Therapy for broken ankle

There are a lot of people who have at least once broken their ankle and the first thing that comes to their mind is how they can treat it. These people need to know that there is no easy answer to this question. One of the main reasons why that is so, lies in the fact that the ankle is a complex joint. The ankle consists of three bones. In most broken ankle cases, it is either the tibia or the fibula which get broken. It is not uncommon for the both bones to break, as well. Lots of people are already aware that tibia is the larger of the two bones and that it carries 90% of all weight. The fibula is the smaller bone, located on the outside of the leg. The bones that stick out on both sides of the ankle are called the medial malleolus and the lateral malleolus.

The broken ankle

In most cases of a broken ankle, the actual break occurs on the end of the fibula, on the end of the tibia or one the end of both these bones. There is no one type of fracture, but many. An important thing to know is that there is no one treatment that will cure all the fractures. Every single fracture must be dealt with individually.

Symptoms

There are several symptoms that are known to every person. The most common are pain to touch, swelling, bruising, inability to walk and deformity around the ankle.

A person who believes that he or she has broken the ankle needs to go to the hospital and seek professional help. In almost all cases an X-ray is done in order for the fracture to be located. People need to know that various other injuries like an ankle sprain and some others may be confused with a broken ankle.

Treatment

Every person will go over the treatment plan with his or her doctor. Since swelling occurs in every case of a broken ankle, a person will need to reduce it and the best way to achieve that is by elevating the leg and applying ice.

In most cases, a person’s ankle will be splinted in the emergency room, after the examination. A splint is usually removed in order for the cast to be placed after a couple of days. In cases when the swelling is not a big one, a cast is placed straight away. In most cases, people will use crutches in order for them to move around more easily. Only in cases of severe fractures there is need for surgery but it is not uncommon.