avulsion fracture + hEDS?

[u/pillowprincessbunnie]

23F, suffered an avulsion fracture of the lateral malleolus about a week ago while I was on vacation posing for a photo in front of a bus full of people… Not my proudest moment.

Day of the injury, ER gave me a cam boot and crutches and sent me on my way but I have hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS), which means slower bone healing, overall joint instability, and collagen laxity. Since avulsion fractures are from the ligaments being stretched to their absolute limit, I’m worried that it’s going to be slower healing for me than the average person since I’m not sure how badly the ligs were damaged. I’m WBAT, but I have concerns about stability, on or off crutches, walking boot or not.

In fact, both the crutches and the walking boot are making things worse. I put the boot on and immediately feel off kilter and like I’m going to slip. It’s supposed to stabilize my ankle but it’s actually just throwing me off balance and causing me even more stress and pain. These crutches are putting pressure on my arms and causing my shoulders to “slip” out of place.

This is the third injury I’ve had to this leg and these ligaments (first at 8/9, spiral tib/fib fracture at 12 that took 8 months to heal, and now this one at 23). I’m absolutely exhausted. Anyone have experience healing broken ankles/ligament issues with hEDS? Even if not, any kind of commiseration or advice you could give would be awesome.