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Tag Archive for Tips for ankle surgery

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How Long Does It Take a Broken Ankle to Heal? 3 Tips For a Speedy Recovery

Suffering from a broken ankle can be an excruciating experience. No matter how it occurred – hey, even if it happened when you were wearing those dangerous six-inch platform heels on an icy winter night – healing a broken ankle should be your primary concern. After all, you don’t want to spend all of your time indoors recovering…you want to get out and enjoy life like you used to do.

 

Unfortunately, rushing your broken ankle to heal is one of the worst things you can do for your injury. Your ankle needs a great amount of time to heal, and if you push it before its ready, you could risk re-injuring yourself again. Typically, it takes a broken ankle about six to eight weeks. Therefore, if you want to help your broken ankle heal, you might want to consider taking the following steps:

1. Take a good hard look at your diet. It’s safe to say that if you’re filling up on junk food, you’re not getting the nutrients your body needs to efficiently heal your broken ankle. To give your body a kick-start, consider taking a calcium and magnesium supplement. The calcium is crucial for building strong bones, while the magnesium helps your body absorb all of the calcium. You can find these supplements at drugstores everywhere.

2. Give yourself time to rest. We know it can be boring just hanging out on your couch day after day; however, if you want to speed up your broken ankle healing time, you need to cut yourself some slack. Turn your recovery time into productive time by working from home, starting a blog, or learning a new skill like designing websites.

3. Isolate your broken ankle as much as possible. Instead of using crutches – which come with the risk of bumping your broken ankle – consider using a knee walker instead. This handy mobility device isolates your ankle and makes it easier to move around. You can’t get that kind of promise from a wooden mobility device that causes armpit blisters (ugh).

It can take a few months for a broken ankle to heal, so use these tips to ensure that your broken ankle recovery is a speedy one.

 

Category: After Surgery Recovery | Tags: , , , , , ,
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The Ultimate Ankle Surgery Preparation Checklist

When you know you’re about to walk into a hospital to have major surgery performed on your ankle, you might only be focused on one thing: imaging what life will be like after you have your ankle surgery.

If you’ve never had ankle surgery before, then you might think that your life will be on pause for the next few months. And in a way, it will be. You’ll definitely have to get used to moving around your home and office. You may have to find new modes of transportation because your ankle cast prevents you from driving around. And you may even have to put those beach vacation plans on hold – after all, no one deserves the torture of getting sand in their cast!

But if you think that life after ankle surgery will be grim and miserable, take heart: if you prepare for the surgery, recovery can be relaxing, hassle-free and – dare we say it? – even enjoyable.

So if you want to breeze through your ankle surgery recovery time, you need to make the most of ankle surgery preparation. Luckily for you, we have a checklist that will put an end to any questions you might have.

Read on, take note, and start your preparations – and you may even actually enjoy your ankle surgery recovery time!

1. Transportation to and from your home, as well as the hospital. You may know that you need someone to drive you back from the hospital, but what about all those times you need to run errands or go to work? Work out a carpool plan with a generous coworker or enlist a family member to drive you around when you need to run errands. Try to limit the amount of activity you’ll need to do directly after your ankle surgery, as you may not be ready to deal with transportation and mobility a week after your procedure.

2. Preparing healthy meals before your ankle surgery. Let’s face it – the last thing you want to do when you groggily stumble back from your procedure is to deal with cooking a meal in the kitchen. If you live alone, consider cooking up a massive batch of meals ahead of time. You may want to make a massive pot of pasta, bake a pound of chicken breast, and cook up various sauces. Buy pre-made salads, boiled eggs, and granola for easy-peasy breakfasts and lunches.

3. Call up your insurance company to ask how much of your prescriptions, follow-up appointments, and mobility devices will be covered by your plan. Be sure to get an exact outline of how they’ll cover these expenses and what your responsibilities will be. After all, you don’t want to encounter any nasty financial surprises when you discover that your prescriptions cost as much as a weekly paycheck.

4. Get your chosen mobility device well ahead of your ankle surgery procedure; in fact, if possible, we suggest that you leave at least a few days between receiving your mobility device and the procedure. That way, you have enough time to accommodate for potential late deliveries and any mistakes by your insurance company.

5. Splash out on movies, TV shows, and other forms of entertainment. Let’s face it – you’re going to be stuck on the couch for more than a few weeks. Make it an enjoyable time by catching up on your favorite shows, movies, and reading a few books on your must-read list!

When it comes to ankle surgery preparation, you don’t have to go in blind. Use this checklist to ensure that your recovery time will be a restful and relaxing one.

Category: After Surgery diet, After Surgery Recovery, Ankle Surgery Recovery, Crutch Alternatives, knee scooter, Knee Walkers | Tags: , , , , ,
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Top Six Things You Need to Know Before Ankle Surgery

When it comes to the things you need to know before ankle surgery, you might think that you have everything covered. After all, you’ve met your foot and ankle surgeon, who outlined everything you should expect from your ankle surgery. All that’s left is to sit back and wait for the surgery…right?

Actually, there are many steps you can take to make your ankle surgery experience as seamless as possible. Let’s take a look at the top six things you need to know before ankle surgery (you’ll be surprised…we promise!):

1. Before ankle surgery, take a walk through your house and identify anything that may be a hassle to you while you’re on crutches. Clean up the main areas of your house and pick up anything you might trip over. Tackle any major household tasks so you won’t be tempted to do them after ankle surgery. Ankle won’t let you take care of household errands? Enlist a family member or friend to help you out.

2. Your mobility will be extremely limited, so taking care of normal errands and tasks might prove to be a major stretch during the aftermath of your surgery. You may want to prep a few weeks’ worth of meals that you can easily reheat. It’s a simple step that can really save you a great deal of hassle after your ankle surgery.

3. To reduce the amount of hassle you experience while recovering from ankle surgery, you may want to consider getting a knee walker before the actual surgery. A knee walker – or knee scooter – can greatly improve your mobility, which can make it easier for you to get around the house and the office.

4. You won’t be able to drive home after your surgery. If your foot and ankle surgeon hasn’t already done so, arrange for transportation after your surgery.

5. Arrange everything in your house so that it’s easily accessible. You might have a problem reaching for out-of-reach items, so bring everything closer for your convenience.

6. If you live alone or have special needs, you may want to consider having your doctor approve of a transfer to a special rehabilitation center. Talk to your surgeon before the ankle surgery to ensure you’re qualified to be transferred to a rehab facility. Sometimes it’s just as simple as asking!

Now that you’ve identified the top six things you need to know before ankle surgery, you’ll be able to worry less so you can think about the things that matter – like how you’ll enjoy your healthy new ankle!

Category: After Surgery Recovery, Ankle Surgery Recovery, Crutch Alternatives, knee walker, Knee Walkers | Tags: , , , , , , ,