Broken Fibula, recovery

[mikesums]

I think we have identical breaks and only a couple weeks apart. Wish you the best. I have so little pain that I have gone back to doing yoga here in PC UT and have delusional hopes of getting back on the MT the last two weeks.

Mike (the boarder above)

[mikesums]

If the fibula is broken half way up or more proximal it's likely that you tore the sydesmosis, a fibrous membrane that stabilizes the tibia and fibula and ankle joint. They probably won't fix the fibula but likely put a screw in to hold the tibia and fibula in their natural position while the sydesmosis heals. The screw will be removed later. It is a good idea to have this surgery, it's not like rib fractures.

The term sydesmosis was never brought up by either the ER guy or the Ortho I saw a week later. Thanks for the heads up.

[Beezinthetrap]

I achieved a fractured distal fibula while doing a float down on tubes on the river. I had gotten out of my tube and was pulling it up on the river bank when I fell...was fine got back up..by this time my left leg had sunk pretty far down into the mucky sand dirt ...I'm calling it quick sand because I'm pretty sure that is what it is. Well I fell again and my body fell and my leg stayed stuck in the quicksand and we soon all realized something was wrong when I was unable to walk on it.

it has been 10 days since the injury. I have had a fiberglass cast on for 6 days. Went to see the orthopedic dr today to re X-ray since casting.. the person who casted me had pressed the cast (and my fibula) in to try and push the bone back into place..the surgeon says it looks like they did a good job, there is a small gap and in his opinion it will heal back into place with this cast. Wants to see me back in 5 weeks to do another X-ray to be sure. I am so happy that I do not need to get the pins and plate put in as my PCP and the Orthopedic PA had said was a high possibility.
Orthopetic surgen says zero weight on it for the 5 weeks keep elevated and iced as much as possible. I have disability leave approved from work... I have a long term disability insurance so money is a non issue right now.

my question:
my husband says I can't lay in bed for this healing time... All I'm really good for is folding laundry right now.
I don't want to upset him and I see where he is coming from as we are both very hard workers and we are trying to build our life up.
What other types of things should I be doing around the house? I'm on crutches which suck I have a lot of stairs in my house... I can't just stand on one leg for too long because that leg becomes strained..so there goes dishes, and laundry I can't carry by myself. Vacuuming/sweeping nope... maybe half way clean the bathroom if someone puts the stuff there for me... it just all seems like too much, this cast is heavy.

how do I react to him? Should I stand up for myself because of healing time? Or what idk what the right thing is... I don't want him m to see me as lazy. Does anyone Have advise on this?

[Beezinthetrap]

Hello, I broke my distal fibula 7 weeks ago, the dr said i was lucky and i didn't need surgery but it sounded close, he put me in a fiberglass cast and had me come back and do a through the cast xray, he checked it and said it was healing nicely and was right on target, said to come back in 4 weeks and he would do a off cast xray.

I don't have a lot of itching like people say i would but i have swelling, especially the toes, feels so uncomfortable. I'm going to be 54 on 7/21, see dr on 7/19.

He did say something about physical therapy after the appt. but i think he would obviously have to see the xray.

Any pointers, it's non weight bearing so i've been sitting on this couch for 7 weeks, hopefully my sanity will still be intack.

Pam

I have the same break as you! Zero weight on left leg... husband says I can't lay in bed for 6 weeks.. it sounds mean but I understand where he is coming from...6 weeks of lazy sounds ridiculous. I mean I can move from the bed to the couch..but then every time I have to pee I have to go up and back down stairs on one leg with my crutches. then the next day it hurts bad, I definitely look like the sad crying pain face under the number 10 at the dr office. If I stay in the bedroom the bathroom is on the same floor. Idk how to react to him... tell him to get off my case and be more understanding or do what he wants? Do u have an opinion about this? I feel all I can do is fold laundry

[Kopi_Red]

I achieved a fractured distal fibula while doing a float down on tubes on the river. I had gotten out of my tube and was pulling it up on the river bank when I fell...was fine got back up..by this time my left leg had sunk pretty far down into the mucky sand dirt ...I'm calling it quick sand because I'm pretty sure that is what it is. Well I fell again and my body fell and my leg stayed stuck in the quicksand and we soon all realized something was wrong when I was unable to walk on it.

it has been 10 days since the injury. I have had a fiberglass cast on for 6 days. Went to see the orthopedic dr today to re X-ray since casting.. the person who casted me had pressed the cast (and my fibula) in to try and push the bone back into place..the surgeon says it looks like they did a good job, there is a small gap and in his opinion it will heal back into place with this cast. Wants to see me back in 5 weeks to do another X-ray to be sure. I am so happy that I do not need to get the pins and plate put in as my PCP and the Orthopedic PA had said was a high possibility.
Orthopetic surgen says zero weight on it for the 5 weeks keep elevated and iced as much as possible. I have disability leave approved from work... I have a long term disability insurance so money is a non issue right now.

my question:
my husband says I can't lay in bed for this healing time... All I'm really good for is folding laundry right now.
I don't want to upset him and I see where he is coming from as we are both very hard workers and we are trying to build our life up.
What other types of things should I be doing around the house? I'm on crutches which suck I have a lot of stairs in my house... I can't just stand on one leg for too long because that leg becomes strained..so there goes dishes, and laundry I can't carry by myself. Vacuuming/sweeping nope... maybe half way clean the bathroom if someone puts the stuff there for me... it just all seems like too much, this cast is heavy.

how do I react to him? Should I stand up for myself because of healing time? Or what idk what the right thing is... I don't want him m to see me as lazy. Does anyone Have advise on this?

Listen to your doctor so you can heal up. I broke my fibula this past spring. It was the first broken bone I've ever had. The pain wasn't pleasant but the worst part about the experience was the inability to do anything. It made me feel useless.

Being on crutches sucks and going up and down stairs on crutches sucks. Around 10 days in I decided to do laundry (in the basement) and carry the clean clothes and bedding up the stairs by myself. I overdid it, hurt myself and luckily that bonehead maneuver only set me back a few days. The lack of mobility is frustrating but your main objective should be to heal up ASAP. So listen to your doctor.

As for what to say to your husband, I'm single so I really don't​ know what to tell you. I guess I'd ask for him to empathize with you in your situation. Have him use your crutches for a bit around the house with ankle weights on his "broken" leg so he can start to understand the incredibly inconvenience of using crutches. I never realized how bothersome crutches were until I had to use them. You cannot carry anything when you're using them and that was so freaking frustrating! I wore a small backpack just about everywhere to help remedy that problem.

Find a good book or two to help pass the time; celebrate the victories and progress that you're making (no matter how small or insignificant they seem);
and heal up soon!

[Beezinthetrap]

A mag? Idk what that is

[Dantheman]

mag = maggot = TGR forum member

Hand him a dictionary and tell him to look up the definition of non-weight bearing. Sorry your husband is an asshole. Do what your doctor says. It sounds like you were very close to needing surgery, which means that the probability of mal/non-union is high if you don't follow orders and stay off it. Correcting a non-union will make your current situation seem like a vacation.

[auvgeek]

Definitely do what the doc says. Do not try to do more because you don't want to feel like you're being "lazy." After you're given the all-clear, you can start to work hard to gain your strength and mobility back but not before.

Two ways I can interpret what you said your husband said:

Option 1: your husband is being a jerk and doesn't want to deal with all the housework for the next month. In which case, the suggestion of having him do stuff on your crutches is a good one. Also, remind him that a surgery to correct the non-union will be much harder on both of you so it's in both of your best interest for you to recover well now.

Option 2: your husband knows how unhappy you will be if you just lay in bed all day for the next month and is actually trying to look out for you. My wife and I are both like this—too much time lounging around drives us nuts. We need to be pushed to find things we can do while we're injured. One thing that's easy is going to the zoo, aquarium, museum, and have him push you around in a wheel chair. You guys get to spend some quality time together and you get out of the house. Try to go to the gym occasionally—do leg raises, use the hand-bike, lift arms, etc—all done very lightly and provided these things don't cause pain. Just try to get your blood flowing a bit. Maybe see if your insurance will cover a knee scooter so you can get around a bit better? You should definitely rest and elevate as much as possible while you're home, but sometimes you need to balance that with enough movement to maintain overall happiness and well-being. Being a little active during the day (as tolerated) also helps me sleep at night vs just laying in bed all day. Plenty of quality sleep is one of the most important things for recovery.

I've spent plenty of time on crutches, but never broke my fibula. Why does your leg hurt more when you go up and down stairs with crutches if you're not weighting the broken leg?

Also: A squeaky-clean diet will promote healing and make you feel better. For me, I start to feel pretty bad if I'm sedentary and eating unhealthfully. I tolerate the occasional pizza and ice cream when I'm exercising hard, but when I'm injured and sedentary, I do much better on a diet that consists of primarily fresh veggies, (wild-caught) fish, and natural fats (avocado, hummus, olive oil, etc). And make sure you're getting enough vitamin D since you won't be outside much. There's a lot of opinions and info on this, but I'm just saying I do best when eating primarily natural, whole foods.

Edit: if it's option #1, first he's being unreasonable. But if you want to do something to feel like you're contributing, you could learn about personal finance and investing or some other skill that will enrich your lives together.

[alias_rice]

Do what the dr. says. 5 weeks sounds like a long time now, but is pretty short in the scheme of things. You will no doubt go stir crazy, but you'll be much better off long term.

Never broken a fibula but was down and out for several months with a broken femur and 2 broken ankles. It took all the will power I had to not push harder, but the thought of a big set back kept me honest. I still remember how good it felt to get the okay for full weight bearing. I was still in a cast on one leg but I rode my mtn bike couple times a week. Spray painted it white after each ride.

[Dano 88]

I broke left fibula on 7/23, clean break with displacement, had surgery on 8/2 with plate & screws. I fear that I might have "overdone it" (and caused some possible "mis-alignment") in the first few days post-operation when I was using just crutches to avoid putting any weight on injured leg (essentially, I found that effectively impossible to do)....have since switched to knee scooter which is much better (highly recommend scooter over crutches or walker).

Am curious if any in this forum have any thoughts on how I would know if I have possibly caused "mis-alignment"? What would signs of "mis-alignment" be? Are screws & plate installed in surgery tight enough to prevent/not permit "mis-alignment"?

I am 6 foot 1, 185 lbs, 51 years old, reasonably good health. I have not used ANY post-op pain meds since 3-4 days after surgery (needed them before that!) - no undue pain/discomfort in ankle for past 7-8 days, just taking baby aspirin daily per doc's orders.

I return to ortho in TODAY (15 days post operation) and will have post-op x-ray and, with all things being good, will replace current splint/wrap with fiberglass cast for 4-6 more weeks of "no weight bearing" on injured leg, "air cast" or "walking cast" thereafter.

Any comments y'all can share? Thanks much!

[willymac]

Hi, just seeing if I can post here. My last post was held for moderation.

[m76d4e]

Two weeks ago today I broke my fibula while dismounting from my bike doing manuals. This is something I have done a million times before, you just jump off. However this time I caught my foot and rolled my ankle and I couldn't unload it in time...I heard my bone break.

It was decided it was displaced and I could see it too, so they operated. I had a plate put on my fibula and what the doctots refer to as a "tight rope" which wraps around the tibia and fibula (probably similar to fishing line).

Does any one have any experience with this type of break; recovery time etc.

Thanks

[cycology1]

Had much worse injury 20 mos ago..nice to be looking back although mentally not completely trusting of ligament repair and strength...

But do as doc says! Cast and no weight it a blessing compared to pins and plates plus they have to come out at some point unless ur old and don't want athletic lifestyle.

I broke one of the 2 screws - fortunately towards end of recovery and my injury was worse [syndesmosis and ligament tear] but zero weight means zilch! Bones heal quickly if u let them!

I'm not sure about the healthy diet as I had a ton of work stress so ate and drank through most of recovery.

I'm at 90 percent mentally simply bc I don't know how strong ligaments are BUT stay off it. Many horror stories about rebreaks or improper recovery

The worse for me was coming out of screw removal surgery thinking I was leaving crutches only to learn of broken screw and 60 more days of limited weight bearing

Good luck!

[doebedoe]

Part of this shitty club now. 3 weeks before a race I'd been training for. Hopefully back in action by late October according to doc if all goes well.

[Kopi_Red]

Part of this shitty club now. 3 weeks before a race I'd been training for. Hopefully back in action by late October according to doc if all goes well.

Vibes dood. Try to follow the doctor's orders and try to stay active without over doing it. You'll be back to normal before you know it.

[2FUNKY]

Part of this shitty club now. 3 weeks before a race I'd been training for. Hopefully back in action by late October according to doc if all goes well.

Damn. Bummer dude. Heal up man!

[haysman16]

I just joined the club on 9/3, went into surgery that evening. Doc said it was then or in 3 weeks when the swelling went down. It’s been a bit over a week and I am totally stuck on the couch, trying to ween myself of the opioids. I got 6 screws and a plate just above the ankle. Spiral Fib and the tib was displaced inwards and I think I blew some ligaments? I have a 2 week follow up next week I guess I need to get all the details.
I am a full time ski patroller. Season starts in 2 months. Kinda wondering how the plate in the ankle and the ski boot (Texhnica ZeroG) are going to get along.
Dan

[OregonDead]

Huge bummer. I was completely non-weight bearing for about 10 weeks. My fibula snapped clean and they added a steel plate and 9 screws to put it back together.
Whole thing doesn't feel great even to touch and I haven't tried the boots yet. My gut tells me it will get more and more desensitized and I'm optimistic about skiing this winter. I figure worst case I can get some boot work. I also see a lot of people just use soft boots and one just one ski so that looks like an option too if nothing feels good with hard boots long term. Reality is I was in basically in a ski boot all summer so I'm kinda looking forward to getting back to a hard boot which in some ways will be a lot easier to get around in.
Vibes to you. That is still super fresh and it took me all summer to really turn the corner. Whole ordeal really took a lot of my energy. I am still getting better and it seems like it will be a long slow road until I am back to 100%.

[mooseknuckle]

Plate and 6 screws reporting in. Area of incision is numbish, but didn’t experience any problem with side hardware. Hoping the same for you.

[Rideski]

Part of this shitty club now. 3 weeks before a race I'd been training for. Hopefully back in action by late October according to doc if all goes well.

Sorry to hear. Are we still neighbors? Let me know if you need any help.

[Rideski]

I just joined the club on 9/3, went into surgery that evening. Doc said it was then or in 3 weeks when the swelling went down. It’s been a bit over a week and I am totally stuck on the couch, trying to ween myself of the opioids. I got 6 screws and a plate just above the ankle. Spiral Fib and the tib was displaced inwards and I think I blew some ligaments? I have a 2 week follow up next week I guess I need to get all the details.
I am a full time ski patroller. Season starts in 2 months. Kinda wondering how the plate in the ankle and the ski boot (Texhnica ZeroG) are going to get along.
Dan

These injuries are very subjective but yeah I’d be reviewing AT boots for sure.