A frozen ankle after a fall can be very painful, disabling, and expensive to treat. If your locked ankle was a result from someone else’s carelessness, know that our Eason & Tambornini construction accident lawyers regularly handle slip-and-fall accidents and will be able to help you through the legal process. We can help you understand what a locked ankle is, how long a broken ankle hurts, how long it will take to heal a fractured ankle, and what some of the adhesive capsulitis ankle treatments are. So if you have any questions regarding slip-and-fall accidents and any injuries related to it, please don’t hesitate to set up a free consultation with one of our lawyers or give our office a call.
A locked ankle simply means an ankle that lacks the ability to freely move through its full range of motions like dorsiflexion, plantarflexion, inversion, eversion, and rotation.
One of the causes of a locked ankle is a slip-and-fall accident resulting in severe ankle joint trauma. The locking of the ankle may be due to extensive ligament and tendon tears, ligament and tendon instabilities, arthritis of the ankle worsened by an accident, ankle sprain, ankle muscle strain, and severe ankle fractures.
A locked ankle may also be caused by the formation of bony spurs due to arthritis, degeneration of the ankle joint, diabetes, autoimmune disease, infection of the ankle, and connective tissue disease.
Symptoms include a frozen ankle accompanied by pain and swelling, gait disturbance due to painful ankle motions, inability to bear weight, and atrophy of the ankle musculature.
Pain from a broken ankle usually subsides in about two to three weeks. You can take anti-inflammatory drugs to help control the swelling, and for pain, there are over-the-counter pain medications that can help you manage your pain. If these can’t control your pain, though, then you should see your physician and ask if he can prescribe you more potent pain pills.
Of note, prescription-strength pain pills should be used as directed and only as needed.
There are home remedies that you can do, too, to help improve pain. You can elevate your ankle to reduce swelling and use a cold compress on it for 20-minute durations per hour to help with the pain and inflammation.
It will take about six to eight weeks for a fractured ankle to heal completely, and during the healing process, your ankle will be placed in a splint or a cast to immobilize it so the new bone can form. The type of splint and duration of use will depend upon the severity of your ankle fracture as well as the stability of your ankle joint.
It’s important that you don’t bear weight on your fractured ankle unless your doctor says so, so use assistive devices like crutches and canes to help you move around.
Since your foot is in a cast, it will be difficult to check for any signs of infection. If you notice these signs and symptoms, visit your doctor immediately: extreme pain, warmth or coldness, fever, redness, edema, wound drainage with a bad smell, pain in your calf or back of the knee, swelling in your groin.
You need to follow your doctor’s instructions carefully to prevent infection and the development of adhesive capsulitis.
If you develop adhesive capsulitis of the ankle or frozen ankle, your doctor will refer you to a physical therapist who will show you different range of motion exercises and joint mobilization techniques. These will help improve your ankle range of motions as well as improve pain. The exercises will also help strengthen your ankle muscles and prevent atrophy.
If therapy fails, you may need surgery to remove the fibrous capsule and any loose bone fragments that limit your ankle motions.
Adhesive capsulitis of the ankle can be incapacitating, especially if it starts limiting your day-to-day activities. Not only will you need intensive physical therapy to restore your joint range of motion, but you will also need to do the exercises at home to prevent complications and avoid surgery.
What can you do?
Adhesive capsulitis of the ankle develops long after the initial injury, but you need not suffer in silence and shoulder the expenses alone. Get in touch with one of our Eason & Tambornini lawyers if you’re suffering from a frozen ankle caused by another’s negligence. Our lawyers can explain to you what a locked ankle is, how long pain from a fractured ankle lasts, the recovery period of a fractured ankle, and treatment options for adhesive capsulitis of the ankle. If you or your loved one developed a frozen ankle after a fall, please feel free to call our office and set an appointment with one of our Sacramento construction accident lawyers to know more about your legal options.
