Question: I fell on Wednesday afternoon, hurting my right ankle (as well as other parts of my body, not as seriously). I managed to walk afterwards to complete the chores I needed to do, but my ankle was painful (lateral malleolus area) and started swelling immediately. I went to a local storefront clinic, they took X-rays, and I was told I have an avulsion fracture of the fibula, not serious, and the doctor ace wrapped it and told me to come back Sunday for an air cast splint. Since I have a trip planned for next Wednesday, I decided to see an orthopedist yesterday. He took one quick look at the X-rays and immediately confirmed the initial diagnosis, seemed to indicate a fairly minor injury, and did give me an air cast splint. He said the splint was to prevent lateral movement of my ankle, that anterior/posterior movement is fine. I felt much less pain, practically no pain, when walking with the splint. He said it would take about 4 weeks to heal. I asked him about driving, to which he responded "just be careful"...not sure how he meant that (not the most communicative doctor). I neglected to ask him about showering and wearing the splint while sleeping, so those are my most immediate concerns now.
I am a 66 year old active female in fairly good health, despite mild HTN and slightly high cholesterol, which are controlled with meds. I am a retired Occupational Therapist who worked in Physical Rehab, mainly orthopedics, so I have some basic knowledge in this area.
My ankles are very (too) flexible (I can never wear high heels), and I had a terrible ankle sprain when I was a teenager and I've had numerous minor ankle pains since then...a simple ace wrap for a day or two relieves the pain.
I just tried sleeping in the air cast splint and found it very uncomfortable. I'm afraid to sleep without ankle support because of my ankle flexibility and the fact that I move a lot when I'm sleeping. Would ace wrapping be sufficient for sleeping. Unfortunately, I need to go to the bathroom several times during the night...would an ace wrap be enough support for that (about 30 feet away from my bedroom)?
And should I get a cast cover for showering?
I just noticed that "User Category" says back pain...I guess I missed something somewhere...should be ankle pain
might be significant...I have very flat feet, overpronate when walking...wear orthotics in my sneakers
Thank you for your help.