Need advice about long term ankle fracture

Did your Dr tell you what the fracture distraction measurements were? A hairline fracture goes through inflammatory to callusing ove, in 4-5 weeks. Has the Dr shown you x-rays of your injury site? You should be able to see if it is healed, and IF you're merely going through the fusion stage, hence the pain or there is inflammation buried deeper within the fracture-line or who knows. Your fracture distraction is likely larger than assumed upon diagnosis, IF IT HAS taken this long to heal.

Are you wearing a brace or something of that nature to stabilise your ankle whilst healing? Bone healing machines are only as useful as the number of treatments available. Sometimes it's feasible to check it, and not completely rely on the prescribed uses. You're not sharing whether or not you've seen your x-rays to ascertain for yourself if the fracture site had callused over at all.

When I had broken my ankle, I was prescribed 20 cycles, but the machine given to me had 10 cycles left. Re-upping was difficult -all machines were already taken and full doses were enroute from source, taking 5-6 more weeks of possible waiting, so I bought 20 more cycles through 3 different machines on eBay. I also wore a brace for a year with PT twice a week @home administered by my sister, given by my Dr. Walking was encouraged to "weight load/bear" the injury site. It usually hurts to move it, bear weight on it because it's still sponge-like bone. When it fuses, usually 8-12 months with proper PT, one should be able to run on it and play football by year 2.

Have you increased your protein intake? Eggs, steak, whole milk, yoghurt?

Not a doctor here, just bouncing around some ideas The problem with fracturing little joint bones like wrist or ankle is there’s not a lot of blood supply moving through there to clean out the damaged cells and bring nutrients to form new cells to repair the fracture. I understand the use of ice and antiinflammatories but have you tried using therapeutic heat? Heat can help dilate capillaries and enhance blood flow to the joint. I’d also look into warm epsom salt foot soaks since the magnesium can be soothing and help with inflammation as well.
It might sound unconventional but if shoes cause you pain, have you considered barefooting? I don’t have foot issues but I walk, hike and run barefoot and it feels very natural to me to be outdoors without shoes. Barefooting has the added benefit of using all the foot structures as nature intended versus shoes that limit movement. I imagine if you can get some movement to the joint that would also enhance blood flow and healing. Maybe try a short walk barefoot in the park? Of course you will need to consult with your doctor about any new treatments such as heat or new movements like barefooting just to be on the safe side. Hope it heals soon, good luck to you!

Not an ankle fracture, but I had a hip stress fracture that took 11 freaking months to heal, so I totally get the frustration. I used crutches for awhile to really keep off it, but there wasn't much else to do to help it heal. It was incredibly frustrating because they'd said it'd take maybe 2 months to heal. So, there is hope.

I had broken my ankle too last year. I had complications of it not healing also. My doctor told me it was a pretty bad break. I got surgery to put plates and screws in. Then waited for it to heal, well the first month of healing it was still bleeding. How I don’t know? The doctor would tell me it looks fine nothing looks bad, X-ray looks good. So he told me to wait let my ankle heal more. So I did and still blood was coming out. Told me the same thing again to wait and let it heal. Then I developed holes? Like blisters I guess but really deep down to the bone that’s how bad one of the holes got. He would do these little treatments on it where he just put a stick in the hole and idk? And also just keep giving me antibiotics. I didn’t get a cast, I got a boot. I was able to walk a little bit i was also going to PT but I was always limping the bone and the holes just didn’t heal. So I ended up going to a wound specialist on my own because my surgeon was no help at all. They tried healing the holes with honey and dressings for about a month and still no progress. So I went back to my surgeon and was like okay it’s been 6 months and I’m not healed. Why! He would just tell me oh it’s because your body rejected the sutures and excuses I had no idea what he was talking about. And so he finally decided to do another surgery and remove the plates and screws I ended up having a bacteria infection in my bone . So then I got on more antibiotics and Met with a different doctor who specializes in that. Forgot what it was called. Then ended up getting pneumonia from the very strong antibiotic they prescribed me. Got hospitalized for almost 3 weeks. Last year was a struggle! lol but my ankle is fine now no more holes. And I’m able to walk with no limp and I’m even running now still gets a little stiff from time to time but I’m sure if I go back to PT all will be well. Anywayyysss lol long story short is: I would get a second opinion from another doctor to see what they say. It never hurts to hear another opinion or 3 or 4 lol. Doctors are humans too. They mess up as well. They can easily misdiagnose. So you have to use your voice and speak up for yourself. It’s your life, your body. I wish I could go back and tell him he’s an idiot and go with a different doctor. But you live and you learn. Can’t do anything about it.

Laura48593 wrote: »

Just an update because it’s been a while since I posted this:

I had surgery 12/14. A joint fusion and bone graft because the fracture STILL wasn’t healing and the doctor said he could already see the beginning stages of arthritis. Post-op healing is going great! Just now able to be weightbearing as of last week and when I go back at the end of March the doc is going to see about getting me out of my boot. Since my initial injury I’ve gained about 35 lbs due to inactivity and depression which led to me eating my feelings (I am a person who needs to be active and I was devastated about sitting still). Thanks for sharing your stories everyone. Just thought I would share my most recent!

Fantastic update. 👍 Hope you will eventually choose to redirect your depression which unfortunately is a side effect with such injuries. At the very least you KNOW where you extra calories are coming from.

Sending positive energies towards continued healing Laura.