UKC

I've recently broken my ankle and had to have plates and screws.
Just wondered if anyone else has been in this position and how long did it take to pick up were you left off, as at the minute for me it feels like forever already and i've only been laid up for just over a week..

Cheers Gaz.

In reply to gazfellows:

took about 2months for me. although i didnt have any plates etc but did have to go back in for an op which then took a further 6-8 weeks to come back from.

problem is that ankles have shit blood flow to them and therefore take longer to recover from.

keep the chin up though and enjoy some jeremy kyle and judge judy and time will fly by!

In reply to gazfellows:

I'm still wearing my moonboot 9 weeks after my Talus fracture. I've just been told by the doc to start weight-baring on it. No physio until May so I don't think I'll be on the hill or crag until the summer.

I hope you have a complete recovery.

In reply to gazfellows: My totally unprofessional view is that you need to get the joint moving as quickly as possible, I have a feeling this increases blood flow and speeds things up. It sounds like you have some withdrawl symptoms, don't worry the summer finished yesterday, it's going to rain for the next two months.

In reply to gazfellows:

It depends on the break, and especially the soft tissue damage. I broke my left ankle boulder hopping at Portland a few years back. Seven screws and a plate, two ops. A year later I was still unable to run, with perhaps 40% range of motion loss, and healing process tapered off.

I was advised by a fellow who'd had a very similar fracture coming off his MC to have all the metal work taken out, which I did. My surgeon fully agreed that this could kick-start the healing process, and also be safer if you have a life style meaning you're at risk from breaking it again. A couple of months after that I was basically back to normal, albeit still requiring a bit of limbering up first thing in the morning.

Prepare for a long rehab, would be my advice. Funnily enough, even when it was bad, it didn't seem to affect my climbing that much, but running was impossible.

stef

In reply to caradoc: The key word here is unprofessional (look that word up in the dictionary).
Listen to your consultant and your physio, they will know from doing the op and your xray's how the joint has been fixed. Things might not go quick enough for you but have patience and let the fracture heel, dont over do the stretching exercise or you may put your recovery back.
Sorry to be a kill joy.Hope things go ok.

In reply to gazfellows:

I broke my ankle last July, fortunately it was a nice easy fracture so didn't need any screws or plates. I was 6 weeks in a moon boot, then stared physio pretty much straight away. Luckily I have health insurance so went private which meant I had 2-3 sessions a week for 3 months which was a huge help and definitely got me going quicker. In terms of time scales It has only realy just started to feel normal again. I was running about a month after coming out of the moon boot, but only for a very short time and very very slowly. I think I only got back to my pre break fitness around February time.

I am still a pit precious of it though, and have had a number of set backs, though they are my fault for trying to run to far, to fast, to quickly.

I made a model airplane out of balsa wood when I was laid up, something I had always wanted to do, but had never had the time to.

In reply to gazfellows:

A 'broken ankle' is a very moveable feast. My impression is that on average a year should do it, but obviously it varies.

jcm

In reply to crag-gossip:

ouch.


or dont. my consultant told me I would never be able to snowboard or climb again which was a load of b*lloxs.

In reply to gazfellows:

I have had minor fractures in both - no plates etc. The worst of them took quite a long time to heal to it's final state. By that I mean that it was persistently sore at extremes of movement for almost 18 months. That shouldn't put you off however because I was back and active on it after about 2 months (limping). I could still climb ok but torquing in cracks or high rockovers on small edges made me aware of it - it never gave way or anything - just felt sore/weak.

i went for physio for 6 weeks and got very little benefit (i'm sure others have had more positive experiences). The turning point for me was after about 9 months when I got fed up with the persistent weakness and went out, found some steep roads and ran hard up and down them to force the ankle to work hard. Initially running up a very steep hill I struggled to get my heel onto the ground and it hurt, so i just kept at it again and again and within weeks started to get more range of movement and felt like the joint strengthened. I am sure strengthening the surrounding muscles played a part too.

My number one piece of advice is to get some lightweight boots for the hills. My rule now is that i just won't wear trainers in the hills - there's no way i'm going through all that again.

The end point in recovery terms was at about 18 months i.e. I stopped noticing any improvement at that stage. I am not in any way limited by it although it can ache a bit now and then.

In reply to gazfellows: I fractured my talus in early Jan, was in cast/moonboot for 11 weeks and stopped using a crutch a couple of weeks after. Still swollen and in slight pain walking and only just starting to think about climbing again.

In reply to gazfellows: i broke my medial malleolus in Nov 2010. Was in plaster for 8 weeks, then crutches for another 3. I'm still getting physio now, and still cannot run.
keep your chin up mate, as it really got me down at times.
Get yourself a good physio and once you can, keep stretching your ankle joint so you dont lose too much mobility.

Good luck

In reply to gazfellows:

Ankles are rubbish... but they are as variable as they are rubbish. I broke the tip off of the knobbly bit, and damaged the tendon that attaches there at the same time, and it took about 9 months before I was able to use it at 90-95%... but that was over 5 years ago... and even now I have days when it ceases to fully function without giving me more aggro than a wife with a credit card and a spending fetish!

Ultimately it depends on whether you have damaged anything other than bone, and how clean the breaks are. It's very much a "how long is a piece of string" question with ankles.

I wish you all the best and a full and swift recovery either way.

In reply to gazfellows:

Broke mine at the end of November, cast off 12th Jan, and attempted the Inn Pinn two weeks later. Stupid idea, but getting it moving early really helped I think. That said, I didn't need any metal which certainly helped the recovery time.

In reply to gazfellows:

There was a recent thread on a relevant topic:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=451654

I was non-weight bearing for 3 months, with physio for mobility, then built up gradually with lots of walking and cycling. Was climbing again in 6 months (a bit gingerly at first!). My advice: be patient and get it strong again before risking more trauma.

In reply to gazfellows:
I started replying when you first posted but stopped because I thought it would be depressing. Since everyone else has weighed in with similiar tales, here is mine.
I broke my ankle ski-diving (well landing actually). Two plates and 7 screws. That was 3 years ago. I could not put weight on it for 3 months, then it was another 3 or 4 before I could walk properly. I had lots of pysio. Three years later I still can't run on it and it hurts in the morning.

On the brighter side I was climbing in six months (but being very protective of it) and snowboarding the following winter (8 months). I can cycle now no problems and do some pretty long mountain walks without too much trouble.

So be prepared for a long haul and try not to eat too much (I put on 10 kg)
Good luck getting better - Six months sounds like a long time looking ahead but it's not so bad

Good luck

In reply to gazfellows:

Broke mine a couple of years back. No metal work for me though. Was none weight bearing for 7 weeks. Cast drove me insane, tried to convince the hospital to take it off after 6 weeks but they wouldn't go for it. Such a relief to finally get it off. Only you'll know what you canand can't do when the cast comes off. My strength cameback reasonably quickly but sports like footy which involve lots of quick turning etc was still causing stiffness/soreness for around a year without a support. Physio was quite happy for me to climb and run so long as I didn't abuse my ankle.

In reply to gazfellows:

I broke my lateral malleolus 7 weeks ago, fixed with a plate and 7 screws. I was non weight bearing for 4 weeks after the operation, have been partially weight bearing with crutches for a couple of weeks, and today managed the length of the physio dept corridoor with no crutches!

It's getting better but I wonder too how long it'll take to get back to normal activities, seems like more of a long term project that I thought/hoped at first. Certainly needs patience! From what I've read it seems to vary a lot though.

Good luck, hope it all goes well for you.

In reply to gazfellows: hi Gaz,
i broke my ankle on 8th march this year. was on an indoor bouldering wall, about 2m up and lost my footing as i was downclimbing it, landed flat on feet on a very thick mat but as soon as i landed i heard a hideous snap :S my ankle is broken in 3 places,fibula, tibia and talus and dislocated it also. got operated on 3days later and have plates and screws like yourself. 2 weeks after op i got cast off which i think has vastly improved my chances of getting back up and about quickly as you can start moving the ankle and stretching. i have another 10days of non weight bearing till i have another xray then i can start putting weight on it.
give yourself plenty of time to recover and lots of rest, ive found it exhausting walking around on crutches and end up very sore and swollen the following day if ive done too much.
def see about getting the cast off so that you can start moving the foot and getting the blood to it, i have found i have lost a lot of muscle strength in just the two weeks i was in the cast!
good luck with your recovery and let us know how you get on!!!

In reply to elaine0022:

Will do..

And thanx guys..