Bad news – you’ve broken your foot! You may be feeling a lot of pain, and feeling pretty miserable right now. It can be a really debilitating problem to have since it can impact how much you can move. It impacts all things from your social life to your work, leaving you feeling pretty bummed out sometimes. Fear not though – there are a lot of things that you can do in order to take care of your broken foot and to nurse it back to health. Breaking your foot is one of the reasons to wear a walking boot, for instance.
So, how do you take care of a broken foot in order to maximize recovery and get back to normal pretty quickly? Read on for our guide on how to care for a broken foot.
Seek Medical Attention
First of all, if you haven’t already, seek medical attention asap. It will help to ensure that your recovery is effective and timely so you don’t hurt yourself further. A medical professional will make a treatment plan for you and give you a timescale of how long it’s likely to take for you to start feeling like your old self again. In most cases it will take around 6 to 8 weeks to get back to normal, but your doctor will give you more advice based on the severity of the injury and where in the foot it is.
Follow Your Treatment Plan
If you want to get back to normal asap, it’s a good idea that you follow the advice that you are given by a medical professional. Your treatment plan will be based on you and your unique injury, and it’s the thing that is going to help you to get the results you are looking for. If you are asked to wear a walking boot, then make sure that you do it. For the most part these boots will need to be worn for anywhere from two to six weeks, and generally won’t need to be worn when you are sleeping or resting. If your doctor advises follow up appointments, make sure that you find a way to attend. The same goes with any surgeries you may need, though these are not always necessary. You should try to follow the guidelines you are given about when to start increasing your movement too. While rest is certainly important, it’s also vital that you start trying to move as soon as you can too. Do not drive when you are in the recovery period.
Take Medication as Needed/ Prescribed
Breaking a foot is incredibly painful. It’s only natural that you should want some pain relief to help you to feel a little better. Your doctor should be able to advise you on the right kind of pain medication to use, though over the counter medication should be effective in most circumstances. Make sure that you are taking any other medications you are prescribed too in order to aid your recovery.
Use Ice or Heat
Medication isn’t the only thing that you can use to reduce your pain. Using ice and heat can also be useful for reducing the pain and the swelling. It’s a good idea to get an ice pack or some frozen peas that you have wrapped up in a tea towel, and apply it to the foot for roughly 10 minutes each time. You should check with your doctor if this is okay though, especially if you have a condition like diabetes or you struggle with the senses in your foot.
Get Some Rest
While it may be a bummer to hear, you’ve just gone through a pretty major injury. You aren’t going to have the same range of movement as you usually would. You can aid your recovery by resting during this period – your doctor will give you guidelines about how much you should be resting. Don’t push yourself too hard before you are ready as it often won’t help. In fact, sometimes it may even hinder your recovery. This is a time when you need to listen to what your body needs, even if it’s not something that your head wants!
Conclusion
Dealing with a broken foot is never easy. It’s painful and can take a toll on you mentally knowing that you can’t do as much as you usually can. We sympathize! That’s why it’s so important to get the right care early and follow your doctor’s orders so you can get back to normal in no time.