Fracture Doesn’t Just Affect Bones – Health News
However, some issues with inactivity emerged during this process, said Dr. Akpınar said: “Immobility can particularly damage bone and muscle tissue. After the weakening of these tissues, known as bone and muscle breakdown, joint movement becomes restricted, muscle becomes weak, joint and limb functionality deteriorates, and walking is impaired in the broken leg area. Afterwards, thanks to rehabilitation, the joints regain a normal range of motion, the muscles are strengthened and functionality is obtained.
It must be started early
Dr. Dr. Berrin Akpınar: “The return to normal life can take place within 12 weeks. The rehabilitation process takes an average of 6-8 weeks,” he said.
Emphasizing that rehabilitation after a fracture should be started while the patient is still in the orthopedic ward, Akpınar said: “The person with a leg or foot fracture should get up and walk as early as possible with assistive devices such as crutches or a walker, which ensures fast recovery. It also prevents complications such as formation of intravascular clots (deep vein thrombosis). During this period, the exercise programs are drawn up in bed by the physiotherapist.
What’s in Fracture Rehabilitation?
Dr. R. Berrin Akpınar stated that physiotherapy can be applied more intensively after the fracture has healed and movements around the fracture can be started, and summarized the applications in fracture rehabilitation as follows:
“To reduce pain and edema, to open joint movement, to stretch and strengthen muscles, to ensure smoothness of tendons, walking exercises and exercises to increase general functionality are performed when walking is affected. In addition to these exercise programs, techniques such as pain relief TENS, muscle strengthening electrical stimulation, hot or cold applications, applications such as ultrasound, scar tissue massage and mobilization techniques can be applied. Cryotherapy treatment, which can lower the temperature to minus 60 degrees in the tissues to which it is applied, especially in cases where the edema is high, helps a lot to fight swelling. Robot laser applications are also highly effective in terms of both reducing edema and accelerating the healing of damaged tissue. If it is a fracture that does not require surgery or permanent platinum stay in the body, then magnetic field therapy, which aids fracture healing, muscle and bone strengthening as well as pain reduction, is used very effectively in fracture rehabilitation. Hydrotherapy is one of the treatment methods that we often prefer in fracture rehabilitation, to be able to exercise without strain and without pain.”
Adding that some fractures require long-term rehabilitation, Dr. Akpınar said: “For this reason, exercise programs should be applied at home from the very beginning. Gait training should also be given after leg fractures,” he said.