To not know where to turn for help with this?

The only person who can help you at this moment in time is you. You don't seem to want to do that for various reasons. People are giving advice but you don't take it so what do you want people to say. At hospitals/Gp's you get worsening advice. You ankle is worse therefore you need to go back and have it looked at again. In regards to being off sick, work places have sickness and absence policies. You can't face a disciplinary unless you are already on a warning because of having previously reached certain absence trigger points unless you have a rogue manager in which case that's a seperate issue that also needs dealt with. You have options - do nothing, go to work, continue in pain. Or do something,, get it checked, take time off and focus on letting your ankle heal. There more you walk on it, go to work and avoid having it looked it again the more chance you have of doing yourself long term damage and being in chronic pain and doing your ankle long term damage.

Honestly the nurse was dreadful and possibly negligent If he were my nurse I’d be furious with him blithely dismissing a patient!

Go back to A&E and advocate for yourself demand a referral to the fracture clinic or ring them yourself.
Tell them the pain is increasing you have to work (in the hospital) and it needs assessing because you are struggling.

You don’t sleep,you’re worn down with the pain and knowing you have to get into work so you’re going to be stressed and fragile.

Regards the knee,….it s a flexor joint so don’t let it dry, it will crack open each time it dries.
Twice a day, boil some water, tip a tablespoon of salt into a clean bowl and top up with boiled water. Wipe off the pus with clean non shedding pads ( like the face ones) Don’t touch the wound with your hands and don’t reuse the pads , wipe once and chuck, so get plenty of pads. Don’t use a previously used towel , treat it like a sterile area.

Using a pad, dab on Savlon cream and wrap the knee in cling film and a stretchy bandage.
5 days and it should be good.
Its going to look manky/damp for two days at least but persist unless it really swells up.
Pink skin will start to appear at the edges which shows healing. Good luck.
And get a boot on that ankle.
Irrespective of what the nurse said, I’d have strapped it with a figure 8 elastic bandage for daytime use and elevated evenings.
The NHS is a bloody shower!

OP, the hospital should have given you the details of the fracture clinic and how to contact them. I was told the fracture clinic would call me within 48 hours and if I didn't hear from them, to call myself. If they didn't call you, why haven't you called them?! I suspect the fracture will tell you to not weight bear for 2 weeks and provide crutches! You shouldn't be walking on your ankle at the moment. I was told the fracture would take 6-8 weeks to heal. I was actually off work for 3 months (my job involves me being on my feet). You definitely shouldn't be at work!

This sounds horrible @ihowlforyou , but you must get someone to look at it properly in case there is something more serious going on under your knee. If you work in a hospital cant you ask a colleague to take a look? My friend’s husband does and I know all sorts of favours go on between specialties. Could you tell your boss that you are struggling and think it may be worsening? They may be able to call radiology and ask if they can squeeze you in for an xray while you’re at work?

Failing that could occupational health help at work? Seems to me there should be an advantage to working in a hospital, not a disadvantage! And as for the nurse who you felt was abrupt, if you end up seeing him again, tell him he made you feel rubbish and frightened to follow up on your concerns - if you can’t do it for yourself do it for another patient who might be scared or in pain.

Best of luck x

Big girl pants on OP. You say you don’t know where to turn and how to get help but there is a clear route. Speak to 111 again, have a clear list written down of your symptoms and do not under play it. Make clear there is pus not discharge and that you feel unwell and you cannot properly weight bear. Be clear on levels of pain. They should get you a nurse or doctor call back. They will likely send you to minor injuries to be seen in person, hopefully with an appointment.

If you work at the same hospital hopefully you can go down without leaving the site. You tell your manager you have significant pain and potential infection, that you’ve been trying to power through for sake of team but 111 have been clear you must attend this appointment and seek further in person help. Nobody is going to be able to say no to that.

Or alternatively don’t do that, don’t get help, doom spiral further and risk damaging the leg more. Up to you.

Sorry my post was confusing, there was some degree of separation between my thumb and hand caused by the tear.
After the broken plate xame out I had a tie stitch put in, but that pulled on the surgery scar really bad and was affecting some of the nerves in my hand.
The stitch came out after a year because it was causing so much pain.
Apart from the few months with the plate, I've been in pain for 8 years, with limited function, the surgical scar is ultra sensitive still. Obviously can't say 100% but if it had been picked up and treated at the time maybe the outcome would have been different.

You are just choosing what to read on the label.
It will also say " no more than X doses in 24 hrs". If you are taking more than 3 doses per 24 hrs of 400 mg of Ibuprofen or more than 4 doses of paracetamol ( 2 x 500 mg tablets each dose) per 24 hrs , you are overdosing.
OP this is ridiculous. You have received lots of sensible, correct advice on this thread and the previous one. Your ankle needs to rest. Then it will improve. But walking 5000 steps on it a day is exacerbating the injury and preventing any healing. Elevating it means get it above hip level- not propped on a low stool while you sit at a desk. Some pain will be from the swelling- if you get the swelling down that might help. I'm guessing you'll have weekend off so spend it lying on the floor with leg up a settee so it's really up high for as much time as you have and keep icing it. Also give your knee a really good clean. And leave it exposed whilst lying on floor . Keep cleaning it. If it gets increasingly hotter, redder or continues to leak pus, get it looked at by someone trained- nurse/ pharmacist/ GP etc etc.
And finally " protect ankle" does not mean get shin splints as you guessed in an earlier answer. It means rest it, wear supportive shoes etc etc- all the advice you've been given repeatedly here and on previous thread.
( Another advanced nurse practitioner)

I had a similar thing in May this year, but it was my arm and not my ankle. I fell and my arm was black and swollen, but still 'useable'. I left it for a few weeks, and then I went to see my GP who referred me for an xray.

So I would suggest that you get in touch with your GP and go from there. They will look at it (and your knee) and listen to how much pain you are in. If they don't think that you were given the correct advice by the original hospital visit, then they will refer you for another xray. I literally got referred the very next day. The results came back the day after that confirming it was broken, and then I was referred to the fracture clinic.

I think the GP is the first port of call, and then they will refer you where you need to go and they will be able to discuss pain management with you too.

This! Sympathy waning rapidly

I spent 6 weeks with my leg elevated and in a leg brace 24/7. When I saw the orthopaedic doctor he told me I had a torn ligament and shouldn’t have my leg straight, let alone all day. Go back to A&E.

Cant you get a taxi/uber to work to minimise your walking a bit? You ae not giving it chance to heal

If you won't do anything about it then buy these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/GHORTHOUD-Inflatable-Fracture-Orthopaedic-Sprained/dp/B0DZ6CZZHV

https://www.amazon.co.uk/NRS-Healthcare-Adjustable-Crutches-Regular/dp/B07L953SRS

In the worst case scenario you could have a serious infection and get sepsis. When you fell you may have had some gravel or other stuff get in there and if they didn't clean it properly it could be causing the infection.

I am old enough to have worked at three different places where people died very suddenly. Each time was dreadful, particularly the one where the woman who sat next to me was at work and a work drinks till 9pm, then took an overdose later that night and had died.

We coped each time. It was awful. We were short-staffed, but nobody is irreplaceable. From what you have described, you have a broken ankle and potential sepsis. You are in such pain after a week that you need codeine to sleep. This is not normal. I broke my ankle in 2019 and had six weeks off and I was running the company. Last year I had an ankle fusion on the same ankle and then three weeks later my wound reopened and I was in hospital on IV antibiotics for three weeks and then at home on oral antibiotics for three months.

If you don't get it checked out, and it is a serious infection it will be more than a week or so off work in the end. The reason they give you six weeks off is because your body is spending a lot of energy repairing the bone and healing. That means your brain and body are not as sharp as they would be otherwise.

Go back to A&E. Explain that you were told you had a fracture but the pain is unbearable and you believe your knee wound might be infected.

You are being absolutely ridiculous. I also work in a very busy clinical team and we are always picking up extra work for clinicians who go off sick. We also sometimes do with skeleton admin staff. We cope. If someone is sick, they are sick and calling in sick is always an option because we have a clearly outlined sickness policy. As do you, I expect.
You have policies and procedures in place to arrange cover and higher management to do so. And if you have a desk based job anyway, I am sure arrangements can be made to work from home for a few days.
You also are surely aware of patients' rights so your comment about now wanting to attend A&E when your condition got worse for the fear of some drug-seeking note on your records is just silly.
I also imagine you have employee wellbeing programme at your workplace and can get a physio assessment through them fairly quickly.
I know you are in pain and not thinking straight but there are things you can do, you are just determined not to do them for highly dubious reasons.

OP you were given good advice on your original thread, you’ve been given good advice here .. why can’t you follow any of it? Posters are getting irritated by you because of the reluctance to actually sort out your problem once and for all.

OP you are being given very valid advice and you are just ignoring it, from your healthcare professional and from people on here who have had the same injury, and from people on your last thread.

A&E told you to rest for 4 weeks, weight bear to what was comfortable wearing supportive shoes, and to elevate it and ice it, at a minimum for the first week. If you insist on going to work and walking 5000 steps a day, then you are ignoring their advice, so there isn't much they are going to be able to do.

Any sensible person who had no choice to go to work, and walk that amount of steps a day would at least use crutches or wear a boot, A&E won't have told you that because they told you to rest it, it is your choice to ignore that, so you need to choose to find a solution which supports your ankle while you do those activities, you will be in pain for 6-8 weeks anyway, and maybe longer if you carry on ignoring medical advice, you've got to let it heal.

Also, a quick google about avulsion fractures will tell you that ibuprofen slows down bone healing, when taken in high doses, and you are absolutely maxing them out.

You need to take some responsibility for your own health.

I mean this in the best possible way OP.

Stop being an idiot.

Work will cope without you temporarily.

Take yourself to your nearest minor injuries unit if you don't want to go to A&E, but for god's sake go to a hospital and get it seen.

Something happened to me earlier in the year and had similar issue. It just takes time I’m afraid, there’s not much else you can do. I had a bad back as well so felt completely in the dumps. Regular paracetamol and ibuprofen (as per instructions for how often), cool compresses and rest. I can’t remember how long mine took, but approximately 2 months to feel like I could say more normal? Was certainly off my feet a lot for a good month as too painful.
As others have said, no magic wands to wave I’m afraid and I’ll still working though my back issues 6 months later but slowly getting there with the regular exercise.
I didn’t read full thread but if you have an infected wound then you need to see GP for this.

As far as I can see people have given you advice. Rest off worj, up to you if you don’t. Go back to minor injury unit or ED. You should’ve been referred to fracture clinic but if you haven’t by now then go back. Stop posting about your distress and symptoms. It’s not changing. Just go and get it seen. Get over your anxiety and go back. You could get a walking boot that would offer support if you need it.

OP this all sounds a bit nuts.

My son had a grade 3 sprain on two ligaments and was non-weight bearing, in a boot, with crutches for three weeks!!!!!

After that, it was minimal weight bearing. Then no crutches but still boot.

He plays elite sport so his treatment was outstanding but in no way should you be weight bearing on a fracture. If you are swollen that much you need to be off your feet.

You need a cast/boot and/or crutches. Speak to 111!

Can you strap it up or get an ankle support for it?

OP you're actually being ridiculous and martyrish about this. You need to accept that you are responsible for your own health and wellbeing. All of this silliness about "shamefully" having gone to A&E and "not wanting to be a nuisance" is not noble and self-sacrificing, it's just prolonging the period in which you aren't fit.

A fractured ankle and a broken ankle are the same thing. Stop treating this like a minor injury. It's getting worse instead of better, which means you need further treatment. It needs rest and elevation, which means you need time off work (and no you can't face a disciplinary for that, even if you initially attended work, don't be ABSURD), or you need reasonable accommodations like working from home, if they can be arranged.

You need to recognise that you are making your injury worse and significantly prolonging the recovery period by continuously mistreating it while it heals. If you think your manager will be fed up with you for taking a week off now, imagine how she'll feel when you tell her you need several weeks off because a fracture which you didn't allow to heal has turned into a significant, complex injury requiring surgery or extensive time off to rest.

Come on now. It's your ankle that was damaged, not your backbone, so show a bit of resilience and advocate for what you actually need to get better.

I’d get some crutches off Amazon, about £20 and use them as much as possible to take the weight off. I’d also bandage it up. Hope you’re on the mend soon.

Call 111, explain that your ankle & knee are getting worse rather than better. You are worried that the fracture is not stable because the pain is increasing and that your knee is possibly infected.

Ask for a referral to minor injuries and they will give you an appointment time.

You do not need to worry about ‘going against’ the nurse you saw because any conversation in medical situations always ends with ‘come back if it gets worse’. If he didn’t say this, he should’ve done or you just didn’t take it in.

Shame at going to medical practitioners for help with a medical issue is what is wrong with the world. I hope it all gets figured out for you soon x