Fractures - Fort Lee Physical Therapy - Fort Lee, NJ

Fractures

Fractures take a while to heal and our physical therapists at Fort Lee Physical Therapy are here to help you to control swelling, immobilize your injury as well as work with your orthopedic physician or emergency department to treat your fracture.

A Guide To Ankle Fractures – Part Two

If you have been reading my blog you’ll know that the other week I wrote part one of a two part series about ankle fractures. In A Guide To Ankle Fractures – Part One I talked about the different kinds of fractures and how to recognize each. In this blog I want to focus on how physical therapy can help, and what the different treatment options are.

How Can a Physical Therapist Help?

When you go to visit your physical therapist after your injury and an ankle fracture is suspected, your physical therapist will do the following:

– Instruct you in how to take care of the injury using rest, ice, compression, and elevation – the RICE formula.
– Immobilize your ankle by wrapping it with a wrap, or applying a brace to limit motion and control the swelling.
– Apply ice to reduce pain and swelling.
– Instruct you to keep your ankle elevated to control swelling.
– Help you choose the right walking aid so that you are not putting weight on the injured ankle.
– Make recommendations for additional care with an orthopedic physician or emergency department.

A Guide To Ankle Fractures – Part One

As much as it is important to know what a physical therapist can do to help an injury I think it is just important to understand the injury itself. Part of clients being an active part of their own recovery is knowledge, so I decided to write a two part series about ankle fractures.

With that being said let’s dive right in!

What is an Ankle Fracture?

An ankle fracture is what happens when you completely or partially break a bone on one or both sides of your ankle joint. There are several types of ankle fractures, and 1, 2, or 3 bones may be fractured in each case.