I fractured my fibula lateral malleolus 6 weeks ago today skiing and am curious if anyone else has had this same fracture, or if there are any docs out there, that can share their experiences? It was a clean break with no joint displacement, so no surgery required. I was put in a walking boot and crutches and told I could be weight bearing as tolerated. My x-rays at 2 weeks looked great (joint was stable, bone healing evident) and I have my 6 week x-rays this Tuesday. My orthopedic seems to be super conservative on returning to running. He didn’t want me doing anything other than the stationary bike (he didn’t even want me on my own bike on the indoor trainer) and weight training (but no squats, deadlifts, etc.) for 6 weeks. He didn’t even want me pool running or swimming. My PT felt pool running and riding my bike on the indoor training would be fine, so I started both around 3 weeks and both seemed to help my ankle regain range of motion and flexibility. My doctor also said “pain will be my guideâ€, so if something hurts than it’s too soon. I stopped using the boot just before week 5 since it felt better without it. Since removing the boot, pool running, and the PT exercises and stretches, my ankle range of motion and increased rapidly. Also, I’ve had no pain on the bike, pool running, or even on the elliptical and my leg/ankle continues to feel better every day. I even ran at 50% body weight Friday (2 days shy of 6 weeks) on the Alter-G treadmill and it felt fine during and no increase in pain after. I know my doctor didn’t want me to even do the elliptical until after 6 weeks, and not run on the Alter-G for another 1-2 weeks after that. I realize we should generally listen to our doctors, but to me this seems overly conservative. I guess I’m curious to hear anyone else’s experience with this fracture and returning to running. I am primarily a trail ultra runner these days, and was supposed to do a 50 mile trail race 2 weeks after my fracture, so I was in great shape when this happened and obviously want to get back to running and quickly as safely possible. I’d love to hear from anyone else out there who has also had a fibula fracture!
I’ve had similar fractures and I would listen to, in order: pt, orthopedic, pain. The number one thing is getting that pt in for flexibility and muscle balance. I ran a marathon 14 months post distal fibula fracture but it was a mistake and I wouldn’t do it again. I rushed the run and ended up with poor balance between my legs that took years to work out.
Fitness comes back faster than you expect. Lay a solid foundation and it will be like you were never injured.
Thanks for your feedback. I started PT at 3 weeks after the break and have been doing a lot of proprioception and single leg balance work. My single leg balance on the bum leg isn’t 100%, but it’s pretty close already. It seems like I’ve read everything from people getting back to running in 4-6 weeks all the way to people not being able to run for several months. I’m guessing 6-8 week should be realistic considering it was a clean break and considering the fibula is only about 15-20% weight bearing.