Broken Leg

Ouch, sounds like a rough one. Good luck on your recovery. YZ165

In 1991 I fell off a cliff and landed on a roadway, breaking both ankles, removing skin from various places, and compressing back/neck. I do have permanent disability in my right ankle that I have to live with.

When I was recovering, I spent almost 2 years in physical therapy working on that ankle. The thing that helped me the most was a device called the BAPS board. Don't remember what it stood for, but it was basically an oval shaped plastic board. There were different sized (small to large) half sphere thingies that screwed into the bottom of it. You'd start out with the smallest one, screw it into the bottom, then stand on the board, rotating the edges of it around in a circle. As the days/weeks/months go on, you gradually progress to bigger sized spheres, resulting in more and more ankle flexibility.

You might ask your therapist about this device.

When I was nine years old I broke my femur and after many months of traction, body casts, and crutches, I had lost about 50% of range of motion in my knee due to having it immoblized for so long.
Afterwards, it took a good two to three years of work (and active kid activities) to regain the motion in a joint that wasn't even part of the original injury.
So if you're more than 10 yrs old, you can probably expect to work at this for some time to come. The key I think, is to stay active and keep pushing the limits.

Been there, just not so bad. I broke my (tib?) right above the ankle. My ankle/leg is still swollen a bit (I did it January 8th, 2004) and my knee really hurts if I crouch down and stay like that for a while. Just get a good physical therapist and do what he says, no matter what. It will get better and the PT will really help. I didnt listen to him and I limped for 5-6 months after the cast was off becasue I couldnt bend my ankle.

swelling is caused by fluid buildup. talk to your dr about some over the counter meds to take (i will not recommend drugs - i'm the wrong kind of dr...) AND spend some time in a recliner with that foot above your heart. its been slightly over a year since i broke my arm and i will still get some swelling after an active day - like today - road an hour of hard mx on the backyard track with my son :cool: - so now a few anti-inflammatory drugs and some time with my arm elevated... it sucks to get old, but the alternative is much worse :yikes:

I just had my first experience with a break in March of this year. Car hit me while I was bicycling with friends. My left patella was fractured into several pieces. The surgeon put it back together. Lots of swelling after surgery. Even now, a few months later, my knee is still large. I'm told it is scar tissue. Make sure you do physical therapy. I am into my 5th week now, trying to get my leg to bend again. I can only bend it to about 90 degrees. The therapist can force it to 114, but that brings tears to my eyes. Basically, she will keep having to force it until the scar tissue is torn up. I am finding out it is a slow and painful process. It's tough coming back from a break, but hang in there. Work hard at it, do what your therapist says. You'll get back to where you were.

i assume your ankle has been immobilized/limited since your injury. i tore up an achilles tendon a couple of years ago and was put in a cast for 8 weeks in a toe down position. that prevented me from putting weight on that leg. after the cast came off, i was in a walking boot for 2 more weeks. total non ankle use time including waiting for the swelling to go down so they could cast my leg was almost 12 weeks. my point here is that is a very long time for a joint not to be used. eventhough my ankle was not injured, it was really what took the longest to regain full function.

for each day you dont use your ankle, the muscles in your feet/ankles atrophy from non use. it doesnt take long for a joint to freeze up. things i did to regain foot strength included.

1. walking barefoot on uneven ground sand is best. you wouldnt believe how hard it is coming out of a cast.

2. peddling a bicycle works ankles pretty good too. toe the pedel for max effect.

3. the board with the ball works well too.

i got hurt on 7/13 and got back on a bike 10/10 and i blinked back tears when i had to kick start that thing. the ruptured achilles felt fine. it just takes a long time to build up those locating muscles around your ankle. hopefully it is not your right leg.

check out mx547s injury in the search of this forum and talk to him. he shattered his tib/fib on top of his ankle. he has what his doctor calls injury induced arthritis. he was in hardware for a looooong time. his ankle is sh$$ now. lots of scar tissue. swelling never went away. his injured foot is now one size larger than the other. like scuba said, breaking up that scar tissue is painful but key in to how well that ankle will actually work in the future.

I broke my femur in Oct. of last year and found a good site that had a forum for folks with broken legs to vent. I found a lot of good advice on stretching and pain management. It's.....mybrokenleg.com. Lots of good info and links. Hope you get to feeling better.

Bro, I'm with ya........... I broke my tib/fib in April, it's now July, and my knee and ankle are both still swollen and stiff. I've cycled around some, and it actually helps a little. I opted for no "hardware" so I was in a full leg cast for 2 months and a short cast for 1 month. I am currently in an air-cast, and walking without a cane, or crutches..... with the cast on of course.Hot baths help a lot.Click my name, and visit my homepage for a good pic. of one of my casts.... good luck, and we'll be back riding in no time.

:laugh: :laugh:

Sorry Dude :ride: