How long does a broken ankle take to heal?

Question

I broke my ankle 6 week's ago. I had to have surgery and now I have 2 screws in it. I was never in a plaster cast or a fiberglass cast. The doctor gave me a aircast (moonboot). I have heard from many people and read it usually take's 6-8 weeks to heal. Am I correct. My doctor never told me how long.

1. Im going to the doc next week. Do you think I will get the aircast off?

2. How long will it be until I can take my 40 minute walk's everyday again?

3. Will I need therapy?

People who adknowlege my question thanks. No ignorant answers telling me to ask my doctor and not ask on here... Duh thats common sense but I'm really stressed about this and can't wait until next week.

Answer 1

yes, it is usually 6-8 weeks as long as you did everything the Dr told you to do during healing. I had one screw put in mine and I was fine in 8 weeks but I had pushed it so I was still swollen when the 6 week check up came around and was punished with 2 more weeks!
You will have to start slow on your walks again. You may have to build up to it 10 minutes at a time. 10 minutes each day for a week, etc, etc.
You may need therapy on it depending on how well you handle being out of the boot. If all goes well and you experience no swelling or pain with your normal activities then you should not require therapy. Some Dr's like you to go through a few therapy classes to teach you to ease back into life without straining your ankle and this is not a bad thing at all! They show you how to properly stretch your muscles now that there is a screw or two in there to hamper the process and how to warm that area up. Do don't be disappointed if you go to therapy - enjoy it and pay close attention so you will know what to do, how to do it and what to look for if you re-injure it.
Best of luck in your healing!

Answer 2

Broken Ankle Recovery

Answer 3

Broken Ankle Recovery Time

Answer 4

Hi there!
I am 20 now.I guess I had a sprain ankle. It was about 31\2 years ago. The reason was that I was running outside and i always make it to the other side and well this time my foot slanted and I fell on my ankle. I went to a foot doctor and I had to have a soft cast OMG! It hurt so bad I counldn't imagine what your going through right now. Hope all is well !!! srry I didn't read all of your questions; 2.) It will be a while until you can walk on it at least 2 or 3 mos depending on you and the pain. 3.) That i wont be able to answer that because I never needed therapy. but it is cool to walk on it. One day I had a black shoe on and this guy thought that I had 2 casts on No! I just wanted to look the same . I guess not well I hope I answerd your question. You know some people do answer the stupidest answers.

Answer 5

Although yes, you can have some healing enough to walk about 8-10 weeks after such a break and surgery, generally, it will take a good 3 months to feel somewhat "back to normal" or longer.

A true full healing may take up to 6 months or more......and even up to a year since you had screws put in, and invasive surgery, and didn;t need a simple setting of the bone and a cast.

Your bone has been traumatized by the surgery as well as the break, and this of course affects the tendons, ligaments, and muscle in the area, although muscle tissue will heal faster.

As far as your walks.....I guess the 40 minutes doesn't help to answer. If you would have said distance, which I would imagine might be that you walked about 3-4 miles in that time, ......it depends how soon you start back again, but, I;d take it slow if I were you. You don;t want to aggravate your ankle and the screws. I'm sure your Doc already told you what to expect as far as that goes.

You may need therapy if you have range of motion issues and to "re-train" your muscle memory. The screws are new to your ankel, and it may affect your range of motion and how your weight bearing bones respond to such. Hopefully you didn't have any nerve damage which is possible also. This may dictate the need of therapy also. You won't know if the surgery was a total success as far as being back to close to normal again for at least 3-6 months. Your body has changed now, and you may get back to "as good as new" or there may be a marked loss or decrease of some form or another.

Also; be aware that you may naturally favor this ankle and walk "funny" for awhile. What often happens is people will "tweak" their back from limping or purposley trying to keep weight off their injured ankle consciously or sub-consciously. Then, the next thing you know, you may need to go to a Chiropractor to help keep your spine straight from such Subluxations.

Hot/Cold therapy may be needed as well for any swelling and soft tissue damage or bruising. Such things as soaking one''s ankle in epson salts (hot water), and rotating with ice packs may be necessary.

Good Luck! Patience is your best friend. If you violate it, you may do more damage than you did with the initial break and subsequent surgery if you try to "rush things".

Answer 6

I broke 3 bones in my right ankle in January 2006...I wasn't able to get to orthopedic surgeon and just kept the splint on I got in the emergency room and it took me 10 weeks to be able to go back to work full time as a waitress...so you should be really good to go next week. It takes a while to readdjust to walking and my ankle is really weak and I'm suffering from achillies tendon problem due to not having proper cast but you may swell and ache like crazy for a few months. Having the proper care will help you tremendously.

Answer 7

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 8

I had ankle surgery after my ankle was virtually broken in half after a car accident, and after a week in the hospital and four weeks on crutches, I was able to try and walk. Yes, please get the physical therapy! I never did mine and my ankle has just never been the same. As for the forty minute walks, I'd give it at least 6 months. After that, work up to forty minutes gradually. Much luck, and you have my sympathy.

Answer 9

i broke my ankle last week and i am in an air cast now.
i HATE it.
my doctor told me that i will take 2 or 3 months for mine to heal.

on Tuesday i am getting a plaster cast on && my doctor said that if i don't get that on then i will have to have my air cast on for 1 more month
so,
1-probally
2-i would say a few weeks after your ankle gets better
3-i have to have therapy && go to rehab for my foot.

Good Luck:]

Answer 10

this happened to me recently and my ankle took 3 weeks to heal. I am considered to be a younger person but i hope this helps in some way