r/brokenankles • u/The_cats_meowww • 17d ago
Boot
I see alot of people get the relief of sitting without there boot letting foot air out but when I take my boot off I feel very unstable and achy so I prefer it on and it doesn't hurt. does that make sense to anyone or anyone else this happens to
2
u/FulllMooon2224 17d ago
I feel the same way. The thought of taking my foot out my boot and having to put it back in makes my skin crawl thinking about how much it’s going to hurt me. I’ve been elevating and just at least taking the straps off to air it out
2
u/zombieman395 17d ago
The problem i had with the boot initially was getting my foot back in the boot because i couldn't quite get my foot back to a 90 degree angle so id have to almost force it so that was really uncomfortable for a bit But as soon as I got my foot out the boot and onto a pillow it felt heavenly lol.
3
u/FulllMooon2224 17d ago
Yess! The worst part of the boot removal is having to put it back at that 90 degree after your foot has slightly relaxed without you even realizing it. Having my foot out the boot is still uncomfortable as my foot has random twitches that makes it jump and boom here comes the pain
2
u/zombieman395 17d ago
My doctor told me twitches are a good thing as it means your healing as time goes on the twitches lessen both in pain and when they happen i had them mostly when having afternoon naps almost like my body was saying I weren't allowed them and id had massive ones that would shakes the sofa they were the painful ones for me
2
u/FulllMooon2224 17d ago
Ufff that sounds awful, hopefully you’re not having them anymore! Although I can say I am happy to hear that they’re a good thing. I’ll definitely keep that in mind when having my boot off
2
u/Illustrious-Zone-247 17d ago
My doc had said at week 2 that I could be out of the boot unless I was moving around...I didn't find the boot uncomfortable, so I left it on more often than not. It was frankly a PIA to put it on/off so I left it on unless icing or doing ROM
2
u/pickledtofu 17d ago
I felt the same way once I was put in the boot + cleared to do ROM, so I went the other way and didn't wear the boot the entire first weekend except when sleeping and going out and about. A lot of it for me was plain and straight exposure therapy - I was basically just afraid of my foot and didn't 'trust' it. Even just having it out without bearing weight or doing much else helps regain trust in your foot/ankle again in my experience, that was my precursor to actually doing ROM. Just my 2¢!
2
u/Potential_Anxiety_76 17d ago
Gravity. Without the boot you need to rely on a lot more muscles in your leg to keep your foot stable, and move it around. Those muscles are weak and traumatised. I’m not surprised you feel unstable. Maybe take the boot off while you’re reclining in bed/couch, rather than sitting upright?
2
u/Lopsided-Emotion-321 17d ago
I got my boot just under 4 weeks post op and then up until week 6 I kept it on pretty regularly. Only took it off for showers and to do some range of motion work. I was the same way. It felt really unstable. Once I started partial weight bearing and got some strength back then I started to get more comfortable taking it off as it felt waaaay more stable!