To not know where to turn for help with this?

[ihowlforyou]

I fell and fractured my ankle a week ago. I was told it’s a stable fracture to be treated like a sprain. I also really tore up my knee, which has been very slow to heal.

A week on and I’m still incredibly swollen, bruised and my ankle is becoming more and more painful. My knee is still very sore, the actual skin is numb but I have pain at the base and top of my kneecap. It also feels a little unstable and I am getting sharp stabbing pains to one side of my kneecap.

My GP isn’t interested. They say that I have to go to physio if I need, as it’s a muscular injury.

Physio has an eight week minimum wait for a video consultation.

This obviously isn’t an A&e situation (shamefully I did go to A&E for the initial injury because it had a very short wait time, it seemed to be a quiet time of day!), and they wouldn’t take a look at my knee anyway as it’s a “superficial injury”.

Minor injuries is now by appointment only in my area and appointments are gone within a minute of opening.

I’ve tried the pharmacy for the graze that isn’t healing but they just say to dress it and keep it clean and it’ll heal “eventually”.

I feel like I’m being turned away at every turn but I’m in so much pain, I’m left feeling sick by lunchtime because my ankle is that sore, and by the end of the day I can’t stand walking around. I have basic physio exercises from my last sprain years ago but I can’t do them, but I can’t be seen by anyone.

Please don’t suggest a private physio assessment, it’s not within my budget at all. AIBU to just feel despondent and like I can’t get help anywhere?

Firstly you’re taking too much ibuprofen & possibly paracetamol. Ibuprofen dose is 400mg every 6-8 hourly, no more than 3 times in 24 hours, paracetamol is 1g every 4-6 hours, no more than 4 times in 24 hours. You mentioned taking codeine at night but why not take that during the day if the pain is so bad, or go get either paracetamol or ibuprofen with codeine from a pharmacy & take that instead. As long as you continue to walk as much as you’re doing then for now you’re going to be in pain- you’re walking on it too much - can’t you reduce that by getting a taxi or public transport? It will take several weeks to improve but longer if you are over using it, that’s injuries for you, whether a minor fracture or a bad sprain/strain. It needs elevation, higher than your hip when you aren’t walking, ice is pointless now. You were advised to get a support bandage, have you got one?
your knee - you said a pharmacist said it’s fine - so trust that medical professional- not every minor infection needs antibiotics but watch out for worsening redness/inflammation, meanwhile keep it clean & dry & no antiseptic creams
basically you aren’t helping yourself by weight baring as much as you are, either way, it’s an injury - injuries hurt. Not all minor fractures require follow up, but please, sort out your pain relief or you’ll just create another issue all together
(advanced nurse practitioner)

The packet says every four hours.

I’m cleaning the knee morning and night, trying to let it dry but it just won’t. It’s just pumping out crap and it’s disgusting, but the pharmacy say that’s all I can do. I don’t want a nurse call when I’ve already been chastised for seeking healthcare, I feel so rubbish that being told off again like I’m a child would be disastrous

If you won't accept something you've been offered, that's your fault.

What does the knee actually look like?

You might be over cleaning it and not giving the wound time to heal.

But you're a patient & your outcome is currently impacted!

Well just deal with it yourself then. Not really sure what you want from this.

You really need to stop playing the martyr and get yourself some help. The whole scenario is just ridiculous now.

OP "I don't know what to do"

Posters and NHS "do this"

OP "no"

OP I think you need to problem solve a bit. You were told you can walk but 5000 steps a day is a little bit bonkers more than just a bit of a walk on such an injured leg so if you're in severe pain you need to heavily cut down on this and keep the leg rested and elevated at other times. Listen to your body and find another way of getting to work.

Although you weren't given a fracture boot I'd wear a good supportive pair of boots eg Timberlands for a while

Did the doctors give you any gentle exercises to do? If not google foot and ankle exercises and start doing these as best you can

If you genuinely feel that your pain and swelling is more than it should be then I'd say what you need next is fracture clinic. Your best hope of a referral to them is going back to A and E. They aren't going to be able to heal a fractured ankle overnight though. To some degree you need to just accept that you're going to be a bit out of action for a few weeks and take it easy. At the moment it sounds like the biggest problem is that there's a huge difference between your expectations and the reality of how a broken ankle heals.

Every packet I've had says every 6 hours and no more than 4 in 24 hours.

I had a nasty sprain and it took 8 weeks to heal , I was really depressed at one point thinking I could never get some of my shoes on and it was never going to get better and I was only comfortable in crocs.

I work in a similar sector and there is no way on earth you could face a disciplinary for going to seek further help for a broken ankle. You must have a HR department.

5000 steps is why it will be hurting and still swollen! That’s not bare minimum

You shouldn’t be ‘cleaning it morning and night’. It won’t dry if you do this. You’ll be irritating the wound.

Clean it
Dress it
leave the dressing on

If they can't cope without you for a day, they certainly won't be able to cope if they sack you!

You really need to stop giving them so much power. You're letting them guilt trip you into possible lifelong health problems by not letting your body heal when it needs to. Do you seriously want to risk having walking issues for life, not to mention pain? They don't care about that, so you need to.

If you'd rather be stubborn and keep playing the martyr, then go for it.