Broken ankle

Your healthcare professional will look at your ankle, foot and lower leg and check for tenderness. Moving your foot around can show your range of motion. Your health professional might want to watch how you walk.

Tests

To diagnose a broken ankle, your healthcare professional might order one or more of these imaging tests.

• X-rays. Most ankle fractures can be seen on X-rays. Stress fractures often don't show up on X-rays until the breaks start healing.
• Bone scan. A bone scan can show breaks that don't show up on X-rays. A technician injects a small amount of radioactive material into a vein. The radioactive material makes damaged bones, including stress fractures, show up as bright spots on the image.
• CT scan. A CT scan uses X-ray techniques to create detailed images of the bones in the body from different angles. Compared with X-rays, CT scans can show more detail about the injured bone and the soft tissues that surround it.
• MRI scan. MRI uses radio waves and a strong magnetic field to create detailed images of the soft tissues around the ankle joint. This imaging can show breaks not seen on X-rays.

Treatments for a broken ankle bone vary depending on which bone is broken and how bad the injury is.

Medicines

Your healthcare professional may suggest a pain reliever available without a prescription, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol, others).

Therapy

After your bone heals, you need to restore the motion and strength of your ankle. A physical therapist can teach you exercises to help you restore full motion and build strength.

Surgical or other procedures

• Reduction. If you have a displaced fracture, meaning the two ends of the break are not lined up, your healthcare professional may need to move the pieces back into place. This process is called reduction. You may need medicine to relax your muscles, calm you or numb the area before this procedure.
• Immobilization. Most often, a broken bone must be kept from moving so that it can heal. This is called immobilization. Most often, a special boot or a cast holds the ankle bones in place. You wear the boot or cast until the break heals. This can take 2 to 3 months.
• Surgery. Sometimes, a surgeon who specializes in bones and joints, called an orthopedic surgeon, may put in pins, plates or screws to keep a bone in place while it heals. These materials may be removed after the break has healed or if they stick out of the skin or cause pain.

You will likely seek treatment for a broken ankle bone in an emergency room or urgent care clinic. If the pieces of broken bone aren't lined up for healing, you may be referred to a doctor specializing in orthopedic surgery.

What you can do

You may want to write a list that includes:

• Your symptoms and how they began.
• Other medical conditions you have.
• All the medicines, vitamins and supplements you take, including doses.
• Questions to ask the healthcare professional.

For a broken ankle, basic questions to ask include:

• What tests do I need?
• What treatments are there? Which do you suggest?
• If I need a cast, how long will I need to wear it?
• Will I need surgery?
• How much will I need to limit my activities?
• Should I see a specialist?
• What pain medicines do you suggest?

Be sure to ask all the questions you have.

What to expect from your doctor

Your healthcare professional may ask questions, including:

• How did you injure yourself?
• Did your symptoms come on suddenly?
• Have you injured your ankles in the past?
• Have you recently begun an exercise program or started exercising more or harder?

What you can do in the meantime

If your injury isn't bad enough for you to go to an emergency room, here are some things you can do at home until you can see your healthcare professional:

• Apply ice for 15 to 20 minutes at a time, every 3 to 4 hours, to lessen the swelling.
• Keep your ankle raised above the level of your heart to help prevent swelling.
• Don't put weight on your injured ankle.
• Lightly wrap the injury in a soft bandage that provides slight pressure.