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I am new at this but wanted to share my pain of broken Fibula!
About 8 weeks ago I dislocated my right foot (Complete 90 degree!) and in turn broke the Fibula like a chicken bone! Pain, thats all i can say! I was rushed to the ER and had a new quick knock out drug then the docs reset it. After that 3 days to wait with a broken bone to eventually find out that hardware (thats what everyone is calling it now) put in. Result, many, many, many days and nights of pain for the first 4 weeks. Along with that, numbness and ice cold feeling throughout foot and leg. I am currently on the countdown of having been in a wheelchair since June of this year with no weight bearing at all and will have a appt 8 days from now to hopefully get :the boot!. This next stage, will probably be slight weight bearing and learning to walk again! Funny thing, i didnt even have a great accident! I was just standing and twisted the wrong way playing with my friends kids! Can u beleive it? Anyway, from what i hear this injury takes time, and for that alot of it so far. So much for the summer, no surf and definitely no more playing with the kids! LOL! Anyway, i will keep all posted if you are one of those who searched the internet nightly for any insight to what occurs or you can expect with this...take care and heal well all!
Hi Again,
Well, its week 10. Got the boot last week and have 25% weight bearing. I must say though, where i work i still use the wheelchair and my arms just cant stand those crutches and its a huge place to go back and forth. However, when at home i walk around with ease. As with others i have read here, yes swelling is the worst part. Once you get your leg up the pain does go away and the next day is a new one to get through. I am optimistic and try to maintain a positve outlook, but still waiting to go to PT and have them rough me up a bit to move my foot! I try my own therapy at home (No one told me too, LOL!), ICE, HEAT at the same time to get the swelling down quickly, it does help! Each week until the 23rd of September, I can put another 5% more and should be at 50-75% weight bearing by then. Then, I get to have one more quick surgery to remove the 'long screw". The rest of the plate and screws will remain with me till the end.
Words of advice:
1. Follow docs orders
2. Keep elavated as much as possible
3. Be positve, even though its a struggle at times
4. Use ICE, HEAT, whatever eases that pain (I tried drinking, didnt help! LOL!)
5. Dont hurt the other foot! LOL! Just kidding, but try to get back to normal as soon as possible as this will help the healing all!
Take care and I will keep you posted if you are interested!
Lots of wishes for you guys that are hear in this post, and good luck to the fishing man who had the twisted injury like me!
I think they decide weather or not it a plate or pin on how the leg breaks. meaning the angle of the break and how many breaks the bone has. A mate of mine recently broke the exact same bones but vertically so they had to insert 2 plates and screws, he has been 24weeks and hes at the exact stage as i am if not worse. since mine was one break in each bone the rod was inserted. As for moving my toes i could manage a little wriggle every now and then otherwise wasnt till just after a week were i could start doing it well. But the trick is to keep moving them, even if a lil pain. just kick starts the process. and as for crutches and walking, keep at it, get slowley put weight on the leg.
They didnt give me any other stimulents at all, I was staying with A mate and his parents after the operation and his mum suggested and gave me calcium tablets to take but i didnt end up taking them. Its not neccesary ...
Thank you for the question, any more are more than welcome, I know how frustrating it is ..
Thanks for your answer. As someone else has said, the recovery process from a broke leg bone is a very lonely and frustrating path. Thanks to this forum, I realise that is not that lonely. It is certainly a challenge... I am trying to face it as such, with all my "athletic" habilities. I see this as the hardest competition or challenge I could have ever imagined... I also realise this is a global issue: there are broken tibias and fibulas literally all over the world, 365 days a year, 24/7...
By the way: what do you think to do once you fully recover? Are you going to go back to sports (rugby is your stuff, isn't it?) with that hardware inside your leg? What can one do in order to protect these bones against fractures? There are helmets for the head. What is the equivalent for your legs? for your shoulders? Perhaps I can go back for riding in the wild traffic in MExico City with a kevlar armor or something like that.... Can you imagine? I truly those rugby players: it takes a lot of guts to play such harsh game without a single protection...
Well once i start running again which im hoping for another month wait, Two at the max but i also don't want to push it that much .. Yes i am hoping for a full return to the rugby field next season, pre season training (Fitness) starts in mid to late February. Fingers crossed. As for protection there is nothing i can really wear to prevent it. I am keeping the rod and screws in the leg unless they cause discomfort, They say that once the bone is fully healed then its just as strong as it once was, if not stronger .. The first game i play will be really hard. I will be really really nervous lol.. But yea something that im challenging myself to.
Maybe some padded shin gaurds or ankle brace when your cycling ?? There arnt too many options for this area unfortunitly ...
The Best advice i can give fora faster is too do what feels comfortable, The only way i have heeled quick was too push it a little, not over do it but a little bit of pain is not a bad thing. My leg from halfway down my shin was floppy and also 90degrees the wrong way, but within 5 weeks i was walking on it bearing almost all the weight. It helped also that after two weeks i got my cast off and the docter himself made me stand on a set of scales and put 40kg of weight on it. i almost past out but that initiated the weight bearing. All docters are different but thats the only way to heal faster. Even when on crutches put your foot down on the floor and slowley put weight on it untill mild pain whilst on both crutches, keep doing this throughout the day. Gradually this will become easier and easier to handle and then the next step is not crutches. There will be a limp but nothing to be alarmed about.
These are the best ways to speed things speed up the recovary ...
Thanks so much for your comments.
The healing process is OK, quite slow but it's OK. My ankle hurts a little bit less every day. I agree with you: every Doctor is different, and imagine the variations from one country to another!!! In my case, the doctor has forbidden strictly to put any weight on my injured foot before he allows me to do so. As far as I understand, there are two basic differences between your case and mine: in yours, they used a rod, which goes inside the marrow of the bone... In mine, the used a plate, that is literally screwed to the side of the bone... THe other difference: you are 26 years younger (that's 7 more years than your whole life...) than me... Believe me, young strong man: things change as you grow a little older... I have tried to put my foot on the floor, without weight and it feels so strange... and I also feel fearful and it's painful... I am sure that it will improve.
I have the next appointment on September 10th. They have to remove one of the screws (an easy office outpatient procedure). But what you mention it is also true: I have to push myself and to stand and overcome pain. In that regard, this is similar to a hard bicycle ride.
Mexico City is located at 2,200 meters above sea level. There is a neighbor city called Toluca, 60 kms away, at 2,800 m.a.s.l... So, it is a really nice ride, in the middle of high mountains forests, it is a 30 kms uphill ride, arriving to the top of a hill at 3,100 meters a.s.l... I remember the first time I did that ride: it was an excruciating pain, and I was really close to quit... I am realising now that this recovery process is quite similar in terms of pain and overcoming pain...
I am so glad that you are recovering so well, with plans for going back to rugby... I am not sure if I will ride again, at least in the same way I used to do. But certainly you are an inspiration fo me to reconsider that decission.
My very best wishes for you, and please let's keep us informed about your progress.
I hope all is well. I have a question when bearing some weight did you feel movement around the break? I broke both my tib/fib two weeks ago and had surgery the day after the break rod and 3 screws. I took it easy for about a week and then started to use the cruches and started to bear a little weight with the cruches. It feels good with little pain but yesterday I lost my balance using my cruches and fell but prior to falling I beared all weight on my broken leg. Besides being a little soar I don't think I hurt anything. Does anyone know how strong those rods and screws are?
For everyone that is going through the same type of break, I wish you all a very fast recovery.
Well i no that the rod is safe as bricks, that was one of the first things that i asked the doc due to wanting a return to the footy field. If I have a hit on the same leg the Rod might bend but not break. But thats only if its a severe blow which would usualy result in a break without the rod. As for the screws thats what worries me, Some cases they have unscrewed themselves or have falling out which not be very pleasent.
Good to see that your weight bearing allready, thats the only way for a quick turn around. The reason i did this was form watching videos on sports stars who done a similar injury, ie Nathan Brown from Australia in the AFL .. (Watch the vid on YOUTUBE) And then read some stuff on his rehabilation and so on. Its the effort you put in on your own terms, notr waiting for every appointment to roll along. Its been 11 weeks now and i can run with a hop, so the impact on the ground isnt severe like it would usually be. everyday im outside doing this with the rugby ball. sometimes theres slight pain but i no that sooner rather than later i will running freely.
Well i hope that there are no more falls but as i did when on crutches when crutching aroung the house every now and again put the foot flat on the floor slowley easing weight onto it. In no time you will be with out the use of crutches ... =)
Thank you for those encouraging words. I'm the type to push things to the limit but I'm afraid to make things worse. When you were using your crutches and applied some weight on your leg did you notice any bone movement? I feel my bones move when I bear weight and then release it. Maybe it's because they haven't fused yet. How were you able to bear that much weight after only two weeks without your bones healed? I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow I will ask him more questions.
Do you know if caffeine (coffee, soft drinks) and sweets lengthen the healing process?
Thanks again!
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