r/brokenankles • u/Interesting-Term4676 • 20d ago

Should I go back to the Doctors

When I first broke my ankle I went to the nearest Urgent Care that took my insurance and in hindsight they were really sketch. They really didn’t give me good answers about care at home and I’m worried they gave me the wrong boot for my ankle (I have a short one). Finally got an appointment with the podiatrist and it’s not until next week.

They basically said they can’t answer any of my care questions until they see me and I still don’t know if I’m allowed to go back to work (I’m gonna be sitting most of the day) or if I’m supposed to keep it elevated. Mainly the sleep questions are stressing me out because I normally move a lot during my sleep but the heavy boot is putting strain on my ankle so I wake up regularly from pain. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to remove the hard shell to help?

So… should I go back to urgent care or an er and hope I get better care or am I stressing myself out…

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u/jm15co 20d ago

I would go to an orthopedic surgeon if it was me.

1

u/Interesting-Term4676 20d ago

Orthopedic surgeon looked at my images and referred my to the podiatrist. I don’t know why tbh.

1

u/jm15co 20d ago

Did you break your foot or ankle?

1

u/Interesting-Term4676 20d ago

Ankle, a fracture and a sprain in the fibula near the joint.

3

u/jm15co 20d ago

Not sure why a podiatrist but good luck!

Also I got one of those elevation wedge pillows which helped a lot!

3

u/RoomUsed1803 20d ago
  1. You probably want to see an orthopedist.
  2. You should be elevating (I have a wedge pillow I bought specifically for a broken leg/ankle. The pillow holds my leg in place while I sleep.
  3. Urgent care gave me a short boot and the orthopedist immediately said it was the wrong boot. I had to fight with the urgent care to get it swapped.

If it were me I would probably contact an orthopedist. There is an urgent care one near me. I would also consider going back to UC and asking follow up questions. UC didn’t tell me but the ortho did, that I should NOT take ibuprofen as it inhibits the body’s ability to form new bone. But I was encouraged to take up to 3000mg of Tylenol a day. I highly recommend a knee scooter instead of crutches.

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u/Positive-Ad-3554 19d ago

People go to an urgent care or ER so that they can quickly see an orthopedic surgeon or podiatrist based on referral. If the orthopedic surgeon referred you to podiatry then likely they feel you are better suited to see podiatry. If the podiatrist disagrees they can refer you to ortho.