All Swole Up
July 29, 2011 6:13 AM Subscribe
My leg was run over by a car in may. I can walk again, but every afternoon my ankle swells up. What causes this? How long can I anticipate it will last?
The injury, as you might imagine, was pretty bad. I have a plate on my tibia and a pin in my fibula. Even though the bones have healed enough to walk on, there's no doubt in my mind that I have plenty of healing to do.
But every afternoon, ankle gets swollen, and it's really annoying and uncomfortable. I can alleviate it through elevation, but I've returned to work, and there's no real convenient way to elevate my leg (I've tried laying it across the top of my computer tower...it sort of works.
Anyway, I'm wondering What causes this kind of swelling, and how long I should expect it to last. It's kind of driving me crazy.
The injury, as you might imagine, was pretty bad. I have a plate on my tibia and a pin in my fibula. Even though the bones have healed enough to walk on, there's no doubt in my mind that I have plenty of healing to do.
But every afternoon, ankle gets swollen, and it's really annoying and uncomfortable. I can alleviate it through elevation, but I've returned to work, and there's no real convenient way to elevate my leg (I've tried laying it across the top of my computer tower...it sort of works.
Anyway, I'm wondering What causes this kind of swelling, and how long I should expect it to last. It's kind of driving me crazy.
Look into compression hose for that leg. Ask your doctor about it.
posted by JayRwv at 6:29 AM on July 29, 2011
posted by JayRwv at 6:29 AM on July 29, 2011
I had this... And it grossed me out and freaked me out but now I cannot for the life of me remember how long it lasted.
Do your physical therapy, drink plenty of water, and ask for exercises you can do during the day to help with this.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 6:48 AM on July 29, 2011
Do your physical therapy, drink plenty of water, and ask for exercises you can do during the day to help with this.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 6:48 AM on July 29, 2011
I fell off a ladder on May 1st and banged up my shin pretty good. At first, my foot -- which was untouched in the fall -- turned black and blue a few days after the injury. Then, until mid-July the foot would swell after I sat for a while, but keeping it elevated helped, and, counterintuitively, walking helped the swelling go down, too. Doctor explained that I had injured tissues deep, deep in my leg, including a bone bruise. As your body's healing, there's broken blood vessels and other fluids being pumped to the area to heal, and since the tissues are damaged things aren't flowing through normal channels. My bone-bruise would 'seep' between the bone and the muscle downward until it reached my ankle and the top of my foot, where it would pool. Walking helped because the muscles were squeezing and moving fluids around better. Unbelievably gross, especially when you have to accept that you really are just a 'meat bag' like the robots would have you believe. If you're healing fine and not infected, it will eventually go away as part of the healing process. My guess is, since your injury was quite severe, you're right, there's lots of healing still going on, so you may still have to deal with swelling for a while. The suggestion of compression hose/socks is a good one; I didn't do anything special, but I did wear my tightest socks whenever possible.
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:01 AM on July 29, 2011
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:01 AM on July 29, 2011
Oh dear. I get this for a knee that was operated on more 10 years ago but only during flights. Is there some reason the air pressure might change in your working environment in the afternoons?
Also, feet swell in the afternoon and I've heard that is why shoe purchase is recommended then - don't know the medical reason but perhaps that aspect is also acting on your ankle, not just the injury?
posted by infini at 7:07 AM on July 29, 2011
Also, feet swell in the afternoon and I've heard that is why shoe purchase is recommended then - don't know the medical reason but perhaps that aspect is also acting on your ankle, not just the injury?
posted by infini at 7:07 AM on July 29, 2011
Another vote for compression hose. Ask your doctor, they have better, tighter ones available by prescription than the OTC ones. "Hose" sounds intimidating, but mine is just a tight, tan sock that I wear on my right leg only.
posted by teragram at 7:08 AM on July 29, 2011
posted by teragram at 7:08 AM on July 29, 2011
Oh, and the reason compression hose are better than just tight socks, is that compression hose are (typically or always?) graduated; that is, tighter just above your toes than at your knee. If it were the other way around, fluid could get trapped further down your leg, making it worse.
posted by teragram at 7:11 AM on July 29, 2011
posted by teragram at 7:11 AM on July 29, 2011
In my experience, the day time swelling happened for about 18 months.
Some 3 years ago I was doing something stupid and ended up with a spiral fracture of my lower tibia. I was fitted with a plate, held on with 6 bolts. I was no-weight for 3 months, and then partial-weight for a further 6 weeks. From when I gave up the crutches to when my lower leg didn't swell every day, was about 18 months. Elevation during the day helped a tiny bit. Not wearing a sock on that foot helped a lot more.
Warning for the easily queasy: Exactly 1 year and 51 weeks later, to the minute, the top bolt of my plate caused stress fracture half-way up my tibia. I was stood in my kitchen at the time, and in the resultant fall the bolts in my lower tibia split the bone lengthways and jammed between the bits of bone. The tibia was broken into 5 pieces in total. My fibula snapped in a couple of places near the top. Luckily (ha-ha) my ankle dislocating acted like a circuit-breaker, prevent further damage. To fix all that, I've now got a pin running inside my tibia from knee to ankle. And I'm back with the swelling. This time in the knee as well, which they took apart to get access to the top of the tibia.
The reason that I mention the last bit is because it could have been prevented if I'd taken notice of an ache in my leg that started a couple of weeks before the incident and got steadily worse. The moral being, aside from an extended period of swelling, if you notice something unusual about the leg over the next few years, get the to a doctor.
Hope that helps.
posted by veedubya at 7:43 AM on July 29, 2011
Some 3 years ago I was doing something stupid and ended up with a spiral fracture of my lower tibia. I was fitted with a plate, held on with 6 bolts. I was no-weight for 3 months, and then partial-weight for a further 6 weeks. From when I gave up the crutches to when my lower leg didn't swell every day, was about 18 months. Elevation during the day helped a tiny bit. Not wearing a sock on that foot helped a lot more.
Warning for the easily queasy: Exactly 1 year and 51 weeks later, to the minute, the top bolt of my plate caused stress fracture half-way up my tibia. I was stood in my kitchen at the time, and in the resultant fall the bolts in my lower tibia split the bone lengthways and jammed between the bits of bone. The tibia was broken into 5 pieces in total. My fibula snapped in a couple of places near the top. Luckily (ha-ha) my ankle dislocating acted like a circuit-breaker, prevent further damage. To fix all that, I've now got a pin running inside my tibia from knee to ankle. And I'm back with the swelling. This time in the knee as well, which they took apart to get access to the top of the tibia.
The reason that I mention the last bit is because it could have been prevented if I'd taken notice of an ache in my leg that started a couple of weeks before the incident and got steadily worse. The moral being, aside from an extended period of swelling, if you notice something unusual about the leg over the next few years, get the to a doctor.
Hope that helps.
posted by veedubya at 7:43 AM on July 29, 2011
I just got back from the doctor with a relative who complained of swelling in her feet a year or so after knee surgery. The doc explained that the surgery/trauma to the knee disrupted hundreds of veins and capillaries, causing the blood flow from the feet back up to the heart to slow down. So by the afternoon, gravity plus fewer pathways for the blood to travel meant that any extra liquid in the body pools in the feet. So that's where the swelling comes from. However, her doctor also said that excess water in your body is caused by one thing: salt. Eat less salt, you don't retain water, and you won't have swelling.
I am not a/your doctor, but maybe cutting back on salt would help?
posted by TallulahBankhead at 7:58 AM on July 29, 2011
I am not a/your doctor, but maybe cutting back on salt would help?
posted by TallulahBankhead at 7:58 AM on July 29, 2011
You're only, what, 8 or 10 weeks out from your injury, right? You should still be in frequent enough contact with your ortho and your PT to ask about the cause and treatment for the swelling. Some of it is just time and rest.
Also, when I had my spiral tib/fib fracture in 2008, complete with titanium rod and screws, the forums at mybrokenleg.com were helpful.
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 10:04 AM on July 29, 2011
Also, when I had my spiral tib/fib fracture in 2008, complete with titanium rod and screws, the forums at mybrokenleg.com were helpful.
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 10:04 AM on July 29, 2011
I fractured my tibia in March and I still get some nasty swelling in that leg. My doctor said it could take up to a year for my leg to go completely back to normal. Doc gave me the same explanation as TallulahBankhead, plus my gastrocnemius (big calf muscle) atrophied and that muscle does a lot of "pumping" of blood back up from lower leg veins. I wear a 30 mmHg compression stocking on the leg and that prevents the swelling.
posted by blueskiesinside at 12:02 PM on July 29, 2011
posted by blueskiesinside at 12:02 PM on July 29, 2011
Find a way to elevate it. That's what it needs.
Maybe my department has just had bad luck over the past few years with foot injuries, but we have a footstool that rotates from one person's office to another, depending on who needs it. Coworker C used it after foot surgery, then passed it along to me after somebody dropped a bookcase on my foot, and next Coworker K will be using it following a different surgery.
posted by Lexica at 2:19 PM on July 29, 2011
Maybe my department has just had bad luck over the past few years with foot injuries, but we have a footstool that rotates from one person's office to another, depending on who needs it. Coworker C used it after foot surgery, then passed it along to me after somebody dropped a bookcase on my foot, and next Coworker K will be using it following a different surgery.
posted by Lexica at 2:19 PM on July 29, 2011
There is a very good chance it may never go away, and you will just have to manage it. I now know that the reason my left foot/leg swells up is because i damaged the lymphatic drainage system when i sprained my foot a few years ago. It's called lymphedema. You may just still have swelling from the injury, but the 'gradually swelling up during the day" thing sounds way more like what happens to my foot, than like it being about the injury or surgery.
The things that help are:
- Eating a diet with a lot of vegetables and fruit seems to help more than anything else, for some reason
- Drinking lots of water
- Elevating when you can
- Wearing compression socks
- Exercise
posted by Kololo at 8:12 PM on July 29, 2011
The things that help are:
- Eating a diet with a lot of vegetables and fruit seems to help more than anything else, for some reason
- Drinking lots of water
- Elevating when you can
- Wearing compression socks
- Exercise
posted by Kololo at 8:12 PM on July 29, 2011
Oh, also, as for elevating it: at work, i turn one of the small trash cans upside down and put it under my desk to rest my foot on. It's really helpful, and no one really notices anything strange.
posted by Kololo at 8:13 PM on July 29, 2011
posted by Kololo at 8:13 PM on July 29, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
The swelling declined in severity but 7 or 8 years after my accident, I still get it. Swimming made the biggest difference to my mobility, healing and circulation/swelling issues, FWIW.
posted by DarlingBri at 6:28 AM on July 29, 2011