Our Vancouver Podiatrists Explain When a Broken Foot or Ankle Needs Surgery
If you’ve experienced a broken foot or ankle, deciding what the next steps of your recovery should be can be stressful, especially if you need to get back on your feet as quickly as possible. Sometimes, fractures require surgery rather than just a cast or brace, but how does a foot doctor make that determination?
At Clover Podiatry, we consider every factor affecting your break, including its severity and your overall health history, to put together a comprehensive recovery plan that works for you. Our skilled podiatrists won’t recommend surgery unless it’s absolutely necessary for your full recovery and better mobility. Here’s what you should know.
Is Your Injury a Fracture or a Sprain? What a Podiatry Exam Reveals
Sometimes it’s difficult to determine whether your foot or ankle is broken or sprained, especially since more severe sprains can cause a fair amount of pain. These injuries also share similar symptoms including, but not limited to:
- Sudden, severe pain
- Redness and swelling
- Tenderness
- Difficulty walking or putting weight on the affected foot or ankle
Additionally, if you have suffered a fracture, more walking can damage the tendons and ligaments surrounding the bone, making your condition even worse. That’s why it’s important to see a podiatrist as soon as possible after injuring your foot or ankle.
You might experience a broken foot or ankle for various reasons, such as:
- A hard fall
- A motor vehicle accident
- Twisting, falling on, or hitting your ankle or foot during sports
- Tripping
Broken foot or ankle injuries range from small cracks in the bone to larger fractures or even multiple breaks in the same area. Our skilled foot doctors at Clover Podiatry use various methods to determine whether you have a sprain or break:
- Physical exam. We test your range of motion and, if you’re able, ask you to walk around to watch your gait.
- X-rays. These imaging tests clearly show fractures.
- Bone scan. We might also use bone scans to find breaks that don’t show up on X-rays.
- Ultrasound. This helps reveal soft tissue damage.
- MRI scan. This provides a complete picture of bones and soft tissues to determine the full extent of your injury.
Clover Podiatry’s Treatment Options for a Broken Ankle or Foot
Simple, stable breaks often require only a boot, splint, or cast to reinforce the area as it heals. In our diagnosis, we’ll consider the location and severity of the fracture to determine whether you can still put weight on the injured foot or ankle during recovery. Additional care might also include the RICE protocol—rest, ice, compression, and elevation—and over-the-counter or prescription pain medication. A broken bone usually takes 6 weeks or longer to heal properly.
At Clover Podiatry, our foot doctors consider numerous factors when deciding if your broken foot or ankle needs surgery. These include:
- The severity of the break and its location
- Your foot or ankle stability
- Your overall health
- Your activity level prior to the break
Generally, surgery is the recommended course of treatment to help realign bones, improve stability, and prevent long-term complications such as arthritis. We often perform surgery for:
- Injuries involving multiple breaks of the bone.
- Displaced fractures, which means pieces of the bone are misaligned or separated.
- A break accompanied by a dislocation of a joint.
- A break with torn ligaments or tendons.
- Bones that have broken through the skin.
Surgical options may include open reduction to reposition misaligned bones or internal fixation—which involves inserting plates, rods, screws, or wires)—to provide stability while the bone heals.
Recovery from foot or ankle surgery depends on the severity of your condition. On average, for moderate conditions, it will be at least 8 weeks before you return to normal activities. For more complicated fractures, it may be up to 6 months. Make sure to talk with us about how to return to your favorite sports or workplace requirements and if you’ll need special footwear to avoid further injury.