Causes
- Twisting or rotating your ankle in an abnormal way
- Rolling your ankle
- Tripping or falling
- Pre-existing ligament tears leading to abnormal use of ankle
- Impact during a car accident
Symptoms
Because a severe ankle sprain can feel the same as a broken ankle, every ankle injury should be evaluated by a podiatrist. Symptoms may vary between patients, however; if you have any of the symptoms below we advise an immediate appointment and to eliminate weight bearing.
- Immediate and severe pain
- Swelling
- Bruising
- Tenderness when touched
- Unable to put pressure on injured foot
- Any physical signs of deformity such as bone protruding towards the skin.
Nonsurgical Treatment
At Da Vinci Foot and Ankle it is our priority to get you to the road of healing. While surgery may be unavoidable for some, non-surgical treatment is what we prefer to begin with if the ankle is stable and not out of place.
We incorporate several different methods to protect the fracture while it heals. These range from special foot wear to casting. During non surgical treatment, multiple appointments are made within a 6 week period to ensure the fracture had not moved and that healing is taking place.
Surgical Treatment
If the fracture is out of place or your ankle is unstable, your fracture may need to be treated with surgery. During ankle surgery, the bone fragments are first repositioned into their normal alignment and then held together with special screws and metal plates attached to the outer surface of the bone. In some cases, a screw or rod inside the bone may be used to keep the bone fragments together while they heal.