Why do the bones in my foot hurt so much when I try to walk after my broken ankle?

janewhite1

Okay, you need to transition back into walking. You can't go directly from crutches to normal. There will be some pain, but really severe pain can be a sign you are pushing too fast.

Have you been partial-weight-bearing in the boot? Or outside of the boot? Have you had physical therapy?

Jen51

I had been putting a little weight on my foot, as it began to feel better, but only with the crutches. I was surprised when the doctor told me to stop using them and the boot immediately. I have had to continue with the crutches, but am trying to put more weight on the foot gradually. The pain is quite severe, though. It is mostly my foot and ankle, but I sometimes feel pain all the way up to my knee. I know that four months is a long time to not use a limb and he said that all of my bones were weakening, but I just don't want to do more damage by trying to walk with no help when it hurts so much. I am concerned that I may fall again.

The x-ray still showed the small bone in the ankle to be broken, but it does not seem to be causing me any trouble. It is just all of the other foot bones that are so painful when I put my weight on the foot to walk.

I am wondering if anyone else has experienced such slow healing and extreme pain when trying to walk again.

I appreciate your response and will definitely try moving forward more slowly.

janewhite1

When you walk, all the little joints in your feet move and flex a bit. This can be VERY painful if they've gotten out of the habit. Also, after so long in a cast, the nerves get a little weird and oversensitive. Like if you sit in a dark room for hours, even a little light can hurt your eyes. Massaging the foot and leg some can help the nerves get used to the world again.

You might find walking a bit more comfortable if you stretch your leg and foot and flex your ankle and toes first.

I'm not the doctor, but pushing through severe pain never seems like a good idea to me. Maybe if the patient just isn't making any progress, then it's time to take away the crutches cold turkey, but it seems that as long as your walking is substantially improving from one week to the next, it ought to be good enough.

I believe that full weight bearing in the boot will be more effective at rebuilding bone, and that partial weight bearing without will build your calf muscle better.

Definitely, you should be exercising your leg at least 3-5 times a day until you are walking enough to get around a bit.

Ask for physical therapy, your PT is your friend.

triguy450

Hi Jen,

I just went thru heel bone surgery and recovery. I know what you are going thru. I hope my thoughts will help you into walking again.

Jane brings up some great points. You have not walked on your foot in a while. Between atrophy, the bones heeling and the ligaments and tendons getting tight from lack of use, it will take some time for any pain to subside as you put pressure on your foot.

I felt tremendous pain when I 1st applied pressure. The doc wasn't much help with preparing me for what I would face. He told me my PT would help me thru this process.

If, after you walk or put pressure on the foot an it hurts. Does the pain stop when you take the pressure off? If yes, this is good news news. If no, then you might be doing some damage. This is your indication to back off, rest for a 24-48 hours then try again. My nurse's words exactly.

MY PT said the same thing. If the pain stops, it is good news. There will be pain with this transition. Listen to your foot tell telling you how hard to push and when to back off and rest. You will have to suck it up tho and push into some painful times, but don't over do it either.

In this stage, your foot is just like a baby. Babies don't sit up, crawl or walk right away. It's a slow process and takes time.

I am 7 months post op and still feel discomfort from time to time. The foot is a very complicated piece of the body. There are tendons, muscles, nerves and blodd vessles not to mention the bones in there too. All these have to work together to make it work.

Have you seen a PT yet? Physical Therapist? If not, I recommend them highly.

Please feel free to ask more questions. I, and several other heelies have or are going thru the same process.

Ed

prissymis

ive been dealing with a double compound fracture of the tib/fib for almost 2yrs and 5 surgeries my last surgery the took bone from my pelvis for a bone graph. so this time im no weight bearing but before i could never walk right it always hurt i had a limp i would use crutches most of the time i just want to heal i have 3 young kids that are very active so this has been hard on them and my family plus my bro in law is the one that did this to me we were on his atv rhino and he flipped it trying to scare me well now im paying for it. so i know where your coming from with the slow healing. take care

triguy450

Hi prissymis,

My wife had a similar operation where they took marrow from the hip and replanted it into her jaw bone where there was a tumor. She has the same issues with, at times, high pain levels in her hip and sometimes limps.

I am sorry you are still having issues with your legs and hips. I do hope your body will repair itself and you can be active with your family again.

Ed

levyana

Ed,

Thank you so much for your response...It was helpful to me and hope it is for the original poster I googled to see what others have gone through with foot injuries. I'm recovering from bone fusion surgery in my rt foot and I just started the stage of walking with the boot without the crutches. I was non-weight bearing for about 2 months. I am surprised at the pain I feel walking now...I honestly thought that I would start walking with the boot and there wouldn't be any pain I'm glad to hear that pain is normal...I started getting a little scared.

I'm used to ripping and running, so walking slowly is definitely not the norm for me...but I will also take the advice of taking it slowly.

Ana

triguy450

Ana,

Foot injuries are the toughest of all injuries. We really take our everyday lives for granted until we take away one of our feet, hands or thumbs.

Your foot hasn't had any weight on it for a period of time after suffering from some major trauma. Yes, major, as my surgeon put it to me.

I expected no pain when I started walking again but found it otherwise and it hurt like you know what. It does get better after a while, but it's the process of getting the foot moving, flexible and weight bearing that is so painful.

Remember there is light at the other end of the tunnel and all will be normal again someday. Stay focused and positive.

Ed

roxygirl1

Have you seen a physical therapist yet? They can help improve the range of motion of the foot which can really help reduce the pain significantly