Hi guys, I managed to break my ankle in New Years Day!! Happy New Year to me!! Anyhoo, I’m nearly 8 weeks in now and I’m walking and weight baring and have started physio. Since I started moving about as opposed to sitting resting, my MS symptoms have become the worse they have ever been. My calves are so stiff, my thigh muscles are stiff and very uncomfortable. It’s got very difficult to walk normally and it’s becoming more difficult to manage than my ankle. My physio thinks it likely temporary due to the inflammation from the break and the physio which is addressing the swelling and stiffness in my ankle. I can honestly say the MS has never affected me to this degree before.
I just wondered if anyone else has been affected in this way from a broken bone or injury and any advise on how to manage it would be appreciated.
Thank you. 
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Oh no! What a horrible thing to happen. I’m glad you’re on the mend. I fell over and damaged my knee a year or two back and I still haven’t got a full movement back in either knee because of the enforced immobility while in the leg brace. But I think that’s more just old age seizing up the joints than a particular MS problem. I hope that time and physio loosens things up for you.
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I fractured, dislocated my ankle in 2022. I had to have surgery and plates and screws fitted as I fractured the tibia and fibula with my foot facing the wrong way. This happened just before I was diagnosed. But it’s an area of weakness after several relapses, i suffer with foot drop, plantar fasciitis and spasticity. I was seen by the neuro physio and given some stretches to do, and they have really helped which I do daily.
I would speak with your ms team regarding appropriate stretches and Maybe appreciate meditation. Personally I use a walking stick now when mobilising, as I’ve lost a lot of the ankle flexibility.
Speak with the physio regarding the stiffness you’re experiencing as it can have a knock on effect to walking.
I hope you get some answers soon.
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Hello, as a fellow ankle breaker, in January, I would love to know how your physio is going. You say your thighs and calves are suffering 
my calf is so skinny from being wrapped up, I may experience the same as you. I’ll happily share my journey, but it won’t start until mid March! Sending healing wishes
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Hello fellow ankle breakers. I broke my right ankle in mid January and have plates fitted. I’m due to be cast free mid March, but am really worried if I’ll get the full use back, to walk and drive. My left leg is too weak to support my body on crutches or a frame, so I’m bunny hopping on a perching stool 
and spend my days sitting. It’s beginning to freak me out and reading your comments is making me think I need to speak to my ms nurse for more specialised physio? Any guidance would really be appreciated. Thank you.
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For my physio I was given a series of stretches to do and I was doing these 3 times a day plus using static pedals. These really helped and I regained strength and muscle back into the leg. But the whole process took over 4 months to recover from, but it was a mess to start with. I hope things start to improve once you get the cast off.
Since my ms diagnosis I’ve now got foot drop from a relapse in 2024, which is on the same leg I’ve got the plates and screws but I’m still able to walk with a stick.
When you see the physio, take on board the stretches they recommend as they really do help to regain flexibility in the ankle joint.
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Thank you for the positive response. I’ll definitely listen and do the exercises, did you have a regular physio or a MS one? wow, it took four months but great that you’re getting out and about. I’ve been using a stick for years and recently started using a rotator, as I keep falling over and breaking bones 
I hope I can be as strong as you and get walking soon - just need to find the energy from somewhere! 
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This happened the year before my ms diagnosis. My foot was facing the wrong way and in the process tore off the tendons and ligaments. So when I was seen by a physio it wasn’t a neuro physio, but the exercises really did help me regain strength in the leg.
It’s tough when fatigue gets in the way, but for me personally I do my exercises in the morning.
When I was hoping around I used a Zimmer frame for balance as found it easier than crutches. I hope you get on ok when you start physio and you may just have to pace yourself and have a nap to aid recovery.
Hi there. I’m going to be 10 weeks down the line on Thursday. For the first six weeks I was doing fine . I accepted I had to sit and rest and do the exercises as best I could. Having MS I had the same fears in relation to getting back to where I was. I’ve had 4 lots of physio so far but my ankle is still very stiff and doesn’t bend forward much at all. It swells up really easy too. I found when I went from resting to moving about my MS seemed to be exacerbated . So my feet felt more numb, my calves stiffer than ever and the same with my thighs. My physio has said he would expect a patient without MS to be stiff, sore and achey, following an ankle break and my MS Nurse has said that you can’t underestimate the trauma of a ankle break has on the body and how it impacts on the MS. If I’m honest it has really freaked me out as I just think I have deteriorated. I can walk to a degree albeit it very slowly . I’ve walked on my tread mill for half a mile, really slowly and been out on small dog walks. I always Ice my ankle when I get back. I do find that my legs are weak and it’s hard to control them. I went on a slightly longer walk today and my calves are a stiff as ever. I’m sure a lot of the stiffness and weakness is to be expected and I probably wouldn’t think anything of it if it wasn’t for the MS!! I think my MS symptoms worry me more than the ankle atm. 
Hello Olliekins, thank you for your response. It’s reassuring that I’m experiencing the same issue as you. My foot is swollen, probably because I’m trying to do normal everyday things and not resting it. Like yourself, the whole experience is freaking me out, and I’m petrified I won’t get my strength and mobility back It’s great you’ve been able to go out and walk - and have a treadmill as a bonus to help my ms nurse told me how she broke her ankle and it took her 6 months to get back to normal and she’s what I’d call a normal healthy person! Getting in and out of bed is a struggle, especially trying to turn, but at least after two weeks sofa sleeping, I’m upstairs now. So many helping aids needed to carry on as normal. Doing my best to keep positive, but sadly have down days.
I’m so grateful for this group to know what I’m going through is quite normal.
Keep up you good work and you’ll soon be running with your dog, my little dog has to wait a while. All being good at my next appointment, I’ll be given the ok to start weight bearing, slow and steady
Thanks again for your help and apologies for the delay in responding 