Dislocated ankle

How did your road to recovery look like? When were you able to use your foot in some capacity (walk with slight assistance with crutch or cane)? How long until you were able to walk normally again?
It seems like it was a clean dislocation for me. I still have to do CAT scan upon orthopedic specialist recommendation, he said X-ray didn’t show any bone fragments. Any info is much appreciated!

Allow me to project a little ...

Six weeks non-weight bearing. Get a knee scooter but don’t fall over.

Six more weeks in a boot hiking like a mad man. Get some fore-arm crutches for better articulation over logs and such on and off trail until you can switch to trekking poles.

Then add on at least a handful of gym sessions before you start to feel your old climbing self come back.  Well-earned endorphins are a great thing to experience about this point in recovery.

Last, allow your lead-head more time to heal than it’ll take your body.

I could be off a little here or there. And I am not a doctor.  Just a fellow humble climber. :)

Holy Crap.  Had to spike my morning coffee after seeing that pic.  Must’ve been fun getting your shoe off.   Good job on self rescue.  Good luck with the recovery!

Is there a story to go with that? "I was climbing at..."

My right  ankle looked like that January 5, 2018.   I had external fixation surgery that night and then screws place 1/17/18.  Boot and weight bearing were as described by Bill Lawry.  By May I walked (limped) the Yosemite Falls Trail with great difficulty and continued hiking through the summer and also started climbing again.  I got back to about  where I was physically but remain fearful. Most of the time I walk pretty normally, but after a long day or in the morning I limp some ( I also limp when my wife asks me to do something I don't want to).  I was over 60 and my injury might have been worse than yours as the surgeon said he was picking bone shards from the soft tissue.. Riding a bike was helpful physically and mentally and I was riding easy dirt as soon as I was cleared for weight bearing in the boot.  Good luck

Mark Pilate wrote: Holy Crap.  Had to spike my morning coffee after seeing that pic.  Must’ve been fun getting your shoe off.   Good job on self rescue.  Good luck with the recovery!

I didn’t really self rescue, we were bouldering, maybe 400 yards from a parking lot. I wanted to skip down trail with help of my buddy and people that happen to be there but all of them insisted to call in 911, which they did. RMR carried me down to car and then we drove to ER.
Does any of you think that after 6 weeks I’ll be able to go back to work in any capacity? This is my main concern, how long until I can go back to work, I’ll deal with getting back into climbing later.
Bouldering is stupid.

What do you do for work?  I broke my ankle a few years ago and was back to work the next day.... but I sit at a desk mostly.  My estimate is it’s Gonna be min 4-6 weeks if you need to be upright and mobile with hands free for work...and that’s if you already blow off docs orders to some extent 

Mark Pilate wrote: What do you do for work?  I broke my ankle a few years ago and was back to work the next day.... but I sit at a desk mostly.  My estimate is it’s Gonna be min 4-6 weeks if you need to be upright and mobile with hands free for work...and that’s if you already blow off docs orders to some extent 

I’m a service manager at an apartment complex, lots of walking involved in my daily routine, so yes, need to be upright and hands free to work. 

Hi Fehim, I dislocated my ankle 1.5 years ago, not climbing, but nordic skiing, a freak accident. I was told then that ankles rarely dislocate without bones breaking, I had a "tri malleolus fracture" that needed 12 screws and 2 plates to piece back together. The first 8 days after the surgery were the worst, I couldn't stand on my one good leg with crutches due to the feeling of blood filling my busted leg. But then it became bearable, and after 2 weeks the surgeon took the cast of and gave me a "boot", and said I should start weighting it, slowly. After 4 weeks, I was walking around with the boot on without crutches quite happily. At 6 weeks, the boot came off and I could walk around, albeit a bit gingerly. For the first 3 months we had snow on the ground, so I was super careful about not slipping, though, I was doing short hikes with poles after 2 months, and it felt good. After ~ 3 months I hiked about 7 miles with 2000 ft of elevation gain, again felt great. Was climbing after 4 months, I did have to change the way I used my hurt foot a bit, but it wasn't a problem. Happy to chat more about the rest of the recovery, but sounds like you are trying to plan out the next month or two right now. I hope this helps and I wish you the best on your recovery!

I came back to work not long after surgery. But, like Mark, I have a desk job.  Even so, at work I would very frequently lay down on the floor to elevate my foot.  In effect, I was probably working half days for several weeks.

For a job with lots of walking - gah.  I think I'd have stayed off work until I was at least weight bearing plus maybe a week - so for me that would have been about seven weeks post-surgery.  Any swelling is worth keeping under control as much as practical especially in an inflexible cast.

Note: The thing that put me in a cast and boot so long (12 weeks) was that the ligament between the tibia and fibula tore and takes longer than bones to heal and be strong enough.

+1 on Bill's recovery timeline but depending on your age, and pre-injury condition it could take longer.

Sorry brother..been there. It sucks and for me a knee scooter wasn't even invented yet...After a while I made great progress in a legit hiking boot; for hiking and climbing. Soon after that my ankle felt strong enough to put on a climbing shoe but it took a while. I was in my early 30's.

Bill Lawry wrote: I came back to work not long after surgery. But, like Mark, I have a desk job.  Even so, at work I would very frequently lay down on the floor to elevate my foot.  In effect, I was probably working half days for several weeks.

For a job with lots of walking - gah.  I think I'd have stayed off work until I was at least weight bearing plus maybe a week - so for me that would have been about seven weeks post-surgery.  Any swelling is worth keeping under control as much as practical especially in an inflexible cast.

Note: The thing that put me in a cast and boot so long (12 weeks) was that the ligament between the tibia and fibula tore and takes longer than bones to heal and be strong enough.

Well I have my fingers crossed that CAT scan won’t reveal much damage. Part of a broken arm and wrist bone, this is the most serious injury to date. I do hope that me being physically fit will shorten the recovery time, but I’ll definitely be sticking to doctors orders and do anything possible to get the ankle back to 100%.

Yeah - my break was definitely not so clean.  And physically fit helps.  Youth is a bonus as well ... I was 10 years older.

Maybe look at what kind of over-the-counter pain meds may inhibit bone healing?   And for the more serious pain meds, two words:  stool softeners.  :)

Here's the best I can do:
I partially dislocated my ankle on March 1st, I'm 13-14 weeks out and every step is mostly still painful. I can climb steep/overhanging rock, but any slab is a no go. I biked 70 miles of mountains a few days ago, but yesterday I forced myself to run 2 miles and it was mostly agony. I can't really carry much weight, but if I use treking poles I can do a 10-15 minute approach without major repercussions. The worst part of the ankle injuries is that if you're anything like me you're going to be prone to denying the severity of your injury so that you can going back to having normal amounts of fun.
I wore a boot for the first 5-6 weeks, then tried to recover too quickly and probably re-injured myself many times in the process. I got back to climbing as soon as I could walk relatively normally and it definitely has not helped speed my recovery. I suggest getting a bike that you really like and expecting to do that as your main outlet for adventure for a few months after you can walk without a boot again.
My injury was no where near as severe as yours, and it is not healing well at all. I hope you have health insurance and are capable of listening to medical advice. Feel free to e-mail me with any questions or needed psyche. I got pretty depressed and spent my time in a boot building a bar and learning to make really good cocktails, there are healthier options but maybe none as fun.

About three weeks in, I said to my wife "You should just take me out back and shoot me."

She said, "I have to wait until you can run."  ;)

That was 10 years ago.  This too shall pass.

Hey man! Glad to hear it’s just a dislocation. Same thing happened to me about 6 weeks ago. I fell while bouldering and that’s what my left ankle looked like. Unfortunately I ended up breaking both my fib and tib, a bi-malleolar fracture. I had 2 plates and 16 screws put in and just started partial weight bearing. Recovery is a bear but with just a dislocation you’ll be back sooner than later! Best of luck! 

ouch, get well

I had this same exact injury in October of 2018. My best advice would be to try mobilizing (not weight bearing) sooner than your doctor is likely to recommend. I was in a cast for 5 weeks, and after rigorous rehab I've still been unable to restore complete mobility. At about 4 months I could walk normal and jog, at 6 months I was running (with significant soreness after runs), and at a year I was about as close to normal as I think I'll ever be. I could top rope and lead easy climbs at about 3-4 months out, but it took over a year to gain the confidence to start bouldering hard again.

I feel like my ligaments healed really tight, which causes tightness in my calves and Achilles that I have to address with a lot of yoga and stretching. If you look up the studies on subtalar dislocations there's some interesting info on early mobilization vs immobilization. As an active person hoping to regain full form, early mobilization (2-3 weeks after injury) showed the best long-term results.

Best of luck!

So I’m having surgery this Wednesday, if my COVID-19 test comes negative, to remove 3 pieces of bone in between tibia and talus, one on top of the talus and to put 2 screws in a larger piece of bone to attach it back to talus. I was hoping for better outcome but it is what it is. Thanks for the replies all!

Fehim Hasecic wrote: So I’m having surgery this Wednesday, if my COVID-19 test comes negative, to remove 3 pieces of bone in between tibia and talus, one on top of the talus and to put 2 screws in a larger piece of bone to attach it back to talus. I was hoping for better outcome but it is what it is. Thanks for the replies all!

Hope it goes well, Fehim. Let us know.

My post surgical pain in the hospital was best managed with iv Tylenol, the opiates ( including fentanyl) did nothing for pain.