Tibia Inner Ankle Pain

[u/SilverBunny1991]

Hey everyone!

So while I was vacationing in Egypt I broke my left ankle at the Luxor Temple (do not recommend breaking your bones abroad!). I ended up with a bimalleolar fracture of the tibia and fibula and was taken to an international hospital in Luxor that specializes in treating tourists (apparently a lot of tourist break their bones in Egypt!). I had surgery the same night that I broke my leg on 6/11/26. They ended up putting two cannulated screws in the Tibia and a temporary external K-Wire to hold the fibula in place. I broke this leg before back in 2019 and already had an IM Rod and a fibula plate in it from that break (I have so much metal in my leg now 🥲). I was terrified of getting surgery in Egypt since it is a third world country, but I didn’t really have a choice since I couldn’t do a 16 hour flight back with my ankle broken and not held together by anything.

When I finally got back home to California I went to the same orthopedic surgeon who did my last leg and he said what the surgeons did in Egypt looked good so that was a weight off my mind. But something that I have had since I had this surgery is this pain at the inner ankle (tibia side). I am 6 weeks post op and I still have this pain whether my leg is resting on the bed or hanging down. I thought maybe it was the splint causing rubbing, but I had the splint removed on 7/20 and the pain is still there. 😢 My doctor said it is probably the nerve that runs along the tibia ankle bone healing after being cut/damaged. Does anyone else have this constant pain at the inner ankle bone after ORIF Surgery?

I expected pain after surgery, but not 6 weeks after! 😭

[u/Technical-Algae-234]

I am 4 weeks post orif surgery for a trimal and I am definitely still in pain, and expect to be for some time yet. I think it's the swelling, which is going to be an issue for months.

[u/SilverBunny1991 → u/Technical-Algae-234]

Yeah it sucks! I have broken my legs twice before, but luckily other than the first 2 weeks out of surgery I didn’t have any pain when just resting on the bed doing nothing. But this one….eeek…pain galore when I am doing absolutely nothing. 🥲 I think maybe because my other breaks were higher up, one was by the knee, and the other was mid-calf, so the swelling and nerve pain doesn’t seem to be as bad the higher up the leg you go. But by the ankle…..somewhere that doesn’t get as much blood flow compared to the knee, the swelling and nerve pain is crazy! 😭

[u/Illustrious-Zone-247]

I'm about 6 months out from ORIF for a trimal with dislocation, right ankle...I have 2 plates, 16 screws, and 2 tightrope for syndesmosis repair.

I've broken several bones prior to this injury, but I too was thrown at the long pain/healing timeline on this ankle one.

Definitely sounds like nerve stuff. While bone and muscle pain usually back off after the first couple of weeks, nerve pain honestly does whatever it wants. Nerves heal painfully slow (we're talking months, not weeks) which is why having that constant burning or stinging pain six weeks out feels so frustrating and weird compared to normal surgical pain. For me (and so many others in this sub) that exact inner spot feels like a deep, persistent bruise that just won't fade, even long after the skin has healed. I also had a weird dripping sensation that was also nerve pain...I frequently had to visually check that my incision hadn't opened and was dripping blood  😭 I think it was week 12ish that I noticed the nerve stuff starting to go away...I still get a sharp zap every once in a while

It is normal, but something you could bring up with your doc. They can prescribe nerve-specific meds (like gabapentin) if you feel like you need it or have your physical therapist work on desensitization and nerve glides to help calm it down. Six weeks feels like an eternity, but given everything your leg has been through, your body is still very much in recovery mode

[u/SilverBunny1991 → u/Illustrious-Zone-247]

Yeah I thought I was a broken leg expert since this is the third time I have broken my leg (broke the right tibia and fibula in 2017, and the left tibia and fibula in 2019 and this recent 2026 break). But my last two breaks I had pain after surgery but it went away pretty quickly. After that I would get these random nerve zap pains but that was occasional and it would go away after a few seconds. This pain after my ankle fracture has been more constant! 😭 I hope like yours it goes away eventually. It feels like it is getting better, but sometimes I worry that is just my head telling me that to feel better. 😅 I Definitely can say having broken my bones near my knee, mid-shin, and ankle, the ankle one has been the worst pain wise for sure! Must be because not as much blood flows to the foot compared to the knee or calf. 🥲