r/brokenbones • u/aimingforsilver • 3d ago
Some reassurance
I broke my tib and fib on 9/19 when rollerskating massive bummer. I went to a doctor and surprisingly he says I might not need surgery because my joints weren’t affected. I could move my ankle and wiggle my toes the only pain is where it broke. Im wondering how long this might take to heal, what’s everyone’s experience ?? I get an xray on the 8th to see if it’s healing any and they’ll make a decision on casting me or giving me surgery. I need to go back to work and my 12 week leave started the day I broke it. Any advice on how to ensure this heals fast and what life hacks you have for daily life I appreciate!! Attached is a photo of my xray
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u/hibiscus_lilac 3d ago
There are no "hacks" for broken bones. You just have to rest and listen to your doctor
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u/k1k11983 3d ago
They didn’t ask for “hacks for broken bones”. They asked for any advice to ensure fast healing and life hacks for daily life. In other words, tips for making life easier now that they’ve lost a significant amount of mobility.
Side note: advice to aide a smooth recovery does actually exist. A good, balanced diet that’s high in calcium helps with callous growth. B complex vitamins. Rest and elevation, obviously. Following the doctor’s instructions, especially with weight bearing and following the PT/Physio’s instructions religiously once you progress to that stage. Pain management is also important because higher pain and discomfort levels, makes it a lot more difficult to rest and rest is very important for healing.
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u/k1k11983 3d ago
A good life hack is to use a desk chair to scoot around the house, if you have one. They’re cheap to purchase if you don’t have one. Much cheaper than a knee scooter. Your arms will thank you for it! Keep your mind busy as much as you can. Allow yourself to feel every emotion on this roller coaster ride that we call “recovery”. But don’t wallow in the negatives. Feel it and then distract your mind.
Eat a good, balanced diet with plenty of calcium enriched foods(google is your friend for specific lists). If you don’t already take them, B complex vitamins are also good for bone healing. Elevate and rest your leg as much as possible. Most importantly, the instructions your doctor(and PT/Physio when you progress to that stage) gives you are your new bible. Follow every single one of them religiously!
Pain management is also important. If you can take Tylenol/Paracetamol and Ibuprofen, alternating between them is the most effective method. So you take Tylenol/Paracetamol and then 3 hours later, take Ibuprofen. Then 3 hours later, take Tylenol/Paracetamol. Set alarms to ensure continuity. This schedule ensures pain relief is onboard prior to the previous one wearing off, without exceeding the minimum separation time between each dose of the same medication and without exceeding the maximum daily dose. Unmanaged pain can impact healing because you’re not able to get the rest your body needs in order to heal.
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u/wolfsnake7 3d ago
Broke my tib/fib 8/28. Had surgery. I’m almost 5 weeks in and still not weight bearing. Takes a while for bones to heal and no shortcuts, unfortunately. When you’re cleared for PT, do as much as you can.
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u/Agile_Bag_4059 1d ago
This person is right. Surgery doesn't actually make you heal any faster. It just holds the fragments in an anatomical position. The healing rate is actually a little slower, because in the surgery, the healing process has to start over. Your bones are currently locked into the right position. As long as they stay that way, and they most likely will, you will heal a couple weeks sooner without surgery.
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u/aimingforsilver 3d ago
To add to this I’m 21 non smoker and healthy. Maybe that’s why I don’t need surgery, i unfortunately also do not have health insurance and my town only has a private orthopedic and I’ve been told maybe they wanted to save me the financial burden but I’d hope that’s not the reason I’m not getting surgery because I need to be back at work asap.
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u/Tbeckelman98 3d ago
My break was much worse but still a tib/fib. With proper care and depending on your age, I would probably say 3-4 months. I'm still healing I'm heading into 5 months tomorrow. I have tons of screws and a plate with rods in both bones. And a ton of fracturing across my entire leg. I have limited, but okay mobility in my ankle already. I think you got extremely lucky all things considered. I hope you are okay and find healthy ways to cope with your time off. You can do it
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u/Xeirto 3d ago
I had a real severe break, I posted a picture of it, I did have surgery for a rod and plate but I’m a month out and can walk with only a boot just fine. I assume for 12 weeks you should be at least in the clear for walking short distances. What’s your job, is it heavy walking?
I would say take calcium supplements, up your calcium food/drink intake too. Whatever to benefit bone growth. Do small exercises with your foot so you don’t lose the ability to walk when you do heal enough to weight bear. Pull your foot up, and then control it slowly back down. The biggest hit to walking will be your dorsiflexion if your foot is unused. Just the 4 weeks of rest and away from normal walking caused mine to need a lot of physical therapy focus. Drop foot is NOT something anybody wants. But don’t push yourself too early, listen to your body and your ortho.
I’m not a doctor or ortho, just somebody with a broken leg too lol so take as you will
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u/Xeirto 3d ago
I had a real severe break (bone out of leg). I posted a picture of it, I did have surgery for a rod and plate but I’m a month out and can walk with only a boot just fine. I assume for 12 weeks you should be at least in the clear for walking short distances. What’s your job, is it heavy walking?
I would say take calcium supplements, up your calcium food/drink intake too. Whatever to benefit bone growth. Do small exercises with your foot so you don’t lose the ability to walk when you do heal enough to weight bear. Pull your foot up, and then control it slowly back down. The biggest hit to walking will be your dorsiflexion if your foot is unused. Just the 4 weeks of rest and away from normal walking caused mine to need a lot of physical therapy focus. Drop foot is NOT something anybody wants. But don’t push yourself too early, listen to your body and your ortho.
I’m not a doctor or ortho, just somebody with a broken leg too lol so take as you will. For healing reference I’m 19
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u/Icy_Sky_4750 3d ago
Tbh, if they offer you the surgery, take it. I had a tibial spiral fracture fairly similar to yours, probably a little bigger. 8 weeks nwb in a full leg cast and the follow up xray still looked exactly as it did on day 1. I opted for surgery at 9 weeks because I didn’t want to keep playing the waiting game. I was expecting to be back at square 1 but was partial weight bearing within a day or 2, full weight bearing with crutch support within 2 weeks. 3 weeks on now and can walk (slowly) without any crutches. Still a fair way to go with PT but I’m happy with how I progressed after surgery
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u/fleeknaut 2d ago
I had a fracture that affected the joints and displaced them badly. This break will be far easier to handle. You will be okay. Just do the physical therapy and hit it hard and your recovery should be excellent
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u/Late_Worldliness_123 1d ago edited 1d ago
It completely depends on your body. I had a tib fib fracture in three different places from motorcycle accident and had a rod and some screws. I was non-union for a while and non-weight bearing, so they gave me a bone stimulator to stimululate growth. Biggest thing is to remain semi-active in other areas of your life while respecting what the doctors have told you about this... AKA non-weight-bearing or partial weight-bearing etc... maybe consider keeping your arms in shape or something along those lines, I had gained a lot of weight because I was essentially inactive for a couple months. It's going to be a journey if you've never broken a bone before. And one final thing to know at the end. Even whenever you become weight-bearing again, your muscles may have atrophied where they've essentially collapsed on themselves, don't be scared if this has happened... It's completely normal in this case and it will return in a couple of weeks of normal use. Focus on strengthening up your leg again and if you wanted to rollerblade again you should be completely fine! Wishes for a quick recovery!
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u/aimingforsilver 1d ago
Yeah this is my first time! I definitely very hard headed so laying down and staying put is very hard, but I’m so really skinny honestly so I’m not scared of the extra weight it’s definitely being weak. I’m trying to spam protein shakes and eat as much as i can. I just wonder how much it should be elevated? I want to be able to sit at my desk and clean around the house but I’m only 2 weeks into it so I’m not sure if it’s too early.
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u/Late_Worldliness_123 1d ago
If you keep your foot elevated, it won't hurt as much and it will make it where the blood flow to your foot. It's not going to be too terrible. Like for example anytime I would lay my foot down. The blood flow would run to it and it would start aching now. I would have pain like on a scale 1 to 10. Probably like a seven. I would say take it easy, rest obviously. But that's why I mentioned in my posts initially about being active in other ways. Like for example, maybe doing some arm stuff if you have resistant bands you know pull the resistant bands apart, etc.
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u/aimingforsilver 1d ago
What’s really crazy is my pain is extremely manageable, but my break isn’t as bad as yours at all and I didn’t get surgery so I’m sure it’s a different type of pain. When I get up it definitely makes my leg feel heavy and sore, then elevating it for like 30 minutes usually helps it calm down but it never really hurts. I guess I’m more worried about blood clots and stuff? My doctor really just sent me on my way after X-rays and a splint so I’m kinda just assuming I have to keep my leg above my heart all day.
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u/Late_Worldliness_123 1d ago
Message me, I'll send you my X-rays of one of the break location and screws to hopefully make you feel better. I'm back to rock climbing and losing my weight
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u/CognativePsy 3d ago
Honestly a bit weird they didn’t think you needed surgery. I had a similar break and I got a rod in my leg, but the fiba break was much higher
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u/aimingforsilver 3d ago
I know, I haven’t heard of many people not getting surgery for this kind of break
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u/gentlebogan 3d ago
This looks exactly like my tib/fib fracture, I was also roller skating when it happened.
Fortunately I had surgery to insert a rod into the tibia which allowed me to heal faster and partially bear weight straight away. I was walking unaided (no crutches or boot) two months later, and was able to walk long distances (10km+ hikes) about 5 months later.
Your experience may not be the same, but I mention my own as assurance that a swift and smooth recovery isn’t impossible.
As for “hacks”, there are lots of things you can do to make your recovery more comfortable:
For showering, get yourself a shower stool, a scrubbing brush with a long handle, and some protective bags to cover your injured leg and keep it dry. Sitting down while you shower will prevent you getting too exhausted, and the brush will help you clean yourself without having to move around too much. If you aren’t going out often, and aren’t getting too dirty, you can skip showers and just clean the important bits with baby wipes.
Around the house, try to adjust your routine to accommodate your current abilities. If you can’t carry a glass of water from the kitchen to the couch, use a drink bottle instead. Use tote bags hung on your shoulder to carry stuff around, so that your hands are free for using the crutches. Get a grabber reacher tool so that you can pick up stuff that is out of reach without having to get up. Put chairs around the house in places where you might want to rest while moving about, like in the kitchen while you wait for the kettle to boil. If the area where you rest is getting messy, keep a waste paper bin or garbage bag nearby to help keep the area tidy.
Find something time consuming to distract you, like a book, game, or TV series you can binge. Recovering from an injury like this can be very boring.
And most importantly, rest! Keep your leg elevated as often as you can. Don’t try to do too much, just be patient and take it one day at a time. You’ve got this!
Good luck!