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Ankle injuries

lucy

Angel Diva
I hope you start to feel better soon. (Interesting that a broken ankle would be such common ground.) Ditto everyone’s comments. I broke my ankle in Thiland… and they gave me wooden crutches that I used for the next week. It was terrible. I had blisters and bruises! When I came home, I had surgery and invested in a a pair of mobilegs crutches… you can find them on Amazon now… I needed to get up and down stairs at home, so a scooter wasn’t a good option. The new crutches had webbing for under the arms and they were ergonomically designed to make them easier to use. I don’t know if they are the right choice for everyone, but they really helped me heal and be mobile.
Do get the handicap parking pass. It’s worth it.
In the kitchen, I put old tennis balls on the legs of a barstool. It was easy to slide around on the floor and then use it for sitting for longer tasks.
Time with crutches: 12 weeks. It’s one of those things that creates a lot of empathy. Get well soon!
 

Christy

Angel Diva
Oh, @lucy, breaking your ankle on an international trip! Bad for many reasons.

@Jenny it's somewhat ouchy. They gave me Tylenol 3, and I've taken a few. They weren't going to give me anything and I asked if it was okay to take Oxy I got after my hysterectomy in 2013. The urgent care practitioner looked horrified and said, please don't, i'll prescribe something.
 

WaterGirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Sorry @Chirsty, hope you heal soon -
I think I just need to get used to hobbling in the boot and not fret about putting weight on it. I like @vickie 's office chair idea for moving items around.
+1 on the rolling office chair -

Thoughts on the 'hobbling" - fwiw my neighbor was in a boot for 2 months, and after week one he made a shoe with a 'double' sole so that he would be at a balanced height on both legs.
 

BlueSkies

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Almost 30 yeqars ago I broke both tibia and fibula including the ankle on one of the bones. ( you know it's bad when the ortho describes the bone as shattered.) I had a great ortho and managed to avoid surgery/plates. I had a full leg cast for 3-4 weeks but after about a week of feeling sorry for myself I decided I had to deal with it. (I had a 1 and 3 yr old at the time) and once I got a below the knee cast so I could fit behind the wheel (cast was on left foot) I returned to work. My advice/comments:
Crutches were a pain initially, but after a week or so I got muscles and I could get around better (and faster) than using a wheel chair when available (scooters were not an option then).
Tying a plastic bag to crutches works for transporting small items
A stool is great for sitting at the kitchen counter,or for short periods balancing on the good leg is great for our balance but it's easier to use a crutch or 2 for support
A rolling office chair is great. Used that almost exclusively at work.
 

Pequenita

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
@Christy , you regularly do Pilates and would be fine on crutches if that’s what you chose. It’s triceps and core. With the boot, what I would be concerned about is making sure your unbooted leg is the same length as the other so you don’t have too uneven a gait - so find your fattest soled flat.

I was non-weight bearing on one leg for 6 weeks, lived alone, and could only use crutches due to the location of my fracture. I cannot for the life of me remember how I ate (standing on one leg? Every meal? I don’t know how I would have brought a plate to a table!) but I am pretty sure I got either takeout or ate Trader Joe’s. For grocery shopping, I used a personal assistant/concierge service. This experience was pretty much like the first month of the pandemic shutdowns last year, except I could walk during the pandemic….
 

BlueSkies

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
@Christy , you regularly do Pilates and would be fine on crutches if that’s what you chose. It’s triceps and core. With the boot, what I would be concerned about is making sure your unbooted leg is the same length as the other so you don’t have too uneven a gait - so find your fattest soled flat.

I was non-weight bearing on one leg for 6 weeks, lived alone, and could only use crutches due to the location of my fracture. I cannot for the life of me remember how I ate (standing on one leg? Every meal? I don’t know how I would have brought a plate to a table!) but I am pretty sure I got either takeout or ate Trader Joe’s. For grocery shopping, I used a personal assistant/concierge service. This experience was pretty much like the first month of the pandemic shutdowns last year, except I could walk during the pandemic….
Agree, Pilates should make crutches easy (wish I had been doing Pilates back then).
I remember doing a 'kitchen shuffle' to get my meals to the table when I was home alone. Starting at the fridge transfer all items to counter, fix plate and slide along the counter and out along the L, then stand between the L and the table to transfer to the table. Repeat for a beverage. Reverse to clear the table.
 

Christy

Angel Diva
It seems odd to me that the doctor says I don't need crutches, that I am fine in the boot. I'm not sure if I should go ahead and get them anyway. I am paranoid I'm not inflating the boot enough, or overinflating...

@Pequenita that sounds really hard.
 

Christy

Angel Diva
With the boot, what I would be concerned about is making sure your unbooted leg is the same length as the other so you don’t have too uneven a gait - so find your fattest soled flat.

Oooh, I didn't know about this but Googling, I see many recommend getting a special shoe balancer. Do you think that is necessary?

This whole thing happened because I was wearing new hiking shoes with too thick a sole. I've long had issues with thick soles shoes--I've rolled my ankle a number of times in them--but it's been a while since I had any and kinda forgot about it. But that's why I tripped.
 

liquidfeet

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
....This whole thing happened because I was wearing new hiking shoes with too thick a sole. I've long had issues with thick soles shoes--I've rolled my ankle a number of times in them--but it's been a while since I had any and kinda forgot about it. But that's why I tripped.
Thick soles are dangerous, or at least in my experience they are. That is why I don't like those very popular HOKA athletic shoes. I'm surprised so many people find them safe. Was it HOKAs that allowed your ankle to roll?
 

Iwannaski

Angel Diva
I had this problem during my “I love Dansko clogs“ phase. I kept rolling my ankles. I suppose I was lucky to not do real damage.

I’m now a birkenstock/merrell wearer almost exclusively. The pandemic really has allowed me to slack on any kind of fancy shoe wearing.
 

Jenny

Angel Diva
My podiatrist actually recommended Hokas to me, and the ortho said they were fine. I actually had a new pair that I wore on the non-booted foot and it balanced it out really well. He also said they were good for afterward, because apparently your feet sink down a little bit into them, so when I was fretting about what to wear after everything came off he said they were good. I still bought hiking boots, though, because hey - new shoes!
 

Christy

Angel Diva
Thick soles are dangerous, or at least in my experience they are. That is why I don't like those very popular HOKA athletic shoes. I'm surprised so many people find them safe. Was it HOKAs that allowed your ankle to roll?
Oboz. These. Plenty of people must do fine in these kind of shoes, but I will never wear them again.

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Christy

Angel Diva
What about a cane? If the dr says I don't need crutches, but I'm feeling like I want something to ease the weight on that leg, would a cane do the trick? Or are crutches better?
 

vickie

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Do you have trekking poles with rubber tips? Might try them to see how that feels. Try with two. Try with one (holding on the non-injured side). Canes have flat tops that you can push down on more, but the poles may give you an idea of whether that would be enough.
 

Iwannaski

Angel Diva
@Christy … why do you want to ease the weight? Pain?

If they want you weight bearing, there’s probably a reason? If it’s too much you need to take it easy?
My only caution is that there is a correlation between weight and bone stimulation. That may be why they want you walking on it.
:goodluck:
 

Christy

Angel Diva
@Christy … why do you want to ease the weight? Pain?

If they want you weight bearing, there’s probably a reason? If it’s too much you need to take it easy?
My only caution is that there is a correlation between weight and bone stimulation. That may be why they want you walking on it.
:goodluck:

It just feels weird and hard and it's easier when I can reach out to something like a counter or chair back, so I figured "official" support would be nice. This is one of the frustrating things--I feel like I got such wishy washy answers. He didn't say not to use anything, but just that I won't need to. If it is hurting, I might be overdoing it. etc.
 

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