my dog out (she insists she needs to go out every 2 hours 🙄). Now that's why my parent's had her for almost 3 months during my recovery... 😫
But I do believe everyone's recovery is based on their certain types of break, or if they had ligament or tendon injuries also... So good luck moving out of the boot and into regular shoes AND barefoot!!! It's a process everyday for all of us!!! 👍
Thanks Pix for all the great information! What you said about walking barefooted really makes sense to me. Now I understand why barefoot walking seems so difficult and I can cruise around in the boot no problem. Today was my third day of trying to walk on my barefoot, and it finally was a little easier. I only walk a little each day on it, without the boot, so relative to the time put in, it is getting stronger pretty fast I suppose. Now I know that is probably the normal progression, so thanks again for the info!
Re. the pain on the top of your foot, which I had exactly as you described for 4 weeks after getting out of my cast- I'm now on week 5 out of the hard cast (after 7 weeks of casting), I massaged the heck out of the aching areas with creams (Christopher's Comfrey or Christopher's Complete Tissue and Bone cream, Naturelieve arnica cream, or any cream I could find) and I don't know if it was that or the warm baths, followed by icing, or all the PT exercises that did it, but it suddenly completely disappeared at week 5. All the sudden one day it was all gone...weird! In it's place I now have lesser pain, but in a different area of my foot (probably from all the walking I am doing in the boot or the PT exercises). Now I have a little pain on the outer side of the injured foot, a little above the side of the foot on the tendons there, and sometimes on the tendons underneath my foot. I rub those a lot with cream, ice them when they hurt, and do calf streches for the bottom of the foot pain, which really helps. Just wanted to let you know that pain on the top of the foot will probably go away pretty soon, but other pains may come, as you work different muscles in PT. All is working toward repair of the different tendons and muscles I think. If you need PT exercises. Look up on you tube using these words, for what I have found are the best exercises (the same but even more than the ones my PT has given me). Search: "you tube Best Ankle Rehabilitation Exercises For Those Recovering From Ankle Injury well ki mobility series". It's great! All my PT does is measure my mobility changes from week to week and gives me a few new exercises, that are all on this video anyway. Happy Healing and thanks again!
PS- The reddness in my foot goes down every week, although my ankle still looks swollen, expecially in the area encircling the ankle itself. The foot is still slightly swollen too, but not as much as the ankle now.
Btw, no wonder you have gotten good walking in your bare feet getting up to let your dog out in the middle of the night several times! Who can spend the time to put the boot on in the middle of the night, if you can manage to limp out the door without it...way too much work! Your sweet dog is helping to heal you. Yay! LIfe is still kind of tough...but isn't it getting better now? Remember when our injuries first happened and we were all wondering if we would ever be able to walk again? It takes time..lots of time...but it happens eventually for all of us. Our bodies are amazing and thank goodness for our good legs- we really need to thank them daily for hanging in there for us!
Lots of good information Susan. Thank you.
My ankle is getting much better, Thanks! And thanks for all the information (sorry writing back so late). I haven't massaged the top of my foot much because of yet ANOTHER problem... My hand's/thumbs- I had LRTI surgery on 12/01/15 on my right hand JUST before I broke my ankle on 02/07/16 😵🙄! I was healing so well (even quicker than my left hand) but took a few step back recently (Same surgery on my left 11/14 w/carpal tunnel release). SO to do massage is a pain for me.
BUT I went to PT FINALLY yesterday and the therapist was very happy with my progress and range of motion. Said only thing I need more work on is the ligament area. He gave me some theraband exercises to work on for the next 2 weeks then we will work up to steps!!
Good luck with everything!!!