help! fractured ankle

[disco01]

im c5-6 incomplete. i fell out of my chair and fractured my ankle. didnt realize anything was wrong until the next night when my attendant started to roll my ankle and my whole body went into severe spasms. got xray next day and this young doc started to put on a bulky cast. i told him i hv bad nerve pain in the back of my heel and up my achilles but he didnt listen and didnt leave any space for my hee. i told another doc my heel was killing me and he said cut it off. i wear boots at night to protect my heels and had one with me. the doc saw one and said that will work! so now im wearing my night boot for a fractured ankle! is this common or standard practice? it seemed like a cop out by the doc to me. need some advice!

[cara_m]

I broke my ankle when I was in college. I had a "walking" cast on. If I were you I would give it the best possible set you can. Not sure if anything other than a cast will help but I can say that now 30 years later my ankle throbs evey so often especially dependent on the weather. It also has a tendency to want to have more of a foot drop unless you work at preventing it. Be stern and let them know you can feel pain, whatever type you have. I had a hard time back then getting drugs for the pain because they kept saying I was paralyzed and couldn't feel it. They probably thought I was some young coed who just wanted drugs. Truthfully I still think there are still some ignorant health care providers when it comes to sci.

By the way, if you do get a cast be prepared for some remarks. You wouldn't believe the comments I got from some people saying how lazy I was using a chair since I only had a short cast on. It was a lot easier at first picking up guys since they didn't realize I was using a wheelchair full time. lol

[Sue Pendleton]

When I broke my wrist I had a regular hard cast with TONS of extra padding because of a contracture the first 3 weeks. Theen when I went back and the swelling had gone down they did another xray to make sure everything was still in place and then put on what is called a "soft cast". I'm not sure if these work with ankles but they make a sort of wet thick padding type of mold for the area and tape it on using ace bandages. It dries on the wrist and then you can remove it for quick showers, etc. But, and he was real clear here, NO pressure on it or stretching. It was two pieces of something like florists use for temporary arrangements like wadded newspaper. Put each side on after showers then had some help with retaping it. Can't be too tight or you shut the blood flow off. Too loose and the soft cast is like no cast. Might ask if they can do something like that if a hard cast isn't possible. And make sure you see a orthepedic surgeon/orthopod. They tend to work together and since they work on spines understand our problems.

[JenJen]

disco.
I've become somewhat of an "expert" on fractures since I've had so many post-injury LOL. The bad thing about a cast is that no one can tell if you have skin breakdown in there. Ask your doc for an AFO or KAFO that will stablize tthe site but allow for twice daily skin checks.

[SCI-Nurse]

See an orthopedist, not just an ER doctor. While splinting is much preferred to a cast, there are different types of splints, and some work better than others both to splint the fracture while it heals, and to prevent skin breakdown. I have seen many pressure ulcers under regular cases. A splint should be removed (with help to protect the fracture) daily for skin inspection.

Be sure you are not doing any weight bearing during transfers, no standing, and it is best if you can keep it elevated for the first week or so. Ice will help with both pain and swelling.

(KLD)

[crazyskiier83]

I have wondered about this since my accident, but have not had a broken bone since where I've had to find out. I'm a C4/5 Quad, and I have a fair amount of "shaky" spasms in my lower legs and wrists. What would happen if I broke an ankle or a wrist? I know from pre-SCI experience that trying to move something that you broken would be what we call a "bad idea", even when it's in a cast.

There is no doubt that if I were to have a cast put on an ankle or a wrist that I would still have tons of spasms. Is this a problem? Would I just have to take a lot more spasm meds?

[Chaz19]

disco -- I actually had a similar experience and broke both sides my ankles about six weeks ago. It swelled like crazy and I havefair sensation in my ankles so I caught it pretty quickly.
if it is all possible -- make sure -- but you can get a cam- locker instead of that cast. I just got the locker off last week without any skin breakdown because I was able to check it pretty much everyday, with tons of Velcro straps and air cushions and helps to keep the ankle in a good position.
I actually healed relatively fast considering the break -- possibly because I had massage in that leg every two weeks to keep the blood circulation moving.

I hope you heal fast

[crazyskiier83]

Originally Posted by crazyskiier83

I have wondered about this since my accident, but have not had a broken bone since where I've had to find out. I'm a C4/5 Quad, and I have a fair amount of "shaky" spasms in my lower legs and wrists. What would happen if I broke an ankle or a wrist? I know from pre-SCI experience that trying to move something that you broken would be what we call a "bad idea", even when it's in a cast.

There is no doubt that if I were to have a cast put on an ankle or a wrist that I would still have tons of spasms. Is this a problem? Would I just have to take a lot more spasm meds?

So no one has anything to say about this?

[SCI-Nurse]

The leg can still be moved even if the anke or other parts are in a cast. A cast on the ankle would keep the ankle/foot from bending/moving. YOu can move the other parts of the leg.

CWO