How to recover from a broken lower leg

Fractures or breaks to the lower leg Fibula bone (the Fibula bone is found on the outer most part of your lower leg) can result from sudden traumas, falls or even through overuse. Symptoms of a broken or fractured Fibula bone often include;

• Pain on the damaged part of the leg
• Swelling
• Bruising

Protruding bones from a break may result in deformity of the lower leg. If you suspect that you have indeed broken your leg it is highly recommended that you see a doctor as soon as possible.

Causes

In sport such as football it is fairly common to see instances of leg breaking on the field and this is due commonly to twisting of the leg whilst the foot is fixed to the ground or from a collision with another player. It is therefore highly recommend to take precautions when you are playing sports like football, precautions such as wearing shin guards to protect your Fibula bones from traumas, also stretching fully the feet, knees and legs before a game to improve Proprioception in your muscles helping to give you better muscle activation and awareness which can help you know where your legs are moving helping you to avoid awkward movement which may result in a compromising twist or turn that could potentially damage or break your bones.

Treatment

With a closed fracture where bone fragments are quite close together an orthopaedic doctor will usually look to move the bones fragments closely together and then fix a plater cast around the broken leg so that your leg can connect the two bone fragments together and heal by itself. A plaster cast is needed to keep the bones in place and prevent deformity. The estimated time the plaster cast stays on for a broken leg such as this usually ranges from 13-16 weeks. However even after the cast has been removed pain may still be present and the leg muscles will have been weakened both by the injury and inactivity of the muscle groups of the leg causing instability in the leg and knees. Physiotherapy is therefore recommended to help re-strengthen the lower legs. Physiotherapy is also recommended to help correct mechanical, muscle and postural imbalances that may have resulted from the injury.

Resistance bands are excellent for helping you to keep your other unaffected muscles groups active and strong whilst you recover and also help to build fitness, balance and strength in your weakened lower leg once your broken leg has healed.