Questions for those who have had ankle ligament surgery with casts - Foot Problems Message Board

Roseisarose · 09-27-2004, 09:57 PM

Hi Everyone--

I was definitely improving, but I seem to have taken a little turn for the worse. It seems like I might be having some swelling in my cast? My toes aren't blue, but I have had increasing discomfort the last few days. It is entirely different from the pain I orginally had.

I have been doing a lot of icing, and today I am trying to keep my foot elevated and to stay off it entirely (I was told to walk to tolerance).

Has anyone else had something like this? I called my dr. yesterday to at least ask for a sleeping pill (I haven't slept well since they put the cast on) and I really don't mean to be whiny and bug them if this is normal.

all best, Rose

kehorner · 09-28-2004, 12:09 AM

You shouldn't worry about bugging your doctor. Any questions that you have, you should ask them. Even if it is normal, the doc should be happy to tell you that. It sounds odd, though, that it is getting worse. It could be an infection. Or it could just be that the cast is not padded enough in the right spots, since you say that you haven't been comfortable since they put it on. My first cast was not very comfortable. The swelling went down a lot and my incision was rubbing on the inside of the cast. I called the doc and they got me in the next day to get the cast changed.

Do you know that it is actually swollen, or is it just that it is uncomfortable? Might it be that the pain from the incision is less now and you are noticing other types of pain from the other stuff they did in there? I found that I had all kinds of different weird pains. It could also be that you are spending more time up and around now that you are feeling a little better and that is causing more swelling and pain.

But definitely call the doctor and ask about it. Even if he says that it's normal, if it doesn't get better in a day or two and it is really uncomfortable, call him again. You know your body, and if it feels like something isn't right in there, then you should get it checked out. Hope that helps, and I hope that you feel better soon!

atsim · 09-28-2004, 05:37 AM

Hi Rose,
Doing too much, too soon, was a hard lesson for me to learn. And some days. I swear my foot got worse because of the weather. I had problems with my first cast and put up with it for several days because I didn't want to be a "baby." Then when I finally told the Doc, she cut it off and re-cast it and the pain improved tremendously. What a relief.

My best advice, from experience, is to slow down and speak up. You are the best judge of what you're experiencing. I thought recovery was supposed to be a steady progression upward...wrong...it's been up and down, good days and bad.

Good luck and take it easy...
Tina

frogy · 09-28-2004, 07:05 AM

I am not sure how long its been since your surgery. I was 6 weeks NWB, during that time I always kept my foot elevated and I was taking pain pills at night to help me sleep. As soon as I did start PWB (in the boot) my foot swelled up for quite a while.

keep icing and keep elevating.

Roseisarose · 09-28-2004, 01:11 PM

Thanks folks, they are going to split my cast this afternoon. I guess I wish they had told me that that was possible in the first place, but oh well.

rose