Broken Ankle

[pinkunicorns54]

I've broken my ankle recently, what are we saying in regards to recovery time?
Been given a boot and told to weight bare, but it is agony!!
I'm going on holiday in 7 weeks.... tell me it'll be ok?!

I broke my ankle on 1st June and my holiday was exactly 13 weeks later. It is a spiral fracture, so quite bad and also means a full break. I was in cast for 6 weeks. Cast came off last week and they did another X-ray and said it's healing well and as expected, but not fully healed yet. I'm on crutches now with tip toe weight bearing for 2 weeks, then 50% weight bearing, building up to full weight bearing by the time the cast has been off for 6 weeks. This takes me to 28th August - we fly on 31st! No pain. So for my spiral fracture, it's looking like 12 weeks recovery. As you're in a boot, I assume your break isn't as bad and I think the standard is 6 weeks, so hopefully you'll be fine for your holiday. Good luck.

I broke my ankle in July 3 yrs ago. It was quite a clean break , and I was in a boot for 4 weeks, then slowly reducing the boot over a period of 2 weeks. It wasn’t feeling strong after 7 weeks but at least I was able to walk short distances and could feel improvement. Just do your physio exercises religiously!!

Thank you!! This is giving me hope... when did the pain stop? 🙈

Thank you! I won't be hiking on the holiday, but do have two little people.
But hoping it will be doable...

Can you recall when the pain stopped? Walking on it, is so painful!

@pinkunicorns54 it may sound odd, but I've not really had any pain - not had one painkiller since breaking it. Initially, it felt swollen and it was uncomfortable to move it. I guess if I was weight bearing like you, especially in the early days, I would have had pain. I spent most of the day laid on the sofa with my leg elevated not moving it.

I broke my leg & took painkillers for 3 weeks. Having never broken a bone before, I naively assumed the pain stopped once the break was set.

I don't think I'd be weight bearing if I was in pain though

@ny20005 I still haven't heard from the fracture clinic, so this was the advice from the walk-in centre.

I am mostly sat down, but things like getting to the toilet and going to bed etc. struggling to get comfy at night.

I'm very envious of the no painkillers @lovehisDobbyears !! I'm guess you were in a cast at the beginning?

I'd be wary of taking advice like that from walk in clinic & I'd chase up the fracture clinic. I was hospitalised but initially they plastered me & referred me to fracture clinic the next day.

I wasn't to sleep in the boot & had a special splint for sleeping in

@pinkunicorns54 yes I was in cast straight away. I went to A&E and the did an X-ray, then put it in cast and I went back 6 weeks later for cast removal and another X-yay. Have you had an X- ray?

Yeah, I have had an X-ray - but it was all a bit of a blur and I didn't really ask enough questions!

I was still in tears with the pain at least six weeks afterwards, even with massive doses of painkillers but that was after major surgery to insert pins and rods so perhaps different.

Whilst I broke my leg (spiral break of the fib/tib), I did also have a small break at the front of the ankle. That caused more issues with recovery than anything else because it affected how I flexed the foot to walk. DO YOUR PHYSIO!!!

Mine's a spiral fracture of the fibula so a non weight bearing bone. I'd imagine walking on a broken ankle in the early days would be painful. I agree, lots of physio and also rest and elevation.

Everyone's is different

I was in pain for 2 weeks then it was sore and hard to weight bear for 4/6 weeks.

I'd prepare for low
Mobility after for at least a month or two once boot is gone. You loose a lot of muscle tone and the ankle will
Be weak.

Be extra careful poolside and sightseeing may be tricky.

I still struggle to walk long distances now 7 months in and I'm fit and swim twice a week without fail.

I still can't run or hop on it.

My son, age 15 broke his ankle last year. He needed an operation to pin it. It was a pretty horrible time for him at the age he was. It healed well without issue but for it to be fully ok took about 4 months. Even now, almost a year later it's still a bit swollen which is apparently normal. However, the first hurdle is 6 weeks - I think after that he could weight bare and was off crutches although still in a boot. It depends what kind of holiday you are going on. If swimming is involved that's good as he was encouraged to do that after 6 weeks. He couldn't walk far though.

Did they say if it was a Weber a , b or c fracture?

I broke and had a cast and crutches for 6 weeks. Then a week or two with crutches while my leg and foot built some strength. However, as you have the boot and can weight bear then you might be more mobile bit quicker.

weber a is very mild, similar to a sprain. Weber b needs pinned 50percent of the time. Weber c always needs pinned.

have you been told if you are ok to weight bare in the boot?

If you have been told to weight bare then this should help a lot. The muscles atrophe really quickly if they aren’t used. And that goes for all the muscles- your knees, hips etc. so if you can still use that leg then it really helps with recovery

I haven't been told anything, I was shown a picture, which made little sense to me. I was on my own and a bit overwhelmed.

I'm waiting to hear from the fracture clinic, but I think I will chase them up tomorrow.

So I had a Weber b fracture. This is of the small bone on the outside of the leg. Which is very common ankle fracture. I had conflicting advice from doctors. Initial nurse told me to absolutely not bare weight as it could cause the fracture to move and then it would need pinned. Then another nurse told me it’s important to bare weight so we know if the fracture will move and need to be pinned. When I saw the consultant and told him I had conflicting advice he said that the current advice is changing and he didn’t really appear to confirm one way or another. I ended up not bearing weight on it for about 5 weeks as I was scared.

it healed fine but a year later it still is not as strong as the other ankle. I feel it is somewhat floppy.

i did a holiday I think about 11 weeks after the fracture which involved a couple miles sightseeing per day. Was not easy but I managed. I think after 7 weeks you will be taxi every where and just pottering around. Very little walking

I found myself to be very tired while I was healing . Sleeping every afternoon. I think the healing process is quite taxing on the body. Take it easy and be kind to yourself. Have you asked about the injections for stopping blood clots?

If it's a stable fracture, you'll be able to weightbear on it in the boot, they ought to have done a weightbearing x-ray in the boot in order to determine if it is stable or not.

Bone takes about 8 weeks to unite - reach about 90% of its normal strength, and about 6-8 years to remodel - regain its full strength, but it starts to throw of soft callus within 2-3 weeks, which is when the mobility of the fracture starts to rapidly decrease and it turns a corner in terms of pain and swelling.

The associated soft tissue injury takes longer, typically 8-12 weeks before safe driving, 12-16 before comfortably doing impact or field sports, and longer for high demand manual labour or professional sports. For a normal person expect it to be about 90% better in about 3 months, but to get odd twinges for up to 12.

Almost, a slight oversimplification, I've got x-rays of completely dislocated weber A's and completely stable Weber Cs.....

Just an update, for anyone who has the same thing happen and may stumble across this...

I requested some stronger painkillers! They helped massively!
Mine was a stable fracture, so was OK to weight bare.
But a week on, I can get around the house with just the boot and no crutches!

That’s amazing. Sounds like your recovery should be relatively quick.