I fractured my Fibula on Saturday

[Dhelihiker]

and its Thursday and my doc sent me home with no cast and Im walking around pain free.

Has anyone????

[TahoeJ]

Well... I'm going to assume it wasn't a compound fracture. ;-) Got an x-ray to post?

[Snowy Spartan]

Yeah I put like 20 ski days on a fib. Went to the doctor when I could only ski one footed and the doc told me I should keep doing what I'm doing.

When I told him it was skiing, he told me absolutely not. Never should have clarified

[LightRanger]

It's non-weight bearing. So, depending on the nature of the fracture, I could see it.

[Orthoski]

and its Thursday and my doc sent me home with no cast and Im walking around pain free.

Has anyone????

Most common times I see that is when it's functionally a sprain, but a small fleck of bone gets pulled off the fibula and the radiology read states that there is an avulsion fracture off the fibula. Nonetheless, many genuine ankle fractures can be treated nonoperatively, but even stable fractures of the fibula (if a real fracture) tend to be painful and usually require a walking boot, etc.

[Dhelihiker]

It was fractured, kind of a U shaped fracture. I took a rock to the shin whilst rag dolling. It was about 4" above the top of my boot. I have a walking boot too and honestly I think I am going to wear it or a few more day despite the docs reco. This morning it was not happy and my knee was sore too. I cant tell if its the massive bruise that hurts or if its the bone. Either way I want Norco as a spanser.

I broke a rib too, way more painful

[angrysasquatch]

I broke mine, sounds like a similar way to you. Broke most of the way thru but part of the bone stayed on to keep everything in line. I broke a lot of other stuff with it though, so can't comment on recovery time as everything else took longer to get better. It's the one fracture of the group I don't feel today though.

[TahoeJ]

I broke a rib too, way more painful

Bummer. Your leg will feel normal before the rib, most likely. Even bruised ribs seem to take forever... probably because trying to sleep on them is a bitch.

Where'd you fall anyway?

[splat]

I've noticed my fibula a lot more since most of my medial meniscus was removed. Because I'm bow legged and the medial was taken, my knee had to realign and it has taken time. Sometimes my fibula feels tweaked like it's out of joint and I notice it, while it's existence was never noticed before the surgery. So I kinda found my own way to massage it and get it to feel like it went back where it should be and it's all good.

Dhelihiker - did they keep you at the hospital for a few days?

[Dhelihiker]

Where'd you fall anyway?

Skiers left of the funnel at the KW. I hit ice and went for a ride over an unhuckable cliff. It was really scary, I cant believe I skied away from it.

I've noticed my fibula a lot more since most of my medial meniscus was removed. Because I'm bow legged and the medial was taken, my knee had to realign and it has taken time. Sometimes my fibula feels tweaked like it's out of joint and I notice it, while it's existence was never noticed before the surgery. So I kinda found my own way to massage it and get it to feel like it went back where it should be and it's all good.

Dhelihiker - did they keep you at the hospital for a few days?

I was in the hospital for 3 hours, mostly checking for internal injuries. Ive been walking around cast free for 4 days and its sore but very manageable. Im def concerned about a funky healing and the knee being thrown out of alignment.

[TahoeJ]

^^ Oh man. KW definitely has some sketchy ice patches right now (that don't look like ice) like we were talking about in the Tahoe thread. How big was the drop?

[Dhelihiker]

I'd say 30-40 ft, 10 feet at a time. I was in the washing machine taking a beating. I did 10' to rock landing on my back at least twice during the fall. Crushed my nut, broke 2 ribs, concussion and seriously bruised ego. All of which should heal up fine

[joetron]

I had a weird mtb crash a few summers ago that left the inner zone just below my knee very sore for a few weeks. Lots of ice and taking it easy and it was fine. Last winter when I blew my ACL both doctors who looked at my X-rays were like, "So when did you fracture your fibula?"......I had to think back to when I might have dinged up that leg, "uhhhhhhh, I guess thats why it was so sore for 3 weeks a while back."

Take it easy, like it sounds you should after that wreck, and you'll be fine.

[TWINS]

Bootcuff Fib fracture on a backwards tomohawk. Ski tail speared into the snow and all my bodyweight torqued on it. Soft cast for a week/ no weight bearing then crutches.
Healed fine except for 1 problem. Calcification at the break. Bothered me alot until I went to touring /softer boots and Intution liner.

[jrredho]

and its Thursday and my doc sent me home with no cast and Im walking around pain free.

Has anyone????

Hey Dhelihiker,

When I broke both my tibia in Dec 2013, I broke my fibula too. It was shatter-broken with splinters going every which way. Still, the surgeon chose to leave it to its own healing devices. I'm sure that bone looks like a calcified onion bulb at the healing spot, yet I cannot say that I'm having any significant problems with it now, and I've been skiing since early December.

I cannot tell you about any pain expectations while healing, because in my case, I had bigger poles in the tent...

Good luck; that fall sounded, uh, wicked!

john

[Rodneyyee]

Tib-Fib= big bummer. Fib they just let wiggle around till it fuses back together-you got one of the better ski related injuries. Now send me your pills.

E T A-the rest sounds heavy. Keep your pills. Pride heals quick. Humility is something we all succumb to either in the form of a pie or like your fall, we have all been there.

[ehauck]

Since this thread is very related to my recent injury I hope I can get some input here, especially since reading your comment below.

On Mar 31 I was hit head on driving home, unfortunately not a fun sports related accident. The compression from trying to break right before impact fractured my ankle and Fibula. Underwent surgery on April 2nd, 4 screws in the ankle and fibula was left alone, they put a splint on up to the lower knee. About 6 days after surgery as swelling subsided my splint loosened up some and I started to feel some movement in my fibula so I called the docs office and they said just to wait until my scheduled appointment which took place yesterday. My ankle was x-rayed but the fibula was not?? I explained to the doc about the movement and some discomfort and he said this was normal.

Well he put me in a boot and another 6 weeks w/ 20lbs weight bearing restrictions. Last night/this morning I feel like my fibula is just moving around, causing more discomfort. Is this what I should expect or is this a non-union issue? It doesn't seem like I should just have bones moving around and potentially causing chipping and greater discomfort and longterm damage.

Tried to post the xray images in here but forum rules require a few posts prior to attaching images. Any input is much appreciated!

Tib-Fib= big bummer. Fib they just let wiggle around till it fuses back together-you got one of the better ski related injuries. Now send me your pills.

E T A-the rest sounds heavy. Keep your pills. Pride heals quick. Humility is something we all succumb to either in the form of a pie or like your fall, we have all been there.

[plurpimpin]

Since this thread is very related to my recent injury I hope I can get some input here, especially since reading your comment below.

On Mar 31 I was hit head on driving home, unfortunately not a fun sports related accident. The compression from trying to break right before impact fractured my ankle and Fibula. Underwent surgery on April 2nd, 4 screws in the ankle and fibula was left alone, they put a splint on up to the lower knee. About 6 days after surgery as swelling subsided my splint loosened up some and I started to feel some movement in my fibula so I called the docs office and they said just to wait until my scheduled appointment which took place yesterday. My ankle was x-rayed but the fibula was not?? I explained to the doc about the movement and some discomfort and he said this was normal.

Well he put me in a boot and another 6 weeks w/ 20lbs weight bearing restrictions. Last night/this morning I feel like my fibula is just moving around, causing more discomfort. Is this what I should expect or is this a non-union issue? It doesn't seem like I should just have bones moving around and potentially causing chipping and greater discomfort and longterm damage.

Tried to post the xray images in here but forum rules require a few posts prior to attaching images. Any input is much appreciated!

You're not nearly far enough out to be worrying about a non-union. I had a compound tib/fib fracture back in November 2013 and ended up having a chronic non-union for a year that eventually lead to a mal-union in both bones. I had to get it all re-broken and re-set a month ago. I've seen a few orthos at this point and they all told me that the general timeline for them to consider it a non-union is 6 months. You're less than 3 weeks out, just keep taking it easy and give it some more time. Plus you've still got the tibia there to hold it in place. Broken bones are funny, different people take different amounts of time to heal. With mine, after a year of non-union it just suddenly decided to start healing on its own.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, every doc I've been to has also told me that it usually takes about 6 weeks to even be able to see any kind of bone growth/healing on x-rays so be patient my friend.

[LightRanger]

^^^ Agree with that. Don't worry about it yet. Shattered my tibia, cracked my medial malleolus, and broke my fibula. Fibula was hanging and healed fine. I wasn't walking for four months.

You're two weeks out from surgery. Smoke a bowl and don't worry about it so much for a month or two. Trust me.

[ehauck]

Thanks for the comments guys...surprisingly after 20 years of surfing/kiting/wakeboarding/snowboarding this is the first broken bone so not familiar with the process. I'm used to blowing knees/ankles out but not breaks, I'll take the advice playing the waiting game and hope for the best. Cheers.