Fractured ankle - how long off

Cyclops

Cyclops

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I know that's a bit like "how long is a piece of string" but I fractured my ankle last weekend (my fault - take off dispute with my youngster) - paramedic said not broken but ankle was agony - got horse back to box untacked, unstudded etc (limping badly) and got us home, turned out and fed. Even limped round Morrisons. Ice pack, hot bath, bandage then hospital on Monday am - told one, maybe two fractures, pot up to the knee put on and told in no uncertain terms no weight and am back on Tuesday to see if its started to knit or if surgery is needed. How long did it take you guys to get back riding

A. If you didn't need surgery and how long were you non weight bearing

B. If you had to have surgery and pins put in

Not sure whether to get someone else to have my more experienced eventer to keep her going after her break and start her next season or just let her have a break till Jan and start myself -

also how did your ankle hold up when you started eventing again (please bear in mind I'm getting on ((52))!!)

anyone's past experiences would be most welcome
 
How strange, I have had exactly the same thing happen to me! I have an ankle fracture and 2 x breaks in my Fibula. I will be told next Thursday if they need to operate, otherwise 6 wks in plaster and then another 4 weeks before it starts to get a bit stronger. I technically could ride as soon as the plaster comes off however it there was to be another fall it would re-break and back to square one! I have my instructor riding my boy once a week so he'll pretty much be having a holiday until the new year!
 
Sorry forgot to say that definitely no weight bearing for 6 wks so the first time I can stand on it is when the plaster comes off which is a bit daunting, I have an image of it just flopping to the side lol
 
done it twice!

first one - displaced #, no surgery, 2 weeks non weight bearing, 6 weeks in walking cast, back riding again 2 weeks after cast off, but had physio as did all ligaments at the same time
second one - walked on it for a week, thought it felt funny, turned out to be fractured. Straight into a walking cast for 7 weeks. Erm... rode with cast on!
 
Thanks both of you - Hoping I can go weightbearing next week but dreading the worst - Riding with a cast on sounds just like what I was planning! But at my age........!
 
Cyclops said:
Thanks both of you - Hoping I can go weightbearing next week but dreading the worst - Riding with a cast on sounds just like what I was planning! But at my age........!
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I had thought about the possibility of riding with cast on and was told in no uncertain terms not to! Plus my boy is only 4 and is quite spooky/lively so I'll be patient and wait for it to come off first :)
 
A little different but I broke 4 bones in my foot in April and after two operations , the whole summer non weight baring I e now only been back riding for a month!! And back off for the last opperation in march!! It's killed me all year but I'm already back competing :D I really should get done pictures on here to show you all the wires and pins that where hanging out my foot for weeks!! :O
 
Cyclops said:
BODY SCRUB - Love it - Will start buying it in tomorrow in anticipation!

Thanks guys - and hope yours mends quickly Jess
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It was so fricking itchy! I won't mention the hair :eek::eek:
Keeping it elevated when sat down really helped me too, otherwise by the end of the day it felt so heavy and horrible
My ankles are my (very weak) point as my bones in my feet and ankle have some fusion thing so I break them easily
 
I was told to have 6 months off when I broke my back. I didn't have an operation. Think I was riding after 4 months though - physio told me it was good for my muscle development :) Did hunter trials 6 months after my accident. All the best :)
 
brighthair said:
It was so fricking itchy! I won't mention the hair :eek::eek:
Keeping it elevated when sat down really helped me too, otherwise by the end of the day it felt so heavy and horrible
My ankles are my (very weak) point as my bones in my feet and ankle have some fusion thing so I break them easily
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I am DREADING the hair!! When I had my plaster replaced earlier on this week I really wished I could quickly shave it before the new one came on :D. But I will deifinitely be tootling off to buy some body scrub! I'm using a ruler to get to the itcy bits at the moment :o.

Hopes yours mends quickly too cyclops :)
 
Never mind the hair....iits the flakey skin!! bleugh....

Anyway, mine was slightly diff as broke couple of bones in foot but had lot of damage to ankle, think it was dislocated and popped back after. So i had 2 weeks non weight bearing without cast as too swollen, then 3 weeks with a weight bearing cast. Was back on horse as soon as could get some shoes on, which was 2 days i think. surprisingly riding was more comfortable than walking initially.

Would highly recommend getting some physio when cast comes off. i was shocked how little movement i had in m ankle, could flex it about an inch and that was it. physio recommended massage and standing on one leg whilst holding onto something to reawaken your (long word beginning with p that i can never remember that means balance) skills, to avoid further injury :)
 
I badly broke ankle and leg and was off for 5 months but it was a particularly serious injury. What I think is very important is to find yourself a good physio as soon as you can. You can get it on NHS but generally a proper sports physio can do more quicker, the NHS are not geared up to get riders or sports people fully mobile again!

My ankle doesn't have quite the same mobility it had and sometimes I find it easier to work with slightly different stirrup lengths to compensate but you learn to live it.

Good luck with the healing every sympathy and I am in the same boat but with a hip this time!!
 
My daughter had a simple fracture of her ankle when she was 14. Had a pot up to the knee for six weeks. She rode the day it came off, but she later admitted it was about another month before she got full strength back.

I have subsequently taught her to parachute roll. It was a determination to land and stay on her feet that cost her!! Joking apart, I think a few injuries could be reduced if riders were taught how to fall properly but I've never seen or heard of this.
 
I'm another for the broken ankle from trying to land on my feet! Keep asking the local riding club to have break fall training as an event for members!

I had plate and pins in. Was a bad fracture as pilot fracture to distal tibia. I was 6 weeks non weight bearing and another 6 weeks trying to get off the crutches.

I rode for the first time on a mechanical horse and my did it hurt! Postponed getting on my horse for 2 weeks whilst doing exercises to get me back in saddle.

Get to physio as soon as you can is the best advice and if it hurts then don't push it or you will pay for it later.

It was 5 months before I got back on my horse and a good few months building strength in ankle as it hurt if in saddle too long.

Been 15 months since break and still in pain so my plate is coming out. My range of movement in ankle is not what it used to be but is getting better.

A good site for advice is www.mybrokenleg.com...... Quite a few horse people on there with broken legs!

Hope you don't need the operation so your healing is much quicker. Good luck :D
 
I broke mine (bone came through one side and other side a bit was crushed) had an op the same day. Was in cast for 6 weeks and started weight bearing slightly for the last week. Got back on about a week after I came out if cast. They said I could put all my weight on it as soon as my cast came off. (the op was to put pins in one side and a plate in the other side).
 
Rosie1989 said:
I broke mine (bone came through one side and other side a bit was crushed) had an op the same day. Was in cast for 6 weeks and started weight bearing slightly for the last week. Got back on about a week after I came out if cast. They said I could put all my weight on it as soon as my cast came off. (the op was to put pins in one side and a plate in the other side).
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:eek: that sounds horrific!! Did you have any problems after or are you all fixed now :)
 
Ditto all the advice re finding a good SPORTS physio who understands equestrian sports. Also, tempting though it is not to, please follow all the advice given by your doctors and don't try to short circuit your recovery.

I had multiple fractures in both ankles twenty years ago and basically I totally f:cked up my riding career by trying to return too quickly for a particular event. I can now plantarflex but have NO dorsiflexion in either joint; it's impossible to maintain a classical position and SOOOOOO frustrating when you know how to/what to but just CAN'T!!! :mad: You end up compensating and some horses are angelic enough to cope with your inadequacies, and I still hunt, but many, quite rightly, refuse to.
 
I did my ankle in at the start of August. Other than ligemant/ tendon damage I don't fully know what damage was done to it as it was 5 weeks until I got it properly looked at :o got an A + E referal (:confused:) and it was fair to say that the doctors and nurses were not impressed. Got mucked about by 4 different doctors over a few weeks, one of which thought I had a hair line fracture (that was healed by the time I got it x rayed), one basically told me to grow up and stop complaining... eventually got physio, which made so much of a difference.

I was 9 weeks out of the saddle, probably not helped by the fact that despite not riding, I still went to most of the competitions with friends and still walked all the courses and such... I was limping for 2 weeks and sore for a further 4 weeks.
 
I broke and dislocated mine in May - was operated next days

6 pins on outside and double fracture on fibula....pin through ankle. One other pin taken out at 8 weeks

I was non weight bearing 6 weeks...and I was VERY good about keeping it elevated and had very little pain as not really getting the swelling. At 6 weeks walking cast on...and then partical weight bearing...and then one pin out that was fixing ankle at 8 weeks. then full weight bearing

rode at 9 and half weeks...Had physio from week 7 and had it every week with acupuncture and ultrasound as well did all exercises

still going to physio once a fortnight now.

ankle feels good. I was very lucky so people tell me but I also did do as I was told...until that pin was out...as was rold 3 months till riding but as soon as I was ok to drive I rode
 
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