Advanced crutchwork

One of my legs broke just now, and now the left hand side of me isn’t load-bearing for a few weeks. I’m scooting around on crutches for the forseeable future, but alas the hospital staff were so overworked I got about 3 minutes training on how to use crutches. I can scoot about OK and go up and down stairs slowly, but not in such a way that I’m confident I’m not going to wipe out sooner or later.

What’s the dope on advanced crutch technique? Also, any tips on bone healing? I’ve a spiral fracture on the tibia above the ankle, the fibula above the ankle, and the fibula below the knee, all wrapped up in a leg cast from toes to just below the knee.

On stairs, put the crutches down first when going down, and up first when going up. Keep your weight off the crutches and on your good foot as much as possible. The crutches are to keep you balanced, and help you pivot yourself as you move your good foot to the next stable position. Don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it soon enough.

When they switch you to one crutch, move the crutch with your bad leg, and again, keep your weight on your good foot as much as possible.

Ooooh, been there, done that, got the T-shirt (or the hybrid external fixator, aka Ilizarov device: Ilizarov device)

First of all, what kind of crutches are they? This kind, or this kind? If the former, I ahve the following tips:

– Don’t rest your weight on your armpits on top of the crutches. You want most of the weigth to be balancing on your wrists. Your wrists and shoulders will probably be sore, but that can’t be helped.

– My mom had a genius solution for handgrip perspiration: wrap the handles in cotton bicycle handlebar tape.

– It will take some practice to get the hang of it; don’t worry. After a year on crutches (damn fractures wouldn’t heal), I could almost outrun my physical therapist.

– You will be amazed what you can do standing on one leg if oyu try hard enough.

Can’t give you much advice on the forearm crutches, though.

Some general advice:

– Blood circulation is very important to bone healing. Make sure that if your doc tells you to wiggle your toes, etc., that you do it, even if you are sore.

– If they send you to physical therapy, you are going to be sore. But maintaining long-term function is worth it. And as soon as that cast comes off, make sure you move as much as you are able. 9 years after my accident (given, mine was freakier than most, and I had 4 rounds of surgery and almost every commplication known to mankind), I still haven’t regained full joint mobility or muscle mass, and probably never will, plus I have arthritis in my ankle. If I’d regained mobility sooner instead of spending so long on crutches, I probably wouldn’t have nearly the degree of long-term loss of function.

– Read up on your treatment options; one good place to start is the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons.

If you have more questions as you go along, please post again.

After you master crutch basics, go for the gold with advanced maneuvers.

You can really impress folks by walking (and even running) with crutches when only the crutches touch the floor - feet must be kept in the air. It takes excellent balance and lots of arm and upper-body strength. Great exercise.

Fridgemagnet, I broke a foot bone and post-op I am non weight bearing for 8 weeks. (surgery was two days ago) I become more adept with these damned crutches every day. What I’ve found most important is planning ahead. If I need to take a whizz and will need something from the office or maybe a blanket, I plan to get A,B, and C done at the same time. Our cats scatter like the wind wghen I approach, which is kinda cool…so I’ve taken to exercising by chasing them.

Times like this that I’m thankfull for a laptop and a wireless modem…

Thanks for the tips guys, I’ll be sure to take them on when I’m trucking about properly (forearm crutches BTW; forgot to mention). For the moment I’m having to keep my left leg raised to keep the swelling down, and though this seems to be working, my toes do seem to be turning purple. I’d love to know what colour my ankle is, because my foot wasn’t injured at all. Luckily the major tibia break above the ankle cracked in a sort of “V” shape, so I guess it was easy for the surgeon to reorient and I’m hoping it’ll heal good and strong, as I’ve plans for that leg in the spring.

Good luck with the healing Eggerhaus, that sounds nasty.

Are you still wearing the scaffolding, Eva Luna? I’m grateful I don’t have that, that looks like a whole load of extra hassle.

Hopefully I can sort out a wheelchair with a leg-raiser tomorrow, and I can get some exercise outside. I can’t be on crutches for more than a few minutes at a time at the moment or too much blood collects in my damaged leg and it throbs like a bastard, and not in a good way either.

Yeah, it wasn’t one of the favorite parts of my life, but thankfully the hardware (at least the external portion) has been gone lo these 8+ years. There was one bright side of the fixator as opposed to a cast, though - I could wash, and scratch.

The first couple of weeks are going to suck, but you’ll be surprised how nimble you become with practice. And with any luck at all, you will heal a lot more quickly than I did. Good luck, and take calcium supplements! (Hey, it can’t hurt.)