Wearing a cast for a calcaneus fracture

Casting is not suitable for every heel-bone break. The decision depends on alignment, joint involvement, skin and soft-tissue condition, and whether the fracture stays stable. Some injuries need repositioning or fixation instead.

Plaster or fibreglass forms a rigid shell around protective padding. It helps hold the foot and ankle still while bone healing begins, but it cannot correct every displaced fracture or prevent problems if swelling makes the cast too tight.

Follow-up visits allow the team to inspect the skin, assess circulation and sensation, and check alignment with imaging when appropriate. A cast may need adjustment or replacement as swelling changes.

Keep the cast clean and dry unless your care team confirms that its specific material is water-safe. Do not insert objects, powders, or creams beneath it. Check exposed toes for normal colour, warmth, movement, and feeling, and elevate the limb as instructed when swelling is troublesome.

Use crutches or another aid exactly as taught, and do not stand on the cast unless it has been designed for weight-bearing and your clinician has permitted it. Keep scheduled reviews even when pain improves, because comfort alone cannot confirm alignment or union.

Seek urgent assessment if pain becomes severe despite elevation and prescribed medicine, the cast feels increasingly tight, or the toes become numb, weak, blue, pale, or cold. Prompt review is also needed for a cracked or soaked cast, burning under the cast, drainage, a bad smell with fever, or an object trapped inside.

Ask whether the break involves the joint, whether its position is stable, and how much weight the foot can take. Confirm how to bathe safely, when the cast will be checked, what imaging is planned, and what movement or rehabilitation will begin after immobilisation ends.