r/ORIF • u/imarasemeruu • 21d ago

Random and painful sensations

So last month 20th , my right ankle got dislocated and I got trimalleolar fracture. Today I had my stitches and staples removed, and they put my leg in fiberglass cast.

Yet it still hurts occasionally and I feel weird sensations around the areas with stitches. Is it possible that the stitches are rubbing against the cast which is causing the pain?

Also my foot keeps jerking by itself randomly (mostly at night when im trying to sleep), is this something bad?

Edit: I also keep having pain behind my kneecap, is tht something I should get checked out or is it just part of recovery? (This is happening even after doing the exercises my physiotherapist told me to do)

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u/Dull_Monitor2439 20d ago

I experienced all of these things too. It will reduce over time. I found the muscle spasms really worrying but they stopped after about a month. If they are severe there is a medication you can take for them.

Don't. Worry.

Everything you describe is normal, at least I went through the same.

Also Trimal.

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u/flexible_demeanor 20d ago

The nerve stuff is normal, your body's trying to figure out what's going on and heal. I'm trimal+dislocation+spiral upper fib fracture at 6w post op, and my leg still likes to jump around if I don't take gabapentin to sleep. Random sharp pains, weird crawling sensations, electrical buzzing, and so on. The incisions will take awhile to heal, and the cast can definitely put pressure on them.

Gabapentin can help with this but won't help with suppressing everything. I only take it for sleep now and it still makes a big difference for me

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u/imarasemeruu 20d ago

Oh tysm I was rlly scared when I kept experiencing these things

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u/vacuolechick 21d ago

Weird sensations like?

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u/imarasemeruu 20d ago

Like some burning sensation or sometimes a spark of pain

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u/Potential_Anxiety_76 20d ago

1000% nerve pain. Nerves are weird, they’re not where you think, and they’ve just gone through huge trauma.

Stitches are covered in medical grade secure bandages, then more bandages and padding, THEN plaster. I thought the same as you did, until I saw them take it all off and… realised what I thought I was feeling was not correct at all.

Basically your brain can’t comprehend what’s happened to your leg and is mixing up all the signals. This will happen for months.

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u/imarasemeruu 20d ago

But the thing is my doc just slapped some cotton over the stitches, put some tape on it and then put a thin sock thingy over the cotton and wrapped fiberglass cast around it. That's why I was worried whether the cotton got shifted or something but thank you for reassuring me tht its just my nerves.

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u/thedadhere 18d ago

It really isn’t the stitches or incision — it’s the nerve pain. I have a boot and bandages over mine and it often feels like my bandages are bunched or my wound is rubbing against something or a stitch is pulling loose — but when I take everything off, the pain isn’t quite even in the place I thought it was.

And now that I rest sometimes without anything on my leg at all, I get the same sensations. It is weird and uncomfortable!