sharp pain in ankle

I have a hairline fracture of my left talus and calcaneus. I am on crutches and have been putting just a little pressure on the foot, as per the doctor's advice.. Yesterday it got very swollen--not so much because of the pressure, but because i was forced to stand and walk using my crutches ALL day long. I'm a teacher. This injury is exactly a week old and today is the first day I could really rest, keep it elevated and ice it. Whenever it's not elevated it really hurts! Can I ascribe this to the swelling? or should i assume that i've somehow deepened the fracture? but then it seems as if it would hurt ALL the time, regardless of the position of my foot...

RESPONSE
Hi,

I should start off by saying this is a conversation you should be having with your doctor as he or she knows your case much better than me.
But in general terms, unless you further traumatized your ankle such as tripping or dropping something on it, I doubt that the fracture got any worse, other than the fact that it is actually worse then the initial x-ray revealed.
The more likely reason why your ankle hurts is because even though you are primarily not bearing weight, the fact that you are a teacher and your foot is constantly in a dependent position which then allows gravity to force more blood down into the foot causing pain and swelling. If you had a desk job and were seated most of the time, then I do not know if we would even be having this conversation.
Keep in mind that sometimes fractures do not fully show up on initial x-ray and the full extent of the damage may not be evident until 7-10 days later.
The best advice I can give you is to give your doctor a phone call and explain your symptoms along with what you have been doing and see if your doctor thinks it is necessary to see you or not. Any time a condition seems to worsen for no apparent reason, a call to the doctor is warranted.

Marc Mitnick DPM
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