Crutches After a Broken Foot or Ankle: What to Use

A broken foot or ankle usually means weeks of keeping weight off it, and crutches are how you get around. The crutches you pick decide whether those weeks are manageable or exhausting. Here’s what matters.

How long you’ll be on them

It depends on the fracture and your surgeon, but 6–8 weeks of limited or non-weight-bearing is common, sometimes longer for surgical repairs. You’ll often move from strict non-weight-bearing to partial weight-bearing in a boot as the bone heals. Follow your surgeon’s and physical therapist’s timeline, it overrides any general number.

Why the crutch choice matters more here

Non-weight-bearing puts all your moving load on your arms, hands, and shoulders for weeks. That’s the exact situation that wears people down:

• Shock absorption and ergonomic handles prevent the hand and wrist soreness that shows up by week two (see crutches that don’t hurt your hands).
• Forearm crutches spread load onto the forearm instead of jamming it into your palms and armpits, so they’re usually more comfortable for a multi-week stretch than underarm crutches (see forearm vs. underarm).
• Stable, articulating tips help you move deliberately while fully protecting the foot.
• Stairs. You’ll have to handle them; forearm crutches do this better than a knee scooter (see stairs).

Which crutches to choose

From our best forearm crutches picks, the comfort-first, shock-absorbing models score highest for non-weight-bearing recovery: the In-Motion Pro (spring-assist comfort) and the Ergobaum 7G (recovery extras + shock absorption). Take the quiz for a match, and see our broader crutches after surgery guide.

This is general information, not medical advice. Follow your surgeon’s and physical therapist’s weight-bearing instructions, they override anything here.