Broken ankle

Broken ankle overview

The ankle joint is formed by the connection of three bones. The ankle bone is called the talus. The top of the talus fits inside a socket that is formed by the lower end of the tibia and the fibula. The bottom of the talus sits on the heel bone or calcareous. The talus works like a hinge inside the socket to allow your foot to move up and down. The stresses placed on the joint make broken ankles fairly commonplace as a result of the loads that the joint carries. This load can be up to eight times your bodyweight during certain activities. Broken ankles are mainly treated with a plaster cast. The purpose of the cast is to ensure that the broken ankle is correctly aligned when it begins to heal again. In some circumstances where the broken ankle is more serious, a surgical procedure may be required.

Broken ankle break types

Depending on the type of impact an ankle can break in several different ways. A simple break is a break that does not pierce the skin. Symptoms include severe pain that becomes worse over time and with movement, swelling, bruising and an inability to bear weight. A simple break is the most common type of broken ankle. An impacted broken ankle is often caused by falls in this type of break, one end of the bone is forced into the other. A spiral fracture is a break around the bone. This type of broken ankle is often caused by the twisting effect of many sporting activities. Comminuted fractures, where a bone breaks into fragments, or compression fractures are the most common types of broken ankle sustained in road traffic accidents due to the large forces involved.
We are experts in helping all of those who have sustained broken ankles. Please contact us to see how we can help you recover compensation and receive the correct levels of rehabilitation to make your recovery as quick as possible.

Broken ankle repair

A simple fracture takes on average 8 weeks to repair. As with all injures the timescales for a broken ankle depends on the exact nature of the break along with other factors such as your age. There are four main stages that a broken ankle goes through to heal. Firstly a haematoma is formed by the blood vessels in the broken ankle. Secondly, a cartilage callus forms on the site of the haematoma to act as a splint. Thirdly, a bonus callus replaces the cartilage. Finally the bony callus forms a permanent patch on the site of the break.

Broken ankle next steps

If you wish to see if you have an accident claim as a result of a broken bone, please contact us. Please also use the information on the pages below to find out more.