My Ankle
 

After my crash at Brands last Sunday I finally got in to see the consultant on Friday. I've broken the Talus down the middle. This pic shows the ankle bone structure.



I had a temporary cast on it because the swelling was quite large - in addition to breaking the bone I've also done ligament damage etc as you would associate with a bad sprain. So it's all swollen and quite bruised. The consultant was suprsied enough that she abandoned plans to put the proper cast on and put another temp one on. She was also concerned that the break may have moved so I went off for a CT scan. If the break has moved it means she'll need to put it back and put a screw in it to hold it in place. I find out tomorrow if it has moved or not. Hoping for not ....

If she does that I don't know how long the healing process will take. The Talus is a bit like the scaphoid in that it doesn't have a very good blood supply to help it heal quickly. This means that if I don't have any surgery I'll be in the cast for 6 weeks and no weight bearing in that time. The cast will come off on my 30th birthday! If I have to have surgery it will be longer.

Here's some pics of the swelling and bruising:











Mmmm yummy :)

That's just swell :frog:

How much fun is racing eh? :lol:

blimey, only look like a little knock.;)

no, dont envy you one bit. looks really bloody uncomfortable to say the least. hope it hasnt moved and they can get you cast up and on the road to recovery asap.

whoops ...... so you won't be doing the "hokey cokey" on your birthday ???

All this to prove your toes aint webbed!:lol::lol:

I did the base of my thumb, frustrating times! you struggle to sleep, you dont know where to put it to be comfortable, jeez, i sympathise with you chap!:(

I didn't even know you'd crashed Tony...:puzzled:

The details are in my race report Paul - here.

It#s a bugger to try and deal with but there you go. I'll be getting my Alpinestar Supertech's repaired and I'll never race in those SMX's again.

I've even been thinking of the Daytona Evo Security boots ... if only they weren't so damn expensive!

ha ha ha .. did you miss the 9 o'clock news last Sunday night ???? it was the story about the leather aussie blimp seen over Brands, first spotted hovering over the circuit, unfortunately it only maintained altitude a small while before plumetting back to earth ...

Worth every penny, love mine, had them for a few years (inc 2 TD offs) and wouldn't consider any other boots.

Ouch!

Yuk!....Ouch!...You need a pedicure tony!:frog:

Ouch mate that looks painfull :o

Just scanned those side shots thanks, Think I may have found the burgundy shade for the dinning room.

:saint:

Good luck with your healing crazy man.
:cool:

Ouch Tony that looks painful, hope it hasn't moved and you don't need the op.

tony have a look here:

http://www.motshop.de/shop/catalog/p...roducts_id/916

heard about the site via a review.

dont normally like doing it but i think i will try them on in the uk get my size etc sorted then order from them. you're looking at nearly 200 quid saving.

Tony,

Sorry to hear your news mate.

A bit of a medical lesson for you. It sounds like an "Aviators Astragalus" fracture

Fracture of the neck of the Talus previously commonly observed in World War 2 pilots who crash landed their damaged planes on returning from bombing raids. The injuries were caused by the upward thrust of the rudder bar causing dorsi flexion of the foot and forcing the talus against the tibia.

Probably best if they do screw it in place, They have a tendancy due to the poor blood supply to become unstable again if they do not realign correctly and start floating about which can be a pain.

Looking at the bruising fella it may be a possibility that you have ruptured your ligaments as well (If you look at the photo showing the lateral side of your foot (That's the outside) you have classic signs of pooling below your ankle (malleoli) may be worth pushing for an MRI scan as well to ascertain if they need repairing, if they are completely ruptured it is more of a deal than your fracture.

The 3 most common ligaments which are damaged are as follows:

anterior talofibular (ATF)
calcaneofibular (CF)
posterior talofibular (PTF)

and are often graded as per the severity of the rupture:

Grade I ligament stretch (microscopic tear)
Grade II ligament partly torn (Docs call on whether to opt for surgery)
Grade III ligament completely torn (requires surgery)

Don't let them fob you off that the CT would have picked it up as MRI is best used to highlight ligament damage. I see this time and time again they concentrate on the # and miss serious ligament damage which can be even more complicated to repair causing the patient longer recovery times.

Another way of looking at it is the mechanism of injury. If the crash involved such force that the Talus was # then it should be ringing alarm bells that ligaments stand a very good chance of being ruptured as well as they are designed to give first.

Lastly mate follow their advice to keep the swelling down. Probably along the lines of the old "RICED" principle.

Rest
Ice
Compression (Which is your temp plaster for now)
Elevation
Drugs (No not weed and pints of Fosters! The anti inflam's they have probably given you)

Any problems drop me a line.

Regards

ScottyB

:sniff: That's a poofy injury this was severely nippy!!!:barfy:

Mate, lovely, I was just enjoying my lunch when I saw that!

Seriously, hope the injury has not travelled, and all is okay big fella, keep smiling.

Well, I was back with the consultant today and the CT scan shows that the bone is as perfectly aligned now as it was before (and that included a drunk and fell over moment on Friday night) so she decided not to put a screw in. I thought that was a positive to be honest! We did replace the temp cast and were going to put the proper one on but it's still too swollen so I've got another temp cast on.

The consultant is pretty cool and I think she'd be open to a discussion about the ligament damage. We both knew there was ligament damage but I didn't say anything more on it and neither did she. I have to see her again on Friday as we're planning on putting the proper cast on then so I'll bring it up with her then.

I'm not on any anti-flams and I'm only taking pain killers before I got to bed at the moment. The pain seems to have subsided a fair bit so hopefully the swelling will to. I'm trying the Peroni/Grolsch method at the moment ...

Good news mate,

The fracture sounds like it has stabilised so positive on that front, fingers crossed your ligaments are only minor damage.

Grolsch will work fine for the swelling, probably better for your gut than Ibuprofen anyway!!!

Keep smiling mate.

All the best

ScottyB