Broken ankle... 2 questions

kristinlitla
kristinlitla Posts: 24 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I broke my ankle 5 days ago. I've been home all week, resting. This may be a silly question but is it safe to already start walking with my crutches a bit, like around my block to get some exercise? (It's not a dislocated fracture if that helps, and I didn't need surgery).

Also, could you suggest some upper body exercises and/or exercises for my strong leg I could do? Links would also be good.

Thanks in advance :)

Replies

  • CristinaL1983
    CristinaL1983 Posts: 1,119 Member
    You should definitely follow doctors orders regarding weight bearing on the foot. If the doc says no weight bearing then no weight bearing. Having said that, I got absolutely ripped shoulders and abs (and one leg) after my ankle surgeries thanks to the crutches.

    I'm not really happy just sitting around so I continued to do my everyday activities. Walking around, climbing stairs, pretty much everything is more difficult with a leg in a cast and crutches. It all works your shoulders and abs just because of the way crutches work. You can also still do most upper body work outs. I did modified pilates while I had one leg in a cast plus some weight lifting.

    Things to be careful of: blisters on your hands, anything that could cause you to lose balance and land on the already broken ankle, swelling in the foot (I had this after my surgeries if I did too much without resting to elevate my foot), etc...

    I don't have links to anything because you can mostly do pretty much anything just modified. One legged pushups, walking around, climbing stairs (a heck of a work out), pistol squats, split squats, etc...

    Good Luck! :)

    Edited to clarify: I did all of this NON Weight bearing for 6 months. As in I never let my foot in the cast touch the ground. After re-reading your post I'm not sure if you are asking about non weight bearing "walking" or partial weight bearing walking. If you were talking about partial weight bearing, don't do any of that until the doc says it's okay.
  • rduhlir
    rduhlir Posts: 3,550 Member
    Do you have a gym membership? If so, do they have an hand bike? Something like this: top-xt-hand-cycle.jpg?1246360232
    If so you can do that easily, and it gives you exercise. This is what I had to do in boot camp when I had stress fractures and it works, believe it or not.
  • poedunk65
    poedunk65 Posts: 1,336 Member
    DUHHHHHH, talk to your doctor about it first.
  • Sweets1954
    Sweets1954 Posts: 507 Member
    You might look for some "chair" aerobics. These have been designed for the elderly and those people who are wheelchair bound. All exercises are done from a chair and wouldn't put any weight on your ankle.
  • ButtercupSprad
    ButtercupSprad Posts: 117
    I broke my ankle 15 years ago in Kosovo. I was a young NCO who wanted to hurry and heal. So, I decided to walk more to get better. I think I should have chilled and let it heal correctly. Til this day, I get soreness when I run. I do believe one knows best when its time to work out tho. Our body will let you know if it cant take the pain. Dont ignore the signs like I did.
  • jade2112
    jade2112 Posts: 272 Member
    I broke my ankle 5 days ago. I've been home all week, resting. This may be a silly question but is it safe to already start walking with my crutches a bit, like around my block to get some exercise? (It's not a dislocated fracture if that helps, and I didn't need surgery).

    Also, could you suggest some upper body exercises and/or exercises for my strong leg I could do? Links would also be good.

    Thanks in advance :)

    No advice from me, but I do want to say I'm sorry to hear you broke your ankle. Hoping you have a speedy recovery too.
  • kelcileigh
    kelcileigh Posts: 23 Member
    LISTEN TO YOUR DOCTOR! I broke my leg in 3 places 3 years ago and tried putting weight earlier than my doctor said I could. I ended up needing surgery and was on crutches for 6 months. Needless to say, that was where my weight gain started. I wish I would have listened to the doctor! Try some arm exercises and abs, or leg raises if your legs don't bother you! Good luck with your recovery!
  • dlcarroll13
    dlcarroll13 Posts: 65 Member
    I am a Nurse Practitioner and the absolute response here is NO! Do not for any reason start weight bearing before instructed.
  • yellowsnowdrop
    yellowsnowdrop Posts: 154 Member
    I can't exercise much at the moment as I have disc problems.I use resistance bands to do a bit of toning.Cheap and easy to use and you can do upper body stuff sitting down.
    As an ex nurse I have to echo what others have said DON'T DO ANYTHING until you're told it's O.K.could cause problems along the line.Err on the side of caution always.
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
    I'm sure every "break" is different, so definitely follow your doctors instructions about that.

    You can probably do rowing, and take this time to focus on working on core strength and arm stuff. If you don't have a gym membership, try doing situps, using dumbells (or household items) to do arm exercises...
  • echippendale
    echippendale Posts: 66
    Have you got a proper cast on? and one of them velcro shoes? if so then yes but give it a week or so first but only if the doc has said you can weight bare and when not walking elevate as mine swelled up alot. hope you have a quick recovery, try searching tiffany stone on you tube she has a sit down work out, also on sparks people they have a few x
  • Rambo529
    Rambo529 Posts: 170 Member
    Well, "walking" (or crutching?) around the block would definately give you strong arms (as long as you're using your crutches right) and shoulders. There are also some straight leg exercises you could do that don't involve any weight bearing on your "bad" leg. I've done the 4-way leg raises:
    1) lie on back and raise 1 leg up to about a 45 degree angle, return to just above the floor. Repeat until failure, then switch legs
    2) roll onto your side with legs straight out. take top leg and raise up, but don't go so far you start to roll. Repeat until failure. I like to then do the next one before rolling to the next leg, but that's just me.
    3) on your side, cross top leg over right (or you can put it behind, just so it's not on top anymore). Lift bottom leg up (probably will only go about 6 inches) and work the inner thigh. Repeat until failure.
    4) lie on stomach with legs straight out. use your glutes to pull your leg up (keep straight, don't bend the knee to bring up) off the floor. Repeat until failure.
  • PagiePuju
    PagiePuju Posts: 15 Member
    Trust me you don't want to do anything to soon. You want it to heal properly I did to much to soon and now I have major problems with my ankle... ;o(
  • now_or_never13
    now_or_never13 Posts: 1,575 Member
    Please don't walk on it as that can cause more problems than help. I broke a few bones in my foot and my ankle a few years ago and I tried to walk too soon and ended up with more problems.

    Do you have a stationary bike? Or can you get one? I got one when I busted up my foot and it helped so much. I made sure my foot and ankle were properly wrapped and supported and started off slow. It allowed me to get exercise in while I was healing.

    Make sure you don't do anything too strenuous. If you feel pain stop. Start off slow once you do get back into exercise.

    Keep your diet in check while healing and you can still lose weight.
  • kristinlitla
    kristinlitla Posts: 24 Member
    Thank you all for the advice.
    And I wasn't clear enough in my previous post. I did mean "crutching" when I said walking with the crutches, that is walking on my strong leg and using the crutches to help me with moving the weak leg. :) No way was I thinking about bearing weight on the weak leg. English is not my first language so please apologize :)

    I have a gym membership but just put it on hold due to my injury. I haven't seen a hand bike there anyway. Good suggestion though.

    Thank you jade2112, that's very nice of you to say :)

    echippendale, I wear a cam walker like this: http://suppliescentral.net/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/AIRWAL2.jpg

    now_or_never, I don't have a stationary bike, just a normal one - which I won't be using for a while unfortunately...hehe

    I have a doctor's appointment next Wednesday so I will ask him/her about this then as well.

    Thanks again everybody, you've been very helpful.
  • ji225
    ji225 Posts: 89 Member
    Hi OP,

    I have to say I feel your pain, I broke my ankle on 11th Dec,comminuted Tibia which broke in 5 places and clean break of Fib, so have a plate and 10 screws on my Tib. I'm now 3 months in, and about 65% weight bearing,
    It is a slow process, but if you are in a cast with no surgery, you will likely be weight bearing before I was (at about 8 weeks).

    I was super active before all this and it was kiling me not to do anything, but at week 4 I started doing modified pilates 4 x per week, at week 9 I started stationery bike 10 mins 4-5 x per wk (bought a second hand one for £30) I walk for about 20 mins a day now with crutches and that is hard work, and I'm allowed to do rehab exercises in the pool and swim a bit 3 x per week, so its not so bad I think.

    I did buy a chair aerobics dvd ages ago, but have actually never used it. I haven't put on any weight (have in fact lost 3 kgs, but that is likely muscle in my leg). I have just been eating really healthily, but eating enough good stuff to help heal the bones. My last xrays showed the bones have not healed yet and cold take another 4-6 weeks.

    Just take it easy and dont rush anything, Do exaclty as your doc says. The healing will not be linear so you may have ups and downs, but there is a good facebook group called broken ankle/leg if you are on there and want to join, Really nice people and you can get lots of advice from those going through similar. Good luck at the docs!

    Jenny
  • kazzsjourney
    kazzsjourney Posts: 674 Member
    I just got over a broken wrist. It is summer here and when in a cast i found it so hard to exercise cos of the sweat....it was really uncomfortable and would take hours to become comfortable again. What I did was really focused on my nutrition (I did exercise but not much)...I made sure to eat my protein and calcium I also took vitamin C, krill oil and vitamin D. You cannot even see where I broke the wrist on xrays anymore and I really think that was because of how good my nutrition was.
  • MzBug
    MzBug Posts: 2,173 Member
    My guy broke his ankle in 2 places last October. He was in a cast and on crutches for 8 weeks. It was supposed to be 6 weeks. Because he is a stubborn cuss he tried to stay upright on his crutches too much and that caused some severe swelling. When you can't move your lower leg, your muscles can not force the extra fluid out of your tissues, so you swell up. The swelling can cause a whole host of other issues and extend your cast and crutch time. Give your body time to heal. Do as the doctor suggests. You could ask the doc for a visit to a physical therapist who could instruct you on some exercises.

    For what it's worth, he lost 10 pounds while using the crutches.

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