Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks
scientificamerican.com
Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks
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Re: Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks
#2It was ~20 years ago, so my memory is a little foggy, but I gave myself a "dancer's fracture" in one foot.
After many months, it was looking like a non-union. The podiatrist was worried any pin would split the broken bone even more. It wasn't looking good.
I had read something along these lines even back then, so with my crazy immobilizer boot on, I head to the gym and started doing light squats several times per week.
Next x-ray: healed.
Re: Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks
#3The pathology for broken collar bones was changing right as I took up mountain biking, and subsequently shattered my collarbone.
It was hotly debated at the hospital, if my specific case should be operated on or not. Each time I had a checkup, one doctor would say "wait and see" while the other was saying "I can't believe we didn't operate on this".
At any rate, the outcome was as good as if they had operated on it, according to the doc anyway. Nice of them to test it out on me!
More related to this though, I have broken both my collarbones, the first time I had little direction and just held my arm still for 2-3 months. It took forever to heal, and my arm atrophied significantly. The second time, similar severity. I was guided through rehab and I was back using my arm within the first month, very little atrophy.
Re: Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks
#4I fractured my elbow mountain biking, the tip of my radius. The urgent care doctor gave me a sling and suggested months of immobility. The orthopaedic said to throw away the sling and start exercising the elbow as soon as I could, and prescribed PT. Turns out that was the right move, there are some permanent changes to mobility but it's about 97% what it was before the crash. Immobilizing joints can apparently cause the muscles, tendons, and nerves to seize up and lose significant range of movement permanently.
Re: Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks
#5"Use it or loose it"
Re: Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks
#6If anyone's heard of RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) for healing joints, the new guidance is called POLICE: Protect, Optimal Load, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. The key differences being Protect and Optimal Load, meaning don't re-injure it and expose it to some level of weight-bearing or usage.
Re: Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks
#7from https://www.outsideonline.com/health/training-performance/fo...
... After a heroic research effort that took 2.5 years and 500,000 euros, he and his colleagues had managed to shepherd a large group of frail, elderly subjects through a six-month strength-training program. Those who had taken a daily protein supplement managed to pack on an impressive 2.9 pounds of new muscle. Success! Old people could be strong!
... On his phone was a photo one of his students had just sent him of a large plate stacked high with bulging cubes of raw beef. In total, there were 3.1 pounds of beef—a graphic visualization of the muscle lost in just one week by subjects of a bed-rest study the student had just completed.
“I usually put this in more obscene language,” van Loon says, “but you can mess up a lot more in one week than you can improve in six months of training.”Re: Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks
#8I betchya it's the same with psychological injury such as death of a loved one or rejection. Getting back on the horse of living your life stops your social connection tendons from shriveling up and becoming chronically hermetic. Take it from someone who learned the hard way.
Re: Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks
#9Because the more they break the stronger they are.
Re: Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks
#10Very interesting, and seems like a delicate balance. Partial weight bearing reminds your body that you do need this bone to heal (much like lifting weights stimulates muscle growth). Too much instability, though, and the fracture won’t heal properly.