first of all, i'm sorry about your accident & i hope your recovery goes flawlessly!

i broke my Lateral Malleolus (distal portion of the Fibula) and tore several supporting ligaments in the ankle several years ago.
had a similar open reduction/stabilization repair with ~5 in. steel plate and 4 screws.
as you said, U Mich is a top institution and their estimation is right on with my experience. it took me about 7 months for a full recovery -- that is to say that i was moving without support in 7 months.
now, i was't out doing 10 mile trail runs 7 months post injury, just testing the waters.

i'm only a first year Med Student so i don't really have any advice for you, but there are several M.D.s on this forum that will hopefully chime in.

for what it's worth, in situations like this, anecdotes are just just that; they aren't predictions as to how your recovery will go. so take everything you hear with a grain of salt!

again, best of luck with your recovery!

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“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.” - Plato

My sympathy. I can relate - I slipped on some ice Christmas eve while walking the dogs and fractured my tibia near the ankle. I did not need any screws but I'll be in a cast for three more weeks then a boot for two more. Based on past experience, I suspect PT will help with the ligiment/tendon damage.

Good Luck in your recovery!

Don't worry...it will get better. In '00, I was run over by a car while cycling and had a tib-fib fracture that wouldn't grow back together with the external fixator, so 3 months after the accident, I got an IM nail in the tibia. I ran 20-ish marathons and 3 Ironmans on it in 3 years. No problems except my Achilles' tendon on that leg is not very flexible because that ankle was in traction for a while...another product of the wreck. However, during IM Wisconsin '03, I started hearing a rattle every time I pedaled with my left leg starting at mile 80...one of the screws perpendicular to the IM nail had bored a hole in the bone and the whole thing was loose. Made for a painful walk, but I had it removed when I got home and was walkin again the next day. Your tibia will heal as a very dense bone around the IM nail.

Sorry to hear you're going through this, but orthopedic surgeons are awesome.

So sorry.
Get some Twin Labs Bone Support - best calcium supplement you can find. If you cant' get that, the Boron Plus is good too - calcium, boron, magneisum.

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

I feel your pain....fractured my pelvis in 3 spots on 12/15....exactly 3 weeks ago. Sucks big time. I don't usually spend much time on these boards but my family is skiing and I'm sitting at home going crazy, while all my friends are out training their butts off and my fitness is going into the gutter. Good luck with your recovery.

Broken tibia + fibula is a lot worse than fibula only. I broke my fibula clean (no pins or hardware just time), and my doctor had me bearing weight on it immediately and my tibia was intact. I was actually able to start walking after 3 weeks, easy jogging after 5 weeks. 13 weeks after the break I ran a half marathon within 1 minute of my PB. My doctor had me riding my bike in less than 3 weeks on the trainer. I was immediately lifting lots of weights with my upper body, and going with fairly heavy weights while stranding (weight bearing). Probably the most upper body weights I have done since high school. I was basically doing a lot of upper body circuits with heavy weights which was also jacking up my heart rate.

Anyway, sorry to hear about this, but it is a nice opportunity to mix it up. Once I was able to ride, I was basically biking intervals every day (my rides were 40-60 min max), and I was lifting heavy every day too....total training was barely 60 min per day, but it was all good stuff. A few months later I set a climbing PB on whiteface mountain (54 minutes for 8 mile with 3400 feet of vertical). I think the low volume high intensity training really allowed for my hematocrit to jump back up, whereas my usual high volume program somewhat limits that.

So after the initial set back, some good may come out of this in the big picture. It is hard to appreciate that now, but please hang in there.

Dev

Can't speak to the tib/fib fracture but I had an injury that required an extensive recovery period and the best advice is to take it one day at a time. Don't think about what you can't do, it will drive you nuts, take your PT very seriously, but don't over do it and get re-injured, and be proud of the small milestones. 6 months may seem like a lifetime but it will pass quickly and you'll be back to your old self soon enough. Hang in there!

Sucks, sorry to hear that. Stay positive?

I fractured just my fibula 3 years ago playing hockey. Had to spend about 2 months in a boot cast, then another month doing physio, all of which meant no hockey (I wasn't doing tri at the time) and no lower-body weight training. Like someone else said, it was a good time to focus on upper-body stuff.

When the cast came off, it sort of felt like it hadn't even healed at all because the tendons around my ankle were still weak and painful. It took about a month after that to get into some VERY light squats at the gym, and about a month and a half to apprehensively return to hockey. I was very gun-shy about doing anything on the recovering leg actually, just because it was still sore and I was really freaked about the chance of injuring it again (I live in Seoul, which is a truly brutal place to be if you're mobility challenged).

BUT! The soreness generally receded, strength gains got back to previous levels relatively quickly, and I was playing hockey regularly again within a couple months. The ankle area still ached now and then, sort of as a constant reminder, for over a year- that's something you might have to expect- but eventually you just live with it until it goes away or you don't notice it anymore.

Like others have said, just find any way possible to fill that time and contribute to your training. Last time, with the fibula, I was so bummed out over it that I barely did anything except feel sorry for myself. Pretty useless. I've recently been sidelined again with a bone spur on my ankle, and it's my first time having to suspend tri training, which is a lot harder for me to stop than hockey (I like it more). However, this time I'm finding any way possible to stay on the ol' horse and keep training in some way. I suck at swimming, so am working on the swim tubing a lot more, and will be spending a lot of time swimming with the pool buoy and maybe even aqua running. I'm even looking at yoga or some flexibility training to do at home that won't stress my ankle. Whatever you do, at least having SOME sense of forward progress makes the whole experience less depressing.

Heal up!

I have broken the same bones (tib/fib) thanks to a tree falling on me which required the titanium pin. A very nice Swiss made Titanium Pin that ran the length of my leg. It has been 20 plus years since I broke the leg and was not riding, running or swimming at the time but have zero issues today. At about the 18 month mark, I had the pin pulled out as the leg would get a little achy when the weather changed. Really. I actually felt better after the pin was out. I would be willing to bet that you will be able to swim and bike once the bone fuses together and running after that. Once you can walk again without crutches, you will be a little slow. I did most of my rehab walking in the mall. Flat stable ground. The only issue was when the senior citizens were passing me because I was such a slow walker when I first started without the crutches. It takes time but after a few months, you will be fine.

Certainly not looking to turn this into any sort of one-upmanship pity party, but I did bilateral tib-fib, and all I can say is be patient and confident. Start PT as soon as is humanly possible to minimize downtime. I had a lot of downtime thanks to being in a wheelchair for two months, so you're far better off in that regard.

Best of luck!

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Eliot
blog thing - strava thing

I've had two leg breaks, both on the same leg. The first was a simple fibula fracture about an inch above the ankle joint in Sept of '06. They screwed a plate across the fracture and I was weight bearing with no problems in 2 months. The second was a tib/fib in Nov '11 with the tibia fracture a few inches above the ankle. A different surgeon put a spike in the tibia with anchoring screws at either end of the bone and I was 3.5 months on crutches.. After the first break I did a few weeks of cursory physical therapy and basically went back to regular life and training. I was biking 2 months out, weight lifting 4 months out, running 7 months out and ran a marathon 14 months after surgery. The second break was more serious and I took my recovery more seriously. I did 6 months of PT starting a month after surgery and before weight bearing followed by biking at 4 months out starting at 30 minutes a day and only adding 20 minutes/day per week. I still can't run or lift a lot of weight due to implant irritation.

Be prepared for the ankle to be very stiff once you're weight bearing. After the first recovery I didn't give much thought to stretching and it definitely impacted me long term. In addition to lacking strength in the broken leg I lacked flexibility in the hamstring and ankle and it especially impacted my stride. I favored the other leg and that led to a host of other problems which eventually required a whole new round of PT.


Be prepared to have trouble running. The first implant doesn't bother me at all but the second causes irritation at the site of the anchoring screws any time I try to kneel, run or lift more than 50% of my body weight. I've been told this is common and I will need to have either the screws or the whole spike out. A friend of mine with a similar implant had the screws out and didn't have any further troubles. It doesn't impact my cycling but I won't be training for any running events this year.

Hi,
While they heal the Fibula and the Tibula can put stress on each other so they don't line up perfectly...eventually then they have to "move" them back in alignment.. this is assuming your bones aren't screwed together...

They "moved" my fibula back in place and it broke again b/c of the adjustment....hurt like hell...

Ask your doc about this potential and work it out if it is relevant in your case... it sets you back to the beginning if it happens....and you'll be pissed!!!

Stay positive and do what you can so you don't get down.....it can take awhile...

I had it happen twice...and keeping a good sense of humor and perspective really seemed to help everything.... depressed made things wayyy harder..

good luck.

Guys

Thanks for all the answers and horror stories. I guess is more common that I thought. Some of the tips ill follow

Just to clarify I am weight bearing as tolerated since I left the hospital. I don't have plates but I have a pin inside the tibia and screws on both bones. I currently work on moving my ankle and knee both are still stiff and a little numb specially the ankle

I am currently using crutches with an air cast that I can remove and trying to put as much weight as possible the limitation is pain as the dr said it will

Peace out

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"Bros b4 Hos, man" House MD

Team Aquaphor 06-08

sorry to hear about the fracture.

8 weeks ago I had a Hight Tibial Osteotomy. Bascially they cut my tibia in half and put in a plate and screws to fix the wear on the medial side of my knee.

At 8 weeks I am in the pool, on the elliptical and stair mill. Like you I am expeccted to be back to full strength at 6 months and probably running at 3 months.

I think that they key is taking it slow, let the bone heal, and build your strength. Also I take a lot of suplements and watch what I eat to ensure bone strength and density.

Follow the program set out by your PT and Dr.

Feel free to email if yo have specific questions.

Greg

Anyone used compression socks to help with the swelling? Dr said it wouldn't hurt. I might even do all my run training with compression socks plus recovery

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"Bros b4 Hos, man" House MD

Team Aquaphor 06-08

Considering this is why they were invented/used in the first place over the past 60 years or so, seems like a good thought ;-)

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Fatigue is biochemical, not biomechanical.
- Andrew Coggan, PhD

On January 6th, I was 5.75 miles into a 6 mile trail run when I broke my fibula. I thought it was a minor sprain and walked home (another .75 miles, thank you Garmin!). Surgery a week and a half ago with plate and screws. Non-weight bearing and having odd random shooting pains - no idea if that's typical or not. I'm afraid my whole year is shot (NYC Half March 17th is obviously out, another half in April, another in May and Eagleman in June...). And reading too many horror stories. The surgeon says I'll be running again in 3 months, and I hope he's right, but I'm still wigged out!

Had same or worse fracture in oct 2009. At that point i was not doing running or tri but i have since 2011 done marathons, hms, ims, hims with significant weekly training load in both intensity and volume terms and habe had no isues. Had to get the metal oit twelve months ago though as it started tombother me

I guess the best advice is be patient. I also did a lot of flexibility work already 2 weeks after and got the boot off asap.

Surgery happened in northeast region of brasil. Either doc was awesome or i was lucky

So just for an update. After my 6 week appt with the surgeon I have ditched the boot and started walking. He expect me to start running as tolerated over the next few weeks. Soccer before the summer looks feasible. I will start swimming and cycling on the trainer next week ( bit scared to go on the road until bone is totally healed) plus cycling shoes won't fit comfortable.

I think the Key was working from day one On ankle and knee mobility. Leg still feels weird and weak at times, swelling is an issue still but it gets better every day

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"Bros b4 Hos, man" House MD

Team Aquaphor 06-08

For those who have recovered from their tib/fib fractures, do you still experience any pain at the fracture site?

Two years ago I had an open tib/fib fracture in a car accident. I hit a treat and bent my leg at a 90 degree angle.

I did a lot of bicycling afterwards, which didn't really cause any pain. When I run and weightlift, though, there's a dull ache around the fracture site. I'm assuming this is normal, but it would be great to hear somebody's experience.

None at all for me, but mine was way back in September of 2003. I have noticed that if I try to sustain more than about 40 miles/week of run volume the achilles and IT band in that leg start to give me problems. I have no idea if that's related to the break and the hardware (which is still in there) or not, but the other leg has given me literally zero problems ever.

At 2 years mine felt pretty much like you described.

A little update - I was allowed to "try" to stand and walk on 1/30, so I did! And could walk just fine in the cast, no crutches, no pain...so I'm optimistic. The cast is being cut off on 2/27. I dropped my 4/21 half marathon down to an 8k and I'll walk it if I have to but I'm hoping to at least walk/run it. Weird random pains have gone away. I'm just hoping I can walk as well with the cast off as I can now!

Good news for a fellow st'er!

Stick to the rehab plans and don't push it too much (the potential risk is not worth the unsure reward) and other only piece of advice is to stick with some sort of assistive device (at least single crutch or since cane) after everything comes off to ensure you can normalize your gait. Ive seen it too often where people are itching to get walking on their own and funky things happen to muscles and joints from the compensations. This can only help get you back in the race safer.

Had a tib/fib fracture playing Rugby about 10 years ago. Mine was compartmentalized so the tib was broken in two separate places causing a floating piece. Nail and four screw inserted during surgery. Took about 13 months to recover fully. Got cleared to swim about three/four months in bike about 8/9 months and then run after 13. The hardest part is that I put on about 25lbs during recovery. Watch the diet since your workout schedule will drop. You can come back no problem. I have a few little pains here and there, but nothing major. The biggest issue is when the swelling went down the long screw by the knee sticks out a little and if I bump it on something I can feel it. Good luck with recovery and keep your head up (or down) depending on what you are doing.