How long does it take to fully heal from a broken leg?

[Beechy101]

I broke my leg on 08/07/2010 & spent 6 1/2 weeks in plaster. I had my cast removed & started physiotherapy straight away to strengthen my ankle.

I've been going to physio since the end of August & to be honest my ankle is still very painful. I was hoping to be playing football again by now so does anyone have any idea of how long it will take to fully recover or should i go back to the doctors to get it checked out?

[Rogger73]

If the broken ankle is stable, that is, if there is no protrusion of bone, and the break is “clean” with no shifting, the broken ankle can be set in a cast or splint. Healing time for a basic broken ankle is around six weeks of recovery. Unfortunately when people suffer a broken ankle, more often than not, they do it “right,” tearing either ligaments or shifting the bone in the process. A broken ankle with ligament damage will require surgery, while a broken ankle with shifting or protrusion will surely inevitably necessitate surgical remedies to repair the broken ankle.

A broken ankle is a serious injury and requires immediate attention. If treated properly at the onset of symptoms, the broken ankle will heal properly within a six week period and will not cause long-term debilitation

[Jan1957]

Yes, you should go back to the dr to get it checked out. I broke my ankle 4 years ago and after 2 operations thought all was ok and went back to work. The ankle got progressively more painful and swollen and when I went back to the hospital found it was broken again. I have now had 5 operations and am due to have another in January as my ankle has still not set properly and I am in a lot of pain. I hope you have better luck than me.

[Sqad]

The bones re-unite in about 6 weeks, but that isnt the problem.

You have not said which bone was broken.

One presumes that you had a check X-Ray at the Orthopaedic Clinic and all is well and you have been discharged.

Depending on the site of fracture it may well be before Xmas before you can play football again.

[Beechy101]

Hello.

I actually broke my fibula, but also badly twisted my ankle.

My ankle does not have any bone damage, but the fact that i hurt it then was put in a cast (therefore weakening it) is the problem i'm having. I don't know how long it should take to get my ankle back to normal.

[chokkie]

I broke my ankle at the very end of April. I had a plaster cast for a couple of days and then pulled a face with the doctors, because it was so awkward for me. So they reluctantly gave me one of those plastic space boot things. Was in that for 8 weeks before I was allowed to go to physio. A couple of weeks later the physio people let me start some gentle exercises and a couple of weeks later they told me I couldn't have the boot anymore.

I was fortunate not to have any surgery right at the very beginning of the process, and ex-rays showed that the bone (my left fibula) had healed together very well.

However, my ankle ligaments and foot muscles are still a little inflexible so I'm doing lots of foot-wiggling exercises to loosen them up. They are now vastly improved to what they were when I first got rid of the boot.

At one point I felt as though I was never going to walk again (which really freaked me out), but I'm fine now. Still nervous though when walking in certain situations. Or tripping over or slipping on ice, etc.

I hope you get better soon, but you really should be going back to the hospital to get it checked out.

[Greedyfly]

I broke mine two years ago and I am still having treatment for it!

I guess it depends on how bad a break
How lucky/unlucky you are
And how quick you heal.

Hope you feel better soon!

[Sqad]

Right....fibula......no big deal.

so you have had 7 weeks of physio......I wouldnt risk kicking a ball until Christmas.

[society]

You hear that Beechy... no playing with balls until Christmas! :-)

[Pauljwinnett79]

I broke my leg on the 8th of may 2011 in a motocross crash I broke my tib and fib spent 11 days in hospital I had a plate fitted with about 7 screws. It has now been 9months and a couple of weeks and I I'm still having pain with it got discharged 4 days ago and was told I can now work on building my leg back up so all in all I would say about a year to get back to some sort of norm