I just had surgery for my fractured ankle. i'm home now but my ankle still hurts when I try to walk more?

Question

than a few feet on crutches and it feels like the bones are grinding when my leg is anything but up. How long before i'm able to get around seminormally on crutches? I went to the mall with my friends in a wheelchair but even getting from the entrance to the car on crutches was hard, esp since i was afraid i would fall

I wasnt actually putting weight on it. when i say walk, i really mean more like hop. i have painkillers but they aren't as good as what they gave me right after the operation. i was feelin really good then.

Answer 1

Ankle surgery is complicated because of all the small bones, ligaments and tendons. That is a very small area, but can have the most amount of swelling. With other surgeries surrounding soft tissue can give way and allow room for the swelling. In the ankle, that does not happen, bones are not that forgiving.

When you are standing the, blood flow is increased due to gravity and the added pressure causes more pain. The bones feel like they are grinding because the swelling pushes them together and they cause pain because of it.

Please keep your ankle elevated until the swelling goes down, otherwise you could damage the ends of the bones and you will have that pain for the rest of your life. Don't walk on it too soon or you'll loose all the advantages of the surgery.

Take care.

Answer 2

Had a similar sports injury on my right ankle. I had two surgeries and was in crutches and a wheelchair from 7th grade until my junior year in high school.

My first surgery failed because I didn't stay off it enough. I tried to do too much too soon- wound up falling on it and reinjuring it just a few days after surgery. After my second surgery 2 years later, I stayed off it for at least a week, kept it raised, and basically practiced using my crutches around the house as much as possible until I felt more comfortable using them-- especially on stairs.

For now, since you just got back from surgery-- make sure you rest it and give it a good start at healing. Practice a bit with those crutches around the house until you feel more balanced and less awkward with them. You'll get better with them in no time.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

Answer 3

Pace yourself.
The hardest days are the first few days after you've been released from hospital. In the hospital you had stronger meds and you weren't doing as much and your leg was probably elevated most of the time.
Your leg is swollen. That's what's causing the pain when you walk and the wieird feelings. Try to keep it elevated as much as possible to keep the swelling down.
Don't try to do too much too soon. It will get easier over the next few days. Then everyday you'll be able to do more and more walking on your crutches. Just pace yourself. In a week or two you should have no problem walking with your crutches.
Good luck.

Answer 4

When the swelling goes down from the surgery. That is what is making it feel like the bones are grinding together. It's the swelling, pressure & throbbing when your ankle gets lower than your heart. It will stop. Until then, just try to keep your leg up as much as possible. That will help the swelling to go down faster. I had internal fixation for a shattered ankle (broken in 12 places) years ago. I know the pain you feel. I would cry just hopping to the bathroom 15 feet away. Just that quick it hurt so bad. It will get better--promise!

Answer 5

Well it's simple, YOU JUST HAD SURGERY. Probably shouldn't be walking on it. A friend of mine had the same thing and couldn't walk all summer. Her ankle still swells up and hurts from time to time almost a year later. The more you walk on it now the longer it will take to heal. I'd sugest stay out of the mall, lay around for a couple weeks and get fat and eat chips. (smoke marijuana if you like) Afterall that's what the painkillers are for anyway.
Don't be dumb

Answer 6

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 7

well at least 2 to 3 days after you get the surgery the area around the surgery place will hurt very badly if you got some painkillerls take um but dont try to wlak on ur ankle on them it wont hurt you becasue of the pills but actually it will be makingg it worse you just wont fell it in about a week almost you should be able to walk with cruthces with some pain after 2 to 3 weeks you will be able to walk with almsot or no pain i hope this helps you :)

Answer 8

Id give it a few weeks before you can get around without discomfort with your crutches. Your ankle needs time to heal, so just don't move the ankle too much.

Answer 9

Girl, I honestly have no idea how long it will be until u can get around without pain. Just make sure to follow the doctors instructions and it should heal up fine. Also, tell ur doc how much pain u are in and maybe he can give u something or has suggestions as to what u can do to help u with ur recovery

Answer 10

crutches are meant to keep you from putting weight on the ankle. Keep your foot off the ground for a while.

fractures can take upwards of 4-6 months to heal properly (without surgery) so don't put any more stress than ABSOLUTELY necessary on it so it can heal properly.