Foot & Ankle Fractures Specialist

What are foot and ankle fractures?

A fracture is a break in a bone. Fractures range from hairline cracks to completely snapped bones. Minor fractures often heal on their own with rest and casting, but severe fractures often require surgery.

The Cortez Foot & Ankle Specialists team is there every step of the way through your treatment and healing process. They diagnose, set, do surgery, promote healing, and help with recovery and rehab.

What causes foot and ankle fractures?

Fractures can happen during a sports injury, car accident, fall, or any number of other events. You can be more vulnerable to fractures if the bones, tendons, and ligaments in your feet and ankles are weak.

Rolling your ankle or twisting it from side to side can cause a fracture. Overextending a joint in your foot or over flexing it can also break a bone. If you land forcefully from a jump or experience blunt force trauma, a fracture can happen.

When should I suspect a foot or ankle fracture?

Sometimes, a fracture is obvious, especially if the bone has penetrated the skin. Symptoms that suggest a foot or ankle fracture include:

• Intense, throbbing pain
• Increased pain during activity
• Bruising at the site of the injury
• Inflammation, redness, and tenderness
• Difficulty bearing weight or walking
• Deformity in the bones of the foot or ankle

The team at Cortez Foot & Ankle Specialists diagnose your fracture using an imaging procedure like an X-ray and a physical exam.

How are foot and ankle fractures treated?

If the bones have broken but haven’t shifted out of place, you can heal entirely with nonsurgical treatment like wearing a cast and resting the foot or ankle.

Surgery, however, is necessary if you have a complicated fracture in which the bones have shifted or broken through the skin. Surgery would also be needed if the fracture included damage to the ligaments, tendons, and muscles. You might also need surgery if you have a nonunion fracture, meaning a previous fracture didn’t heal properly.

During surgery, your surgeon could use pins, screws, or plates to realign the bones.

Cortez Foot & Ankle Specialists also supports your recovery from surgery, which can take several weeks or months, depending on how severe the break was. During recovery, you might benefit from physical therapy and an individualized plan that helps you return gradually to full activity.

Call Cortez Foot & Ankle Specialists right away if you’ve broken your foot or ankle. You can also request an appointment online.