Spiral fracture of an ankle

[NiceCupOfTea]

I know this is a bit of a "how long's a piece of string" question, but how long would this take to heal fully?

My dad fell badly today - he is in plaster and is having an op tomorrow, will be in hospital for a week.

How long before he will be able to walk, drive (of course it's his right ankle so I can't just get him an auto stter for a few weeks), and ultimately get back to normal? He cares for my mum who is disabled so it's pretty crap luck, and I live 150 miles away too

[Ganglandboss]

Spiral fractures take a while to heal. I had the same injury aged 26 and was in plaster 11 weeks with a further month until I stopped limping.

[NiceCupOfTea]

bump for daytime crew...

[dickkark]

spiral or radial breaks as they are called do take longer to heal,but when healed they are stronger than a normal break.
also they allow a greater scope for pinning if needed.
I had three metacarpals break radially and have no problems with the hand at all,took 4 months to heal with three/four screws in each bone.
HTH

[MTJones]

Obviously depends on him and the exact nature of his fracture, but he will be in plaster for around 6 weeks in total, although some hospitals may get him in an aircast boot to allow earlier ankle excersises with the physioterrorists. Once out of plaster it may take a couple of weeks for him to get the movement / and the pain settle to drive etc. will probably take a further few months (with proprioceptive exercises under the physios) for it to start to feel more 'normal' but can vary obviously.