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Hi Vyzie,
How good are you feeling being able to weight bear!!!
When I started weight bearing in the cast I had no pain either and was convinced each time I had xrays that there was bone growth but no luck. I only had signs of growth once the cast was removed and weight bearing on a leg that had been in a cast for 5 months was rather painful. From my experience the lack of pain was not a sign of bone growth but I am one of the unluckier ones as it still hasn't completely healed after 15 months because the tibia is not aligned.
Happy healing!
Thanks for replying, Donna Jane. It's great bearing weight with no pain! But yeah, I do expect bearing weight without the cast to hurt a lot more! Sigh. Certainly not looking forward to it. How nice if no pain meant the bone is growing!
I have been warned that a bone graft op is the last resort. I do hope you won't have to go for one and that the bone will heal naturally! Good luck!
John,
Make sure that they HAVE to take out the screws. Most of the time they leave them in unless they cause a problem? If you have them out they need to do it within 12 months otherwise the bone starts to grow over them and there will be problems in getting them out. In terms of how soon you can do it? I don't know?
First of all I'd like to say that I feel for all of you out there and wish you great success in your healing process. Believe me, it's very tough..!! If I can be of any help or answer some questions, just e-mail me [mod] no posting of email addresses [/mod]
Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but here's my situation. I'm 46 yrs. old, 25 years ago I was broadsided in a car accident. I shattered (trust me when I say shattered) my femur about midway up my leg and broke my tibia and fibula. Both were compound breaks (sticking out of leg). If you want to talk about pain, oh my god..!! Anyways, I was put in traction, laying in bed for 3 months until my new bone growth was good enough for a cast. At this time, a full leg cast was put on with hinges @ the knee. Couldn't really move it much, but the cast was split there.
After the cast was put on, I was on crutches for 6 more months , without putting weight on my leg. As of this time, there wasn't any pins or screws in my leg, just natural healing of everything. My cast finally came off and boy was it looking a bit abnormal. First of all, it was really skinny. And, my femur was bowed. Also, my tibia and femur were not lined up straight from top to bottom. They healed offset about 1/2". My doc said to me you're lucky your leg is healed and you'll just have to deal with it not lining up straight..!! This concerned me at the time, but seemed like there's was nothing I could do, so my life went on.
I was still on crutches, but was now able to start putting weight on my leg, plus go to therapy, because I couldn't bend my knee more than 45 degrees..!! My doc gave me a soft removable cast to keep my leg somewhat immobile. He didn't want me to over exert my leg. I've been going to therapy for about 2 weeks now, so my leg was starting to feel stronger. My motion of my knee was around 105 degrees now and could sit down on the floor on my knees, but it felt like my kneecap would crack from the tendon stretching across it when I pushed it to the limit. I was starting to fee good about myself. Being young and stupid, I went out and drove my cousins Saab Sonnet lll, stick shift. That was a huge mistake..!! That evening, I thought my leg was re-broke. I was in such pain and couldn't move my leg. Atrophy now set in and my whole leg tightened up. All the movement I had gained in flexing my knee has now been lost. I had to start all over again.
After a couple of months, I got most of my previous movement back, but there again was the roadblock at 105 degrees. I was walking now with a cane and the bone healing was steadily coming along. My femur was still bowed, so my doc decided to operate to straighten my femur. I went in and they put a rod though the bone with a plate and screws. My femur was straight and could walk the next day. I was so amazed at how good this procedure went. WOW, I was walking the next day. After 1 yr. they would go back in and take out the hardware, which they did. My leg was now straight, but was 1 3/4" shorter, due to the healing of the shattered femur bone.
I could now pretty much function normally, but without the motion of my knee. This limited me from running at any great speed and pretty much put all sports activities to a screeching halt, except for bowling and golf. Running and jumping activities were out of the picture. My femur was all healed and actually stronger than normal. But, my tibia and fibula were not lined up and this gave me pain. In the morning, getting out of bed, my ankle was stiff and hurt when I waled on it until it loosened up. Walking too long and my leg would hurt. I could bowl, but not a lot of games anymore.
So, for 25 years I've dealt with this pain. It seems to be getting worse. Just laying on the couch and it feels like a knife is going thru my ankle when I move it. It actually feels better when I have some weight on it. I've always wanted to have my tibia and fibula re-broken to straighten my leg out. I feel this will help with my pain that I have in my leg and ankle. I've been to see a doc in my area, but he doesn't want to do anything. He says you're walking and functioning quite normally. There is no reason to do it because the bone may not heel and you could end up worse than you are now. I'm really having a problem dealing with the pain at times and don't want to be taking pain killers for the rest of my life. I know the problem will be getting worse as I get older and feel that now is the time if there's any last chance hope to re-break my leg to fix the problem.
Sorry for being so long winded. Does anyone have any advice for me or know a specialist that can look at my leg and advise me on any choices I may have..? Thanks for listening. Hope all is well for everyone in your situations.
Last edited by Suzet2262; 07-07-2008 at 06:35 PM..
Reason: posted email addy
First of all I'd like to say that I feel for all of you out there and wish you great success in your healing process. Believe me, it's very tough..!! If I can be of any help or answer some questions, just e-mail me Moderator cut: no posting email addresses
Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but here's my situation. I'm 46 yrs. old, 25 years ago I was broadsided in a car accident. I shattered (trust me when I say shattered) my femur about midway up my leg and broke my tibia and fibula. Both were compound breaks (sticking out of leg). If you want to talk about pain, oh my god..!! Anyways, I was put in traction, laying in bed for 3 months until my new bone growth was good enough for a cast. At this time, a full leg cast was put on with hinges @ the knee. Couldn't really move it much, but the cast was split there.
After the cast was put on, I was on crutches for 6 more months , without putting weight on my leg. As of this time, there wasn't any pins or screws in my leg, just natural healing of everything. My cast finally came off and boy was it looking a bit abnormal. First of all, it was really skinny. And, my femur was bowed. Also, my tibia and femur were not lined up straight from top to bottom. They healed offset about 1/2". My doc said to me you're lucky your leg is healed and you'll just have to deal with it not lining up straight..!! This concerned me at the time, but seemed like there's was nothing I could do, so my life went on.
I was still on crutches, but was now able to start putting weight on my leg, plus go to therapy, because I couldn't bend my knee more than 45 degrees..!! My doc gave me a soft removable cast to keep my leg somewhat immobile. He didn't want me to over exert my leg. I've been going to therapy for about 2 weeks now, so my leg was starting to feel stronger. My motion of my knee was around 105 degrees now and could sit down on the floor on my knees, but it felt like my kneecap would crack from the tendon stretching across it when I pushed it to the limit. I was starting to fee good about myself. Being young and stupid, I went out and drove my cousins Saab Sonnet lll, stick shift. That was a huge mistake..!! That evening, I thought my leg was re-broke. I was in such pain and couldn't move my leg. Atrophy now set in and my whole leg tightened up. All the movement I had gained in flexing my knee has now been lost. I had to start all over again.
After a couple of months, I got most of my previous movement back, but there again was the roadblock at 105 degrees. I was walking now with a cane and the bone healing was steadily coming along. My femur was still bowed, so my doc decided to operate to straighten my femur. I went in and they put a rod though the bone with a plate and screws. My femur was straight and could walk the next day. I was so amazed at how good this procedure went. WOW, I was walking the next day. After 1 yr. they would go back in and take out the hardware, which they did. My leg was now straight, but was 1 3/4" shorter, due to the healing of the shattered femur bone.
I could now pretty much function normally, but without the motion of my knee. This limited me from running at any great speed and pretty much put all sports activities to a screeching halt, except for bowling and golf. Running and jumping activities were out of the picture. My femur was all healed and actually stronger than normal. But, my tibia and fibula were not lined up and this gave me pain. In the morning, getting out of bed, my ankle was stiff and hurt when I waled on it until it loosened up. Walking too long and my leg would hurt. I could bowl, but not a lot of games anymore.
So, for 25 years I've dealt with this pain. It seems to be getting worse. Just laying on the couch and it feels like a knife is going thru my ankle when I move it. It actually feels better when I have some weight on it. I've always wanted to have my tibia and fibula re-broken to straighten my leg out. I feel this will help with my pain that I have in my leg and ankle. I've been to see a doc in my area, but he doesn't want to do anything. He says you're walking and functioning quite normally. There is no reason to do it because the bone may not heel and you could end up worse than you are now. I'm really having a problem dealing with the pain at times and don't want to be taking pain killers for the rest of my life. I know the problem will be getting worse as I get older and feel that now is the time if there's any last chance hope to re-break my leg to fix the problem.
Sorry for being so long winded. Does anyone have any advice for me or know a specialist that can look at my leg and advise me on any choices I may have..? Thanks for listening. Hope all is well for everyone in your situations.
Hi Richie,
What an ordeal you have been through and very sorry to hear that you are still suffering. I know the feeling when you first get up in the morning and after laying on the sofa. I am due to have my tibia rebroken and realigned, some new hardware and a bone graft in a couple of months. My accident was 15 months ago and due to the malalignment of the bone the ankle joint is not at a 90 degree angle and starting to detriorate. I have seen 7 different orthopedic surgeons and at long last truly feel I have found the right one. I only discovered him after being referred by several people. I could recommend him to you but unfortunately he is in Australia.
Keep talking to people until you get some really good referrals and make sure they are a specialist in the lower tib and fib areas. That's the area my guy deals with and his colleagues cover the upper part of the tib and fib, then the knees, then the upper leg, hips and so on. Until now I was not aware that the orthopedic surgeons specialised in such greater detail. I hope my comments are of some assistance to you. Good luck on the search. Donna
Last edited by Suzet2262; 07-07-2008 at 06:36 PM..
Reason: posting an edited post....
Hi Donna Jane and Nel. I haven't been on here in a while, so I thought I would update my progress. As far as progress goes I haven't made a lot. I'm still NWB 14 weeks after my last bone graft. My OS told me 2 weeks ago that I still had some healing to do. He looked at my X-rays and said I could walk, but my wife told him we were afraid of him since he told me the same thing in Jan. So he orderd a ct-scan and after reading it said no weight bearing. I go back August 4th to check it out again. I hope everything is going OK with you. Take care.
I broke my fib and tib in a car accident. My leg was quite mashed and the firefighters were holding the bones together as they strapped me to a stretcher.
The bones had not pierced the skin though. The fib and tib had one break in the centre of the bone.
This was fixed by inserting a titanium rod through the centre of the main bone, taking out the knee cap and hammer the rod through the middle.
The oin was fixed by a screw just above my ankle and just below my knee.
The days that followed bought about alot of bruising in my calf and extreme tightness in the calf not to mention a hot and swollen knee that I kept applying ice too and kept the whole leg elevated.
The Op was the end of October and I Was down to one crutch 6 weeks later and could cover short distances very slowly and with a major limp. Short meaning from the living room to kitchen etc (I was never placed in cast either).
By mid jan I was driving and was walking unaided, though I must say very slow.
By March life had returned to normal other than the screw hurting in my ankle and actually stopped the healing of the bone as it was keeping a small between the bone each side of the break. This was removed and my leg felt great. From then it was a quicker recovery, I was surfing by the end of May. Though it was up until Sept that I would get up after sleeping and the first few steps would be stiff on the leg.
The only problems I had when I started getting some running underway was scar tissue which the physio broke up for me.
All I would suggest to anyone is keeping pushing, I used to walk round supermarket using the trolley as zimmerframe so i could put some weight through my leg.
I worked very hard in my physio classes to ensure full recovery.
I have the pin and knee screw still in and have had no problems yet (touch wood). Off to play footy now.
Hey guys,
I thought I might share a similar exsperience and my progress to uplift some of you with such a long recovery.
I am 21 years old and a horse rider (show jumping,dressage, hunters and race horse exscersize rider)
While galloping a horse out on the grass on Mothers Day (May 11th) of this year, his shoe clipped a rut in the ground and he flung forward onto his knees and face, I, being concerned for his well being jumped off to the left and ran 3 strides before realizing my left leg was not following me haha. I fell to the ground but both legs were numb because of the impact, thank god someone was watching because as I went to get up to catch the horse, the bottom half of my calf flopped backwards and I immediatley said to myself "well thats not supposed to happen". I am a very calm individual, more so than most and have an extremley high pain tolerance so I calmly asked my mom who was watching to catch my horse, check him over than get an ambulance. She caught him, he was fine thank god, brought him to the stable and took his equipment off and called the ambulance. All the while I'm sitting there picking at grass next to me cussing out everything in sight because I knew it was bad. First an EMT came and he wanted to take my boot off, I simply but sternly told him not to touch me untill the ambulance was there, I knew it was bad and I could feel that it was open, the ambulance arrived and they all grimaced in their faces, I said "Well gee don't try and make me feel better about it or anything" haha. They wanted to cut the boot but it being $300 I said nope, I'm allready in pain u might as well pull the stupid thing off. They hesitated but I told them I would pull it off myself if they didnt. They did and boy did that hurt...but I still have my boot! After popping the bones back in (oh yeah yummy haha) and putting me on a stretcher we calmly talked in the ambulance on the way to the ER. What a great mothers day gift I gave my mom huh?? So any how, I had broken my tibia and fibula clean in half with the shin broken and chipped as well. The stupid people at radiology ran my leg into the door and proceeded to lift the leg at the knee and let the bottom half fall down TWICE (I said some choice words and told them if I wasnt on so much medication I'd kill them both) haha mind you the break is halfway between ankle and knee. Any how I got surgery and that was simple, a rod and two pins, one below the knee, one above the ankle. Boy was that leg swollen and stiff and miscolored for a while. Well....at 5 weeks I was walking with no crutches and a limited limp, at 6 weeks I was riding even tho I'm not technically supposed to but hey, I get on with a picnic table haha. And it has been almost 9 weeks and I am walking, no limp, up and down stairs, no pain and getting more muscle tone by the day with less and less swelling. Sometimes the leg will swell if I sleep on the floor or do to much but it goes right back down and there is no pain. I realize I am not only lucky, but blessed to be such a fast and strong healer. My xrays at 5 weeks revealed the Tibia was fully healed with only a slight evidence of the break but barely, the fibula was not yet healed but he said its non weight bearing so it will get there soon.I am extremley excited about my great recovery but also sadend that some of you are having such a hard time I don't know what I'd do. Please just hang in there and remember, you will heal, just think it and be patient. I also took 1 calcium pill per day since the break and I'm not sure if it has anything to do with it but it couldnt hurt Good luck fellow leg breakers haha!
I forgot to mention, I had no cast and also the doctor said I do not need physical thearpy as I did my own at home (thank got for rehabing horses with broken legs and injuries!!!) And have full flexion in ankle and knee
Hi Donna Jane and Nel. I haven't been on here in a while, so I thought I would update my progress. As far as progress goes I haven't made a lot. I'm still NWB 14 weeks after my last bone graft. My OS told me 2 weeks ago that I still had some healing to do. He looked at my X-rays and said I could walk, but my wife told him we were afraid of him since he told me the same thing in Jan. So he orderd a ct-scan and after reading it said no weight bearing. I go back August 4th to check it out again. I hope everything is going OK with you. Take care.
Dear Cannon,
I am sorry to hear that it is taking longer than expected. Does that mean you have been NWB prior to January? How are your spirits? I hope you are getting through things ok. I suspect I will incur the same problem later this year when I have a bone graft. My OS believes I will be NWB for 10 weeks and after reading your update I have resigned myself to not make future plans and just take each day as it comes until I have healed. I am currently in preparation for the big event and have been lifting weights twice a week to build up my strength for those ghastly crutches again. I am getting so strong that i will probably be doing back flips on them in October. Dangerous!! Anyway, my thoughts are with you and truly hope you have great progress between now and August. Don't we get dealt some challenging cards in life!
All the best. Donna
Dear Cannon,
I am sorry to hear that it is taking longer than expected. Does that mean you have been NWB prior to January? How are your spirits? I hope you are getting through things ok. I suspect I will incur the same problem later this year when I have a bone graft. My OS believes I will be NWB for 10 weeks and after reading your update I have resigned myself to not make future plans and just take each day as it comes until I have healed. I am currently in preparation for the big event and have been lifting weights twice a week to build up my strength for those ghastly crutches again. I am getting so strong that i will probably be doing back flips on them in October. Dangerous!! Anyway, my thoughts are with you and truly hope you have great progress between now and August. Don't we get dealt some challenging cards in life!
All the best. Donna
You will probably heal a lot faster than I have. I have just been healing very slow. you do need to build up for these crutches, they can be tricky. Watch out for rugs and towels in the floor, they are very dangerous. I hope you the best too, and one of these days we will look back at this and say, WOW!!! Take care and thanks for your concern.
cannon
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Should I re-break my Tibia and Fibula..?
Update
I don't know what I'd do. Please just hang in there and remember, you will heal, just think it and be patient. I also took 1 calcium pill per day since the break and I'm not sure if it has anything to do with it but it couldnt hurt 
Good luck fellow leg breakers haha!