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Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
17,330 posts, read 33,029,371 times
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Hi!
I've got myself a bit of a medical dilemma and I was wondering if anyone had been through this and how they turned it around.
In early January, I broke my left fibula. I didn't know it at the time -- I thought I'd just strained my ankle or something. I went to the doctor in mid-to late-January and, upon taking x-rays, she discovered that it was broken. She referred me to an orthopedist, and gave me anti-inflammatories and Vicodin.
On or just before 2/2, I realized that I was totally overcompensating when walking -- I subconsciously (I suppose) was putting my weight on my right leg to keep it off the broken left one. It was almost impossible to walk half a block before my right leg started to buckle. It felt like my right hip was broken!
I went to see the orthopedist on Friday, 2/4, at which time he gave me a removable cast (boot) and confirmed that my right hip was NOT broken, but that I was overcompensating. The boot was a nightmare -- there was too much wiggle room and it was providing zero support -- and so, on Monday, 2/7, he gave me a plastic and cushion brace thingy. Groovy. That feels good and totally immobilizes my left leg.
BUT!
I'm still overcompensating on my right left and it's gotten progressively worse. I've almost forgotten that my left leg is broken because my right leg is hurting me so bad.
Even though I know that this is (likely) psychological -- not daring to put any weight on the left broken foot -- I can't even talk myself into it. With every step, I concentrate on weight balancing, but it won't work.
The brace is to stay on (while I'm awake) until 2/24, at which time the orthopedist will x-ray my left leg. But it doesn't even matter about the brace -- even if it's off, I'm overcompensating on the right leg, possibly even MORE so than when the brace is on.
Has anyone here ever had this experience? What did you do to resolve it? Or did you have to wait until your doctor told you that your bone was healed in order to have the guts to put weight on it? (I know my left fibula is not yet healed, by the way.)
Thanks for any input or advice that you might have.
Why not just use a cane for a bit of extra support? When I broke my femur, that's what I used. Granted, my broken bones were several and severe involving surgeries and metal plates and steel rods and a Black & Decker drill and staples... but I found a cane did a great job of helping me keep things more even on both sides with minimum discomfort and convenience. Due to the nature of the injuries, I have a bad back now and a bad hip, but we expected that and it wasn't due to overcompensating. And now I use a cane again when I'm feeling achy and it's pretty terrific.
Best part: you can find all kinds of canes in different styles and they can actually look cool. Mine's a hand-sanded and shellaced blackwood stick from Ireland.
I fractured my fibula just above the ankle five years ago but they plated it and had me on a walker for 8 weeks no cast. Then a lot of PT several times a week (and a lot of oxycodone due to the PT -mainly range of motion to keep it from freezing) I was then on crutches for awhile more and in a boot.
It seems extreme but I know several others who were treated differently, back to work sooner, etc etc who are having ongoing problems. I have full range of motion, and full strength and the scar and the slightly larger size of the left ankle are the only lasting remnants.
I am sure each break is dfferent and how it is approached has to be different. But you break a bone your body needs time to heal...........
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
17,330 posts, read 33,029,371 times
Reputation: 28903
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnonChick
Why not just use a cane for a bit of extra support? When I broke my femur, that's what I used. Granted, my broken bones were several and severe involving surgeries and metal plates and steel rods and a Black & Decker drill and staples... but I found a cane did a great job of helping me keep things more even on both sides with minimum discomfort and convenience. Due to the nature of the injuries, I have a bad back now and a bad hip, but we expected that and it wasn't due to overcompensating. And now I use a cane again when I'm feeling achy and it's pretty terrific.
Best part: you can find all kinds of canes in different styles and they can actually look cool. Mine's a hand-sanded and shellaced blackwood stick from Ireland.
Hmmm. I'll call the ortho-dude on Monday about a cane.
Quote:
Originally Posted by grannynancy
I fractured my fibula just above the ankle five years ago but they plated it and had me on a walker for 8 weeks no cast. Then a lot of PT several times a week (and a lot of oxycodone due to the PT -mainly range of motion to keep it from freezing) I was then on crutches for awhile more and in a boot.
It seems extreme but I know several others who were treated differently, back to work sooner, etc etc who are having ongoing problems. I have full range of motion, and full strength and the scar and the slightly larger size of the left ankle are the only lasting remnants.
I am sure each break is dfferent and how it is approached has to be different. But you break a bone your body needs time to heal...........
What do you mean by "they plated it"? Is that surgical?
Yeah that's a surgical thing. I had plates on my radius and ulna to stabilize them when they cracked in half. They're just thin, flat metal plates. It -kind- of looks like the metal thing that's on the inside of a three-ring binder (except without the rings and more slender and flat). The surgical team places the bones in the position they need to be, to heal properly. They place a plate over the two bones lengthwise, and use a power-drill to screw the plate securely onto the bone. They sew you up, dress the incision, and then you have physical therapy a couple weeks later to ensure the muscles don't deteriorate while you heal.
After a year, usually, they'd take the plates out again, opening the same incision scar. The healing process from removal is a lot quicker, less painful, and the scar is usually just a long skinny line with tiny little dots along the sides where the stitches were.
Watching them remove the plates is pretty cool. I was in twilight for that and was alert enough during a few minutes here and there that I could see them doing it on the monitor over my head. Putting them in is more of a general anasthesia/full sedation kind of thing though.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
17,330 posts, read 33,029,371 times
Reputation: 28903
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnonChick
Yeah that's a surgical thing. I had plates on my radius and ulna to stabilize them when they cracked in half. They're just thin, flat metal plates. It -kind- of looks like the metal thing that's on the inside of a three-ring binder (except without the rings and more slender and flat). The surgical team places the bones in the position they need to be, to heal properly. They place a plate over the two bones lengthwise, and use a power-drill to screw the plate securely onto the bone. They sew you up, dress the incision, and then you have physical therapy a couple weeks later to ensure the muscles don't deteriorate while you heal.
After a year, usually, they'd take the plates out again, opening the same incision scar. The healing process from removal is a lot quicker, less painful, and the scar is usually just a long skinny line with tiny little dots along the sides where the stitches were.
Watching them remove the plates is pretty cool. I was in twilight for that and was alert enough during a few minutes here and there that I could see them doing it on the monitor over my head. Putting them in is more of a general anasthesia/full sedation kind of thing though.
I really, really, REALLY don't want any sort of surgical intervention.
In my case there was no other option, but I have to say, I would've preferred the surgery to being stuck in a cast for a minimum of 6 months. Recovery from surgery took a couple of weeks but I had almost full mobility for the duration of the healing process, no cast (except a removable one on my arm that housed an electronic device that I wore only at home sleeping and a couple of hours during each day for a couple of months). With surgery, I was able to go through physical therapy only a couple weeks after they took the stitches out. With a cast, my arm and leg would have been completely immoble for around 6 months - and by that time, muscles can atrophy, sometimes permanently. No amount of physical therapy can restore permanently atrophied muscle.
You should explore ALL options, and don't rule surgery out unless your doctor says your situation doesn't call for it, or that you're not a good candidate for it. I wouldn't embrace the idea of surgery, but there are definitely upsides to it compared to the cast route - if the doctor says you have options.
My plate was put in within hours. I was given two options and he said the plate would heal better and with the right therapy I would have more range of motion. It was brutal those 8 weeks but one of my coworkers who had the cast has had a harder time of it .....
My plate is still there (my mother had a similar fall over 30 years ago, has a plate and it has never given her one moment's worth of trouble)
I imagine that many factors lead up to the decision as different breaks merit different approaches. There was no way I delayed a trip to the hospital because it was immediately evident. My fracture was through the bone diagnonally and was about 5 inches long......
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