Why would skin peel off weeks after surgery on a broken ankle.?

Question

My mom broke her ankle nearly five weeks ago. The day after she broke it, she had surgery to put a plate in.

After two weeks, the doctor removed the hard cast and put her in a walking boot. She's been in that for three weeks.

In the last five days or so, her foot has a lot of peeling skin. It's almost like a typical sunburn, and large pieces are peeling off.

I'm thinking the old skin has "died" and the new skin is coming on. But, I'm not sure, and haven't been able to find anything about this.

Thanks for any sources of information and your good help!

Answer 1

This is normal. Most people do not realize how are skin continually rejuvenates (sheds and makes new skin) on a daily basis.

When you have a cast two things happen.

1) You do not wash that area daily thus the skin cannot dry/fall off naturally.

2) Skin gets damaged due to staying wet under a cast and skin does not survive well in a long term wet/moist environment under a cast.

In short, it is perfectly normal and there is nothing to be concerned about. A little icky but normal.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Why would skin peel off weeks after surgery on a broken ankle.?
My mom broke her ankle nearly five weeks ago. The day after she broke it, she had surgery to put a plate in.

After two weeks, the doctor removed the hard cast and put her in a walking boot. She's been in that for three weeks.

In the last five days or so, her foot has a lot of peeling...

Answer 3

I badly sprained my ankle about 3 weeks ago. I was in a hurry going down the stairs, lost my balance and landed on a bad side of my left foot, causing my left ankle to be stretched going on the inside. The first 48 hours were excruciating and the pain was un-believable. I've never had a serious ankle injury before.

So I immediately treated it using the RICE method. The following day, the bruising and swelling were so horrible. I found out that I got a second degree sprain and immediately panicked after that. I had a football game on that week and it been looking forward to it because I've been training for rt. I had teammates that had similar injuries and it took them months to fully recover, some of them stopped playing altogether. So I kinda had a short-term depression because I can't imagine myself not being able to run and play sports anymore.

Because I was so desperate to recover again, I contacted a lot of people that I know who do sports and asked them if they had similar injuries. One friend of mine, from the boy's football team in my university, told me about H.E.M. Ankle Rehab. I got a copy 4 days after I got injured. I immediately read and followed what was instructed and felt improvement on the first day. I was able to walk a bit, but I was in pain.

A couple of days after that, the swelling and bruising were subsid-ing significantly and on the fourth day, I was walking comfortably again. Although I've had felt a bit of stiffness, I continued doing what was instructed. My sister was surprised that I have recovered this fast. I told her about this book and was shocked on how effective the procedures were. I'm just so happy that this book was shared to me and how effective it is.

Heal your ankle fully & fast?

Answer 4

How about instead you tell someone you don't want to try out? It will be a lot less painful. I can't imagine your parents will be too disappointed that you didn't try out for a silly game like volleyball.

Answer 5

I've had multiple casts and my skin has always peeled a lot after I've gotten them off. Eventually it stops though.