The first 48 hours: elevation is the whole job
Swelling is the enemy of a comfortable early recovery, and gravity is your main tool against it. "Elevated" means the foot above heart level: lying down with the foot on pillows, not sitting in a recliner with the foot on an ottoman. Expect to spend most of the first two days doing exactly this. Pain that builds steadily on day one is very often a foot that has spent too much time hanging down.
Take pain medication as directed and ahead of the pain rather than chasing it. If ice is part of your instructions, it goes around the ankle or behind the knee, never directly on a numb foot or through a wet towel onto the dressing.
Dressings: dry and untouched
The bandage placed in surgery is doing more than covering the wound; it's often providing compression and holding the correction. Leave it exactly as it is until your follow-up unless you're told otherwise. Keep it bone dry: shower with the foot in a sealed bag or a cast cover, or take sponge baths until cleared. A soaked dressing isn't a mishap to dry out with a hair dryer. It's a call to the office.
Weight-bearing: your instructions are load limits, not suggestions
"Non-weight-bearing" means the foot does not touch the ground, not even a quick pivot at the bathroom sink. "Heel-weight only" and "boot at all times when standing" mean exactly what they say. These instructions come from what was done inside your foot: bones held by small screws, tendons stitched under tension. The repair doesn't care that you felt fine when you cheated; it fails silently and shows up as a bad X-ray at your follow-up. If you aren't sure what your limits are, call and ask. It's a one-minute conversation.
The week-two trap
Around days 7–14, most patients feel dramatically better, and this is when recoveries get undone. Feeling better means the repair is starting to heal, not that it's strong. Add activity the way your instructions describe (gradually and on schedule) rather than the way your energy suggests.
Call the office promptly for: fever or chills; pain that increases after day two instead of easing; redness spreading beyond the dressing; drainage that soaks through or smells; toes that turn cold, blue, or numb; a wet or slipped dressing; or calf pain and swelling in either leg (rare, but it can signal a blood clot, and this one deserves same-day medical attention). None of these are "wait for the follow-up" findings.
Diabetes changes the margins
If you have diabetes, your healing timeline is real but slower, and infections declare themselves more quietly. Check the skin you can see daily, keep blood sugar as steady as you can (glucose control is wound care) and treat every warning sign above one notch more seriously. Our diabetic foot care checklist pairs well with any surgical recovery.