# Wife and her ankle

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wife-and-her-ankle/602885>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [November 14, 2011, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wife-and-her-ankle/602885 "2011-11-14T13:33:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2011, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wife-and-her-ankle/602885/21 "2011-11-16T16:20:08Z")

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> [@treis](#):
>
> I don’t see how an under inflated slide leads to a broken ankle.

She said that instead of sliding in a normal fashion, she basically fell/slid (if that makes sense). She indicated that she was going entirely too fast and instead of coming to a stop by hitting an inflated balloon stop, what she hit was more solid. That’s not very clear, I’m afraid. I’m not entirely sure what happened and I didn’t really look at the slide when I was there.

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**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wife-and-her-ankle/602885/22 "2011-11-16T16:28:42Z")

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> [@Mama\_Zappa](#):
>
> Some links (by googling “NSAIDS bone healing”):
> 
> [The mechanisms of the inhibitory effects of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on bone healing: a concise review - PubMed](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12953337)
> 
> [http://articles.boston.com/2009-06-22/news/29265257\_1\_bone-healing-osteoblasts-low-dose-aspirin](http://articles.boston.com/2009-06-22/news/29265257_1_bone-healing-osteoblasts-low-dose-aspirin)
> 
> [http://www.arthritis.org/nsaids-fracture-healing.php](http://www.arthritis.org/nsaids-fracture-healing.php)
> 
> Though this one says it isn’t so sure:  
> [http://www.medicine.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/booth/painpag/wisdom/NSAIbone.html](http://www.medicine.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/booth/painpag/wisdom/NSAIbone.html)
> 
> What I’m taking away from these is that intermittent use shouldn’t have much of an effect but long-term use might. Smoking is implicated far more (dunno if your wife smokes) per some of those links.
> 
> I had found links saying that rats in trials had _major_ impact (as in, some _never_ healed… poor ratties :().
> 
> I think the mechanism is thought to be that it suppresses inflammation, which is actually a necessary response for bone healing. Anyway, I’d use them with caution right now.
> 
> How’s she feeling now? Broken bones HURT, dammit. I hope she’s able to get by without pins, which would be an annoyance :(. I can imagine the frustration you must have felt to have to send her off by herself. On the bright side, at least she wasn’t on her own with the kids when it happened, you were there to take them while she got the help she needed.
> 
> And one bit of completely unsolicited advice… at some point, she’ll feel enough better to start pushing herself, activity-wise. Discourage this at least at first. I started feeling pretty decent, 10 days out, and was on my feet more than I should. Always with cane, and always with the aircast (orthopedic boot), and not very far - think parking near the front door of a store, walking in perhaps 50 feet to grab something, then heading out…
> 
> After 2-3 such errands, this led to me being in as much pain as the day I broke it :eek::smack:. I actually went back to the doctor, CERTAIN that I’d dislodged the healing bones. Fortunately not the case. But it was a painful object lesson.
> 
> Have you looked into a temporary handicapped hangtag? The ortho’s office should be pretty familiar with the paperwork for that and as your wife becomes more mobile, she will find it useful. I got one - have used it maybe 3-4 times when there wasn’t regular parking close enough.

Thank you for this.

Here’s some info:

Her _main_ medicine is percocet, although she also got 800mb tabs of ibuprofen. My wife _used to smoke_ (5+ years ago).

She is in a lot of pain - she takes her meds and looks forward to the 20 minute icing every hour.

Yes, that is a true bright side that it wasn’t just her and the kids. We generally do stuff together, but had that happened it would have been a lot worse. As it was, my daughter didn’t really see my wife in _massive_ pain after the initial injury.

She is already a bit stir crazy, so I will definitely take your advise to heart. She went to the mall with my mother (who is wonderfully helping out) to get a DMV placard and now she is sore (muscle wise). I got her game of thrones (book) so she was really excited about starting that today.

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