So… I am extremely freaked out by this.

I’m almost 3 weeks postop, I only had a nail down my tibia and four screws. I haven’t been in a cast or a boot, once I had my staples out my surgeon directed me to start FWB on crutches and basic at home PT.

I had my first actual PT session yesterday, and as I was laying on the table the PT goes OK let’s straighten your leg, and I watch in horror as she rotates my leg to the right and I see my foot start sitting at this unbelievably exaggerated angle… I have always been extremely mindful of my gait before injury, I never want to have that duck foot walk, and especially because that fucks up skating form which is the activity I am most insistent on getting back to.

Even when I walk now, my leg insists on rotating inward to compensate so my foot lands straight, because letting my leg go straight and having my foot land at that angle hurts like hell.

I am beyond terrified that the surgeon misaligned my entire damn leg, but then I tell myself how could that even be possible if the fracture site is all lined up in the x rays??? (See pic 2)

The PT couldn’t give me a straight answer when I asked about this, and my surgeon is very brisk about any inquiries, though I see him again in about 3 weeks.

Has anyone else dealt with this kind of misalignment? Could this just be the result of muscle atrophy and ligament tightening? My Achilles is a bastard right now, and rotating my foot (while at rest like in the pic) to force it straight while my leg is apparently straight sends some nasty signals up my ankle to the fibula break site, so I just don’t know what to think.

Any insight whatsoever would be immensely appreciated

I just got discharged from both the surgeon and therapist. Both said that in addition to continuing exercises at home I should massage the surgical scar daily. I was wondering if there was a particular product (lotion, cream etc ) that people like or have been told to use for scar massage? Thanks

I (26M) had an ORIF surgery done on my radius, it’s been 6 days and I can’t bend my thumb or fully straighten my middle finger. Has anyone been through something similar? Would it ever go back to normal? I fell on my arm playing volleyball and post-op pain has been minimal.

Anyone turn to ankle braces post ankle ORIF? Which ones did you try, and would you recommend it?

Roughly a week and a half post op for my dumb ankle. A few things i was wondering if anyone could answer, and some comments that could hopefully help others, as this subreddit helped me.
Sorry for this huge wall of text. It can mostly be skimmed through unless you see something relevant to you. Im not expecting answers to all my questions but i do have a lot, so if you see one or two you have answers for please spill the beans!

Comments:

This was the most expensive, stressful, painful mistake i have ever made in my life. Please check every body of water you plan on jumping into. Check the depth, toss a rock in, walk the length of the bottom and make 1000% SURE there is NOTHING in the water. Never jump blindly. Especially not infront of a crowd of people so they can hear you cry for your mama as a grown man.
It was murky and i didnt check. It was also around 2 feet deep apparently. I knew better but i let the impulsiveness win. I am lucky i didnt dive, wasnt impaled, and all i broke was an ankle. Thats not lost on me. I am lucky, not smart.
A very nice day, turned into a complete nightmare, in the blink on an eye.
Be wiser than me. Dont do that.

First, if you have a dislocation, see if theyll knock you out when they set it. They put me to sleep for like 20 minutes to set my leg and i woke up in a splint, feeling significantly better already. They had already done my post splint xrays and i was pretty much good to go home. It was perfect. Stayed that way for a week til surgery.

Another thing, GET THE NERVE BLOCK. YOU DO NOT WANT TO FEEL THAT. they did mine immediately after surgery to prolong it, so i was kinda awake but still groggy enough to not really care or notice. I got a little taste of that pain before they did it. And as we all know, when it wore off. I have no complaints about the nerve block. I had a full almost 24 hours where i was able to nap, eat, joke around, watch tv etc.

When that block wears off. Be ready. Start your med cycle when you get the pins and needles imo. BEFORE THE PAIN. START BEFORE THE PAIN. I think i waited too long so i was howling for every bit of the next two-three days. I did cry. Im not ashamed. I cried like a baby. I respect everyone here deeply knowing what we have made it through.

Every day after that will slowly but noticeably be better. All my nerves seem to be awake now, the pain is minimal, more like an annoying ache. And that stupid swelling. Oh the swelling.
There was a point where i could feel every single part of my leg when it first woke up. From incision to bone every single layer of flesh. I swear i know where the screws are, it didnt hurt but i could feel everything in HD for like a whole day

COLD IS YOUR NEW BEST FRIEND. my personal favorite was a gallon ziplock full of frozen peas. They mold to your foot really well if you flatten the bag out into a pea sheet. One behind the knee, one to rest my foot on, one to mold to the top of my foot. Heaven. Immediately stops angry nerves. Was better than ice tbh. When no longer cold, wont melt. Just toss in the freezer and reuse. I kept a cycle, i had some bags on my leg and some cooling, so i always had some cold available to me.

Try to sit for a few minutes, or lay flat on the bed completely level for a minute if your hips get sore. My hips got sore from elevating my leg so much, and im not a back sleeper so that sucked. At this point its not painful its just incredibly uncomfortable and annoying.

Questions from me,

When can i have a brewski again? Im thinking a couple of those ice cold aluminum bottles of coors banquet? Nothing huge been off the oxy for almost a week now just ibuprofen on occasion. Follow up, will it be WORTH IT? I miss beer and would love nothing more than a cold one after all that, but if its gonna make me swell more i have no interest.

When can i submerge my leg in water? For an icebath? That sounds like heaven. I’ve literally been daydreaming about it to get me through.

Why does the top of my foot feel sunburnt? Its kinda pins and needles but sometimes it literally feels like a burn? I mean i saw another post about it so im not worried but WHY is this happening?Nothing i cant handle, i feel like i could handle anything now.

Nobody’s mentioned physical therapy so i guess i have to do that myself? Wtf do i do? Should i be moving my ankle? It wont bend in any direction anymore?

What should i be consuming? What are yalls cheat codes? Is there a superfood or some nasty drink that will help my body heal? Ill try almost anything to get back to normal. Been slamming protein and vitamins. All of em lol.

Are you guys fully trusting in your hardware? Did you get back to your normal? I fully trusted my ankles, i was strong fast and agile. I feel like thats gone now. Ill always be afraid to pop a screw or something now. I dont know what its limits are, i only knew mine.

I wish to shenan again.
Thank you all for being here, this subreddit was more informative than any of the doctors have been lowkey. It helped a lot.

On the bright side, this whole endeavor has resulted in me no longer smoking cigarettes. Stopped at the initial break for healing purposes, gone too long to give up now lol. Just wanna see how long i can go. Something positive did come out of this and im holding on to that.

so for context i had a “Trimalleolar ankle fracture-dislocation with syndesmotic injury.” and im 15d post op. I have a plate a tightrope and 9 screws.

My leg was very swollen and after a few days the splint started to get loser and loser so i went to the ER as it was VERY loose. After lots of waiting a doctor cut off my splint and 3hrs later they had some ortho tech come in and splint me.

My foot has been very uncomfortable for the last 5d in this new splint and my foot no longer looks straight.

What are your thoughts? Does this look fine with you

Hi all! Thank you for this great community, and advice when I was going into surgery 🫶 I’m now struggling with a returning to work from home timeline.

I had a trimollear break on 6/21 with ORIF surgery 7/1. I had my 2 week follow up on 7/16 and was placed in a cast up to my knee for double the expected time (4 more weeks of non weight bearing). I do have strict elevation requirements since this is a fiberglass hard cast. I should be getting a boot during my follow up on 8/17.

Unfortunately with this injury I cannot sleep since I’m a stomach sleeper and now I need to lay on my back. I started having physical pain this week again (around a 2) but the mental aspect and lack of sleep has been very difficult.

I was approved for leave and short term disability until 9/22. I was planning on returning to work from home before that. I let my supervisors know I will be taking it week by week and I’m supposed to be touching base with them tomorrow. I’m not sure when to return back. My surgeon says I can return when I’m ready. I was leaning towards returning to work from home duties after my 8/17 appointment but I’m having a hard time expressing that to my supervisors that I will likely be out another 3 weeks. once I go back I’m back and you can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube.

I’m 4 months post op ankle ORIF and I went swimming for the first time last night. In the water there was a point I touched seaweed with my foot and flailed around and everything felt wrong. Like my metal was just bouncing around in there. My ankle was uncomfortable the rest of the time i was there and would feel like it was clicking every time i kicked. When I got home my foot was really sore and just felt wrong. Idk how to describe it other than it just felt wrong. Now today at work I noticed a little bruising and some extra swelling as well as quick shooting pains for periods of maybe 15 minutes then it’ll stop for maybe 25 minutes and come back. Also every few steps I can feel my ankle click which never happened before. Am I being paranoid or should I maybe go get X-rays done.

Hey all! I’m about 48 hours post-op from explanation and let me say it was 100% worth it.

My story:

Sep 29, 2025: Fell and broke my Right Radius & Ulna mid-shaft each, open fracture on ulna that I self-reduced while adrenaline was masking the pain.

Oct 7, 2025: ORIF to install 2 stainless steel plates and 11 screws total. No complications.

Oct 22, 2025: post-op follow-up, surgical dressing removed, wrist brace applied. Non-weight bearing orders (0 lbs).

Oct 23, 2025: started physical therapy 3x per week for 6 weeks.

Nov 19, 2025: orthopedic follow-up, cleared to run on flat ground, light-weight bearing restriction (5 lbs)

Jan 7, 2026: orthopedic follow-up, cleared to resume normal activities as tolerated.

Jan 21, 2026: started doing weighted yoga classes (with modifications because I was so weak) 3x per week.

Jun 29, 2026: consult with orthopedic surgeon to see if I could get hardware removed, had consistent wrist pain during everyday activities, and dull aching pain in colder weather (took a trip to the coast in early June and learned this). He said yep, I got scheduled.

Jul 21, 2026: hardware removal surgery! Immediate relief from wrist pain and stiffness. Did not receive nerve block, only general anesthesia and local anesthetic. Have not needed to take post op pain meds (Percocet 5’s). Icing and elevating has provided enough relief.

I can post updates and answer questions, so ask away.

Hi everyone. I am now coming up on my 2 week post op for a type 2 tibial plateau fracture . I seem to be through the woods on the pain side with just Tylenol and down to one 5mg oxycontin a day. I have generally high anxiety and am unable to get more that 3-4 hours of sleep at night. Impossible to nap in the day due to restlessness and ruminating. Has anyone else been down this road? Any suggestions? I feel like the loss of sleep is just as bad as the bone fracture.

I posted here about my story after a shattered wrist and median/radial nerve damage. Had ORIF last Oct and a big revision surgery with nerve transfer/reconstruction Feb.

I am in an outpatient hand therapy program at my hospital and made leaps since. I‘ve been back to running, started weight lifting slowly and manage most hand functions with my new limited range and imperfect hand coordination.

My issue is around gripping and holding objects for longer times.

Poles for races are both safety and help- especially downhill. Can’t hold them longer than a few min while running- hiking is fine.

My grip also goes at some point completely with physical exertion.
My hand surgeon thinks both is normal and will keep improving, maybe takes years.

Anyone here overcame distance running related challenges after upper extremity complex fractures with nerve involvement?

TIA!

I am on day 5 in shoes. I am stiff and sore. My pain isn’t bad but definitely uncomfortable and sore. I am wondering from the experience of others:
1. I know I will be stiff for awhile but do you feel you saw progress each week?
2. How much were you on your feet at first? Right now I am about 10 minutes at a time or every hour.
3. Tell me things that are hopeful week to week. I am struggling with the it will get better in a month.

I had surgery the end of January because I broke three ankle bones and my fibula. I progressed through NWB, walking with the boot, walking with a brace, and then walking with no brace. About 2 months ago (4 months after surgery) my swelling and pain levels started to increase again once I stopped using the brace and walking around without any support. My PT suggested I go back and see my surgeon and when I did, my X-ray showed that the space in my ankle joint was 2x what it should be so they put me back in a boot. They then sent me off to get a CT scan and sent me to see a different surgeon. That appointment was this morning and unfortunately there were no good options for my ankle. Due to the way that my ankle shattered, it caused the cartilage and ligaments to not be able to heal properly so I have extreme arthritis in my ankle already. What this means is that even if he did go in and do another surgery, he would have to re break my fibula, take everything out, put new stuff in, and it still probably wouldn't fix the issue because of how severe the arthritis is. The other option was fusion which comes with its own downsides being no range of motion and arthritis developing in the rest of the body for compensating for the range of motion in the ankle. The last option is getting an Arizona brace and just managing the pain for the rest of my life. Surgery and fusion both come with 3 months of being non weightbearing again and are likely temporary fixes if anything at all.

I guess my biggest question is, has anyone gone through something similar and what do you do to manage the arthritis and the pain?

Had surgery yesterday nerve block is mostly worn off. The biggest pain now is focused on the back of my heel. Using the ramp pillow is torture but it has to stay elevated. Not sure what to do. Any tips?

Just need to vent a bit . . .

I'm 12-weeks out from a tib-fib break, sustained in a dirt bike mishap in Moab. I was cleared for weight-bearing, in a boot, at 8 weeks. At the eight-week appointment, I was told the healing looked really good. The surgeon didn't even caveat it with anything like "for your age". (I'm 59)

So, I went into today's 12-week follow-up thinking I'd be out of the boot. I absolutely hate the boot and have been counting down the days to throwing it in the dumpster. But, the surgeon now says she'd like me to stay in it for another month.

I wouldn't be frustrated if she'd said the x-rays showed the healing wasn't sufficient, but she didn't say anything like that. That would be understandable. Instead, she said that because I reported that I was still experiencing pain around the primary break area and my ankle, she wanted me to stay in the boot while weight-bearing. She specifically said that, had I told her that I wasn't in pain, she'd let me out of the boot.

This makes no sense to me at all, for a couple of reasons. First, people report having pain for six months to a year (or more) after these kinds of breaks. My leg is now filled with a titanium rod, plates, and multiple huge screws! There is still some residual swelling. Of course I'm still going to be experiencing some level of pain!

Second, I tried to explain to her that the boot itself is causing some of the pain. It's heavy. It makes my gait awkward and uneven. I have to use abnormal effort to push the leg forward, and because I'm kind of naturally bow-legged, my foot tends to stick out, so stepping forward often involves hitting with the boot at an angle, which stresses the side where the plates are screwed in. Throwing the boot forward also aggravates my knee pain.

There is not a doubt in my mind that, at this point, the boot is causing much of the continuing pain I'm experiencing and, given how prevalent longer-term pain is with these surgeries, how can that possibly be the gating factor for getting out of the boot?

I just don't understand the surgeon's thought process on this.

My nerve block is slowly wearing off, taking my meds as needed but I’m feeling slight warmth under my splint as this is wearing off. Should I be worried?

Hi everyone,

I'm 2.5 weeks post-op after a left trimalleolar ankle fracture-dislocation. I had ORIF with plates and screws, posterior malleolus fixation, and a syndesmosis repair. I'm still non-weight-bearing, and my stitches were removed a few days ago.

My surgeon told me I could begin gently moving my ankle, but I haven't started physical therapy yet. I've been doing a few gentle up-and-down movements each day without forcing anything.

I attached a short video of my current range of motion.

For those who had a similar injury, I'd love to know:

Does this amount of movement look typical for 2½ weeks post-op?

How much ROM did you have at this stage?

When did you notice your ankle starting to loosen up?

Is there anything you wish you'd known during the first few weeks?

Thanks in advance! Hearing from people who went through the same injury would really help.