HELP PLEASE. ankle recovery 9months on and still cant run on it. normal?

[luke.magpie]

Hi, i was wondering if any one could help. At the begining of january i fractured the outer side of my ankle snowboarding (sorry i dont know the name of the bone), it did'nt show on a xray so i had scans and it clearly shows that thers a fracture. the first week it wasnt in a cast just an ankle support (whilst i waited for the scans). i thought it was just sprained so i walked on it quite abit. the doctor then put a cast on for three weeks (french doctor) not that iv got any thing against french doctors. after that i started walking on it straight away with out physio or any thing. reading all the other threads i realise that the cast should have been on much longer and i should have had phsyio on it, so now im worried that iv done damage to it for life.
I still cant run that well and if i walk on it for a long while it seizes up which results in realy pain full walking(is this just the tendons and muscles or maybe the frature hasnt healed propely?) should i be doing alot of physio on it?its been 10 months since i done it and the snowboarding season starts soon with alot of comps lined up. I love my extreme sports so if any one could give any advise of any kind would be really really helpfull.
thanks alot for your time
luke

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[iliastolos]

Luke.magpie,
You should have seen an MD (doctor) before deciding to take the cast off your leg. An x-ray was necessary so as to confirm normal bone healing process. Therefore, I advise you to visit an orthopaedist, let him examine you and he/she will guide you. Normally, he/she will ask you to have an x-ray to check the bone (you're talking about the fibula I assume). If the bone is healed properly, then physiotherapy sessions might be the next step to restore function.
Let us know of your next steps.
ilias

[luke.magpie]

Hi ,
thanks alot for replying so quick.
i had xrays on it when it first happened but nothing showed up. i had to have a scan and then it clearly showed a fracture (some doctors call it snowboarders ankle). a well known injury for us snowboarders.
any way, the main pain comes after i have walked on it for a long while.After about an hour of sitting down it feels like my tendons and ligements on the side and top of my foot are inflamed and they all start throbbing, i am then unable to walk on it. Is this normal for how long iv been out the cast(10 months) or is it because i havent had any physio on it? also the main pain in the foot is the outer when i try and slightly roll or bang it. the pain shocks my whole body.
I know i should just go to the doctors but im having to go away soon for 5 months and the wait to see a doctor is about 2 weeks so any advice you could give me over the net would be more than helpful.
Thank you very much once again for your time .

luke

[pudding_bowl]

sounds like you did a potts fracture... 10 months later... I'd be getting you to run on it, but wouldn't expect it to be super painful. It doesn't sound like your medical management was adequate - e.g. no post cast xray to confirm healed and no physio to guide your rehabilitation.

You need to get an xray to check if it's still damaged and need to see a physio to help guide your rehab... specifically - ROM exercises to ensure the ankle is fully mobile post fracture, the physio can also mobilise the joint to help with this. you need strengthening exercises especially of the everters as they are the muscles in the area of the break and they will have become very weak. And most important because your a sports person your need proprioreceptive exercises to help you prevent getting further injury - this is mostly wobble board and standing on 1 leg.
However before you go doing much exercise a repeat xray is worthwhile to really check you won't damage it further by going into a heavy snowboard season. at 10 months though any healing that was supposed to take place should be done by now. so best to just get a very good physio who can guide you through the new season

[luke.magpie]

hi to all,

Id quickly like to thank pudding bowl and iliastolos for your time and advice towards my foot recovery, i am very grateful. But today i have found a letter that was in with my scans that i had'nt even read.
Im hoping some one out there knows a bit about this kind of fracture because im not really finding much on the net. It was in french so iv put it through a translater and this is what iv got back.

"confirmation of a fracture of the lateral tuber of the tallus with trait of fracture stretching in practice compared with under - tailenne later.
no complication with type of the luxation.on finds a fracture of the antéro-médial tuber of the calcanéus, fractures extraction.
not of other shown post traumatic anomaly"

(the doctor didnt tell me any thing about what had happened to me, he just put the cast on and sent me on my way,nice)
I know some of the words are still in french, sorry about that but it will not translate them and my french isnt the best.
so if any body does know about this kind of fracture, advice on any paticula physio i should be doing would be great.

many thanks again for your time to read this

luke

[pudding_bowl]

Doesn't sound like a potts fracture after all. it says you'v fractured your talus and calcaneus google to see where they are...
Recon you need a repeat xray to check it and a physio to guide you through. basically what I said before.
Cheers

[markmiller]

In my opinion, you need to actively rehab your ankle and significantly improve the strength in and around the ankle joint. You also need to get in there and break up the scar tissue and improve range of motion. If you have a good rehab pro, then use him/her.

If not, I have found an excellent at home rehab program that I recommend to all my clients. It is called H.E.M. It works quickly and is extremely effective.

I have yet to find anything else that is simple to do and can be done at home without any equipment. It contains a complete rehab and prehab treatment program with a wide variety of healing techniques, stretches and exercises. Give it a shot and let me know what you think.

Best,
Mark