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Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks

scientificamerican.com

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Re: Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks

#121

Post by MichaelDickens »

canucker2016 wrote: post #7

from 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!…

> 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.

This is significantly out of line with other research I've seen. Marusic et al. (2021) meta-analysis[1] found an average muscle loss of ~2% after 5 days. It did not report average absolute muscle loss, but the average person has about 1/3 of bodyweight as muscle, so at an average weight of ~180 pounds, that would represent 1.2 pounds of muscle loss in a ~week, not 3.1 pounds.

[1] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8325614/

Re: Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks

#122

Post by 11235813213455 »

ehnto wrote: post #3

The 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,…

Also broke my collar bone and no surgery, shoulder is less large by 2cm, I had no issues in the short term, but now after 10+ years it's cracking more, it doesn't age well

I asked if it was possible to do a surgery now, so they'd have to break and restore a longer collar bone, more straight, but surgeons don't seem positive for this

Re: Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks

#123

Post by gnarcoregrizz »

jamiedumont wrote: post #111
ehnto wrote: post #3

The 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,…

I shattered my collarbone - and I do mean shattered, ~8 pieces - in a mountain bike crash September 2023. I went over the bars after the back wheel of my hardtail caught a berm. Landed on my head and shoulder and compressed it laterally inwards by about 2 inches. Even with this mess, it was hotly debated for around two weeks whether I needed surgery. A good chunk of my collarbone was trying to push through my skin an…

Shattered mine mountain biking as well (6 pieces). Ortho took one look at it and scheduled surgery for the next day. It wasn't a 'standard' break since it included my AC joint and coracoclavicular ligaments which needed a special type of plate. Ultimately it took 2 surgeries (ORIF, then plate removal). Total recovery was 9 months. My arm/shoulder is as strong as it was before, and it looks anatomically correct.

My shoulder immediately felt "better" after ORIF. I would suggest it if it's way out of whack... mine was drooping probably 2". I can't imagine how much it would suck if the bones healed that way.

Re: Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks

#124

Post by jamiedumont »

gnarcoregrizz wrote: post #123
jamiedumont wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I shattered my collarbone - and I do mean shattered, ~8 pieces - in a mountain bike crash September 2023. I went over the bars after the back wheel of my hardtail caught a berm. Landed on my head and shoulder and compressed it laterally inwards by about 2 inches. Even with this mess, it was hotly debated for around two weeks whether I needed surgery. A good chunk of my collarbone was trying to push through my skin an…

Shattered mine mountain biking as well (6 pieces). Ortho took one look at it and scheduled surgery for the next day. It wasn't a 'standard' break since it included my AC joint and coracoclavicular ligaments which needed a special type of plate. Ultimately it took 2 surgeries (ORIF, then plate removal). Total recovery was 9 months. My arm/shoulder is as strong as it was before, and it looks anatomically correct. My sh…

Mine felt immediately worse after the ORIF. After two weeks getting comfortable in their new positions, all the ligaments really resented getting wrenched back into place.

Good illustration was that my run of the mill, 45 minute surgery ended up taking 4.5 hours.

It’s good to hear that everything felt good after your plate was removed. At 18 months post-surgery, I’m in a really good place where I can do most anything I want. Only occasionally experience discomfort if my son headbutts the plate or a backpack strap rubs on it. I was in two minds about having it removed as it would be a step backwards to post-surgical, but the likelihood of me doing something stupid again in the future means it’s worth it. Rather have the fuse that a clavicle is rather than fracture my sternum!

Re: Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks

#125

Post by jacksnipe »

shermantanktop wrote: post #58
miketery wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Optimal load is right before it starts hurting. You progressively load, and when it starts hurting you unload. Your body will send pain before there is damage to be done. Edit: in fact some discomfort or right kind of pain is good. Else you give to atrophy.

That’s not how pain works. Pain is a noisy and error-prone signal that gives you a good approximation for “stop doing that.” But the edge of pain sensation doesn’t indicate what is or isn’t a good idea during recovery. It’s not a bad place to start, but everyone has different pain tolerances, some injuries are in nerve-poor areas, and repetitive stress or tendinitis are definitely not going to appreciate getting lit…

I’m in PT and dealing with orthos right now, and according to them, that IS how pain works for the vast majority of ortho injuries

Re: Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks

#126

Post by SoftTalker »

ghaff wrote: post #50
doix wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> we'll immediately be at the point where smokers, alcoholics, obese people etc. should pay more, after all, their way of life statistically causes higher costs. Wait, do they not? I genuinely assumed they did. I remember when I got private insurance through my work I had to fill in some questionnaire. It was "free", but it was a taxable benefit so you knew how much you were costing the company and me and my friends…

Private life insurance may. I don't think health insurance generally does. Certainly Medicare doesn't ask about any of those things.

Health insurance can't ask about this since ACA (I think).

Life insurance can and often requires an actual physical exam. And can exclude specific activities such as flying on small private aircraft from coverage.

Re: Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks

#128

Post by noah_buddy »

ehnto wrote: post #3

The 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,…

A personal philosophy in medical decisions: - unless there is a severe risk I might die from lack of intervention (on any reasonable timeline besides life), I avoid intervention.

In some cases (my messed up jaw and a whole 9 wisdom teeth), I broke this rule. But generally, it has served me well.

Re: Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks

#129

Post by marssaxman »

myheartisinohio wrote: post #63
edwcross wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given the amount of injuries related to mountain biking, is there some specific insurance needed for it? It seems one of those "net-negative for the society activities", like trampolines.

People slip in the shower so lets stop bathing.

I've been advocating mandatory shower-helmet laws for many years now; it would make as much sense as a lot of the other nanny-state regulation does.

Re: Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks

#130

Post by pfdietz »

tomaytotomato wrote: post #13

I had a bad pilon fracture of my ankle a couple of years ago with both a break on Tibia and Fibia. I fell off a ramp whilst pushing a wheelbarrow full of rubble into a skip (should've stuck to building code instead of building a house!). Normally that type of injury is associated with car crashes when someone instinctively puts all their force on the brake and the shock of the crash travels up the pedal into the ankl…

That's much more serious than the break I had in 2023. Slid and fell on an icy ramp coming off a river boat in Regensburg, Germany. Snapped the fibula in the middle, but didn't get it x-rayed until I was back in the US. Walking around Newark Airport wasn't fun. After that, wore a boot for four weeks, no cast was needed.
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