Thursday, September 22, 2011

Speed Recovery From A Broken Leg

I broke my right leg 13 years ago, and I am now recuperating from breaking my left leg. As I am now an authority on how best to recover from this infirmity, I would like to share with you ways you can speed your recovery from a broken leg.








Instructions


1. Listen to your doctor. There were differences in the way I broke both bones, even though the femur was involved each time. My first break was straight across so my doctor's orders were different from those he made this time, since I incurred a spiral fracture. For my first break, he ordered me to stay off the leg for the first two weeks, after which I could begin putting weight on it to the extent that I remained comfortable. This time, however, the doctor told me to place no weight on the leg for about five weeks. He reasoned that any undue weight on the leg could cause a shift during the healing process, thus slowing it down. In both cases, I was provided a walker so I could more easily follow my doctor's orders.


2. Begin physical therapy as soon as is practical. In both cases, my physical therapy began a day after my surgery. In both cases, the first couple of days were the worst. Many physical therapists will base treatment on what the patient can stand. If you intend to recover from a broken leg as quickly as possible, underplay the difficulty you are facing and encourage the therapist to ramp up treatment. Before long, you will be able to do the exercises more easily and you will recover all the more quickly.


3. The following exercises were prescribed for me and they are generic enough that you might want to do them, too. Chair exercises include each leg. Raise each leg from the knee to parallel to the floor, 25 times. Then raise each leg to as close to 90 degrees as possible, 25 times. Then head for the walker where you'll raise your affected leg to the rear, 25 times. Finally, raise your affected leg to the side, 25 times. Finally, on your bed, bring your affected leg toward your head, bending it at the knee, 25 times. Finally, with the unaffected leg raised comfortably at the knee, raise your affected leg with toe brought forward toward your head, straight up. Do this exercise 25 times, as well.








4. Do exercises on the days your physical therapist is not scheduled. Throughout those days, set aside several times to do your exercises. Be sure your physical therapist gives you an exercise routine that you can follow. Because my physical therapist was with me only twice each week, I reasoned that I could do more than three times the amount of exercise than when he was here. All of that effort will shorten your recovery time.


5. Arrange your space to make things easier for you. While it may take some effort, try to put frequently used items near where they will be used soon after you arrive home. For example, in the kitchen, keep salt, pepper, sugar and other condiments close by. Also, ask someone to buy you single-serving meals that can easily be prepared in the microwave oven. Finally, develop a routine for taking prepared meals to where they can be easily eaten. Also, throw-away dishes and trays are indispensible.

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