What Commonly Causes Ankle Fractures?
Your ankle joint includes three bones susceptible to fractures, the ankle bone (talus), and the ends of your two leg bones where they meet the ankle. Injuries to these bones are typically due to:
- Twisting or rotating your ankle
- Rolling your ankle
- Direct impact during a fall or car accident
Many patients also develop stress fractures from frequently repeating the same movements.
What Commonly Causes a Foot Fracture?
Your foot is a complex structure with 26 bones that can sustain fractures in several areas:
- Toes and Forefoot: Your toes and the front part of your foot are the most likely to suffer a fracture, often from a direct blow such as accidentally banging into a hard object. Repetitive stress due to high-impact sports like running can also result in a toe or forefoot fracture.
- Midfoot: A midfoot fracture, called a Lisfranc injury, may be caused by a high-energy injury like a fall, but it more often develops following a low-energy injury such as a simple twist during athletic activities. As a result, many patients treat it as a sprain and keep moving. However, a Lisfranc injury should never go without treatment. Even a mild injury in your midfoot is considered a severe problem that could involve multiple bones and joints and take months to heal.
- Heel: Heel fractures are uncommon because it takes significant force to fracture the hard bone on the outside of your heel. Once it’s broken, however, you can sustain extensive damage that extends to the joint between the heel and ankle.
What Symptoms Develop Due to Foot and Ankle Fractures?
Ankle and foot sprains can be every bit as painful as a fracture. For this reason, any injury should be evaluated at Sacramento Foot and Ankle Center to ensure optimal healing and to prevent long-term instability or deformity.
Foot and ankle fracture symptoms include:
- Pain
- Swelling
- Bruising or discoloration
- Inability to bear weight on the affected foot
- Deformity if the bone is displaced
How Do You Treat Foot and Ankle Fractures?
Your doctor at Sacramento Foot and Ankle Center recommends treatment based on the location of the fracture and the severity of your injury. The first line of treatment is immobilization to ensure the bones heal properly. The type of immobilization ranges from taping a broken toe to a walking boot or cast.
If your foot is deformed, unstable, or you’ve sustained a complex fracture, you may need surgery to reposition and stabilize the bones and repair damaged tissues.
Physical therapy is also often a course of treatment after either immobilization or surgery to regain strength and function.
When you suffer a foot or ankle injury, call Sacramento Foot and Ankle Center or schedule an appointment online.
