Ankle Fracture Rehabilitation Canberra.

What the evidence says.

After an ankle fracture, the cast or boot does its job and then leaves you with a new problem: a stiff, weak, deconditioned ankle and a walking pattern built around protecting it. The evidence supports structured rehabilitation after immobilisation, restoring dorsiflexion range, rebuilding calf and leg strength and retraining gait, with outcomes tracking effort in the months after the boot comes off, not just the surgery or the healing before it.

How I treat it.

We rebuild in order: range first, especially dorsiflexion, which locks up reliably after immobilisation and quietly ruins stairs, squatting and stride length. Then strength through the whole limb, because the calf shrinks fast in a boot and the hip forgets its job. Then gait retraining, because months of limping writes a pattern that does not erase itself.

Hands on joint and soft tissue work accelerates the early range phase, done in the same session as the loading. If hardware, pain or healing raise questions, I liaise with your surgeon directly.

What we aim for.

• Full functional range back, measured against the other side
• Calf and leg strength restored, not almost restored
• A symmetrical walk you no longer think about
• Return to sport, trails and full work duties with testing to prove it