Healing from broken bones

Post Reply New Topic

This question is to anyone who has suffered a broken foot, ankle, leg, etc.. When you got your cast off and were allowed to use your leg again, did it take you a long time to begin using it again? My son broke his foot and has had a cast on for about a month. He is using a cane and finds it difficult to apply pressure to his foot. The doctor says there should be no reason for him not to return to normal activity. I am wondering if he may be uncomfortable due to sensory issues? Any input would be great!

I had ankle surgery about 3 months ago. I was not able to put any weight for over a month then was able to put as much weight as I could tolerate for about 3 weeks. It does take a while to get use to walking and can be pretty painful the first little bit after. I still used my crutches about a week after my cast was removed. An ankle brace might help a little.

I've broken every finger in my hands probably twice each, most my toes, had a wrist break or two or three (I don't remember), broke both my arms one of em twice, sprained my ankle, ... and who knows what else... I'm quite the daredevil. Once the cast is off, it's best to be gentle on it for awhile, time depends on how bad the break was and how he heals up while in the cast and out. It's going to still be stiff and sore for a bit.

Could be a sensitivity issue too.
Just give him a little more time to get used to the sensations over again, since the brain tends to "quiet" sensations and make them normal when you use a cast for a while.
Everyone is different, but don't let him not walk on it or not rehab it after a prolonged period. His bones need that stress, and so do his muscles.
If it persists, see if the doctor will send him to a Physical Therapist.

When I fractured my tibia, I never had it treated because I had just paid off the remainder of $12,000 in medical bills regarding an intestinal malformation. I had X-rays a year after it happened, but that was it. Now, almost 3 years later, I still cannot stand up or apply any weight to the leg for more than a few minutes without feeling as if my leg is going to shatter. I still work normally (though my gait has been affected), but I have to tell myself to ignore the pain.

I'm unusually sensitive to foot pain... it's not uncommon. It has caused shutdown for me, and that's just the sort of foot pain I get from standing up too long. When I was a kid and sprained my ankles a lot, I used to use a cane a lot longer than most kids would. Wrapping the ankle to stabilize it probably even backfired for me because it meant the ankle stayed weaker and vulnerable to injury, so I re-sprained them regularly. The sprains themselves tended to be mild, with little swelling, but it was really quite annoying. For that matter, just having to walk with weakened muscles can be painful because the muscles haven't been used in a while and they tire and become sore very quickly. In adulthood I no longer sprain my ankles regularly, probably because my joints aren't as loose and my muscles are stronger since I walk a lot. But the point is--yes, it's very possible to be hypersensitive to pain, or hypersensitive to specific sorts of pain.

The doctor and your son are probably both right, in their own ways. If your son walks without the cane, he won't cause himself further injury, because he has healed enough that this is safe to do. However, his experience of discomfort when walking is legitimate too. It's a real sensation, not his imagination--pain is experienced differently by everybody, and that means it is different for everybody. If in this particular case he says he's in more pain than the doctor expects, then either he's deliberately lying (unlikely; he'd have no reason to, unless he's trying to get out of school or chores or something) or else, he feels what he says he feels.

First make sure that his foot really is recovering as expected. There is the possibility that his pain sensation is typical and his injury is not as healed as they think; that should be eliminated first.

The problem here is that to recover strength in his leg, your son will have to walk on it. But doing so is going to be uncomfortable for him. That's the trouble--the discomfort is inevitable. But it can be minimized.

A solution may be to take it a little slower than usual, to walk less than usual, and to decrease use of the cane gradually until he no longer needs it. Using a cane can be helpful, but it's important that he re-learns balancing without it; so try to get him to use the cane for long-distance walking and for when he's tired or sore, and ditch it for shorter distances. If your son likes swimming, this may also be a good way to exercise his leg without worrying about the impact of foot against floor. If he can't swim, give him one of those foam kickboard things and teach him to doggy-paddle.

See if you can have a talk with a physical therapist. You probably don't need a PT actually working with him, but they could give you some advice about how to gradually re-strengthen a leg that has been in a cast, given that he's hypersensitive and is having trouble just "walking it off" like many kids would.