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hopeacres
USA
27 Posts |
 Posted - 06/03/2010 : 19:24:58
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Hi,
Almost 5 weeks ago I fell down some stairs severely tearing ligaments, tendons and shoving my ankle bone in the wrong place. My foot is still black and blue and swollen. Just 6 days ago I began slowly walking without crutches.
What I need to know is what is MBS and what is 'true' pain associated with this injury? I walk with a fairly distinctive limp even though I am trying hard to walk the way the physical therapist told me to! I have pain in both knees now... never had before but now I do. Interestingly enough, in the beginning of this injury my PT told me, "I want you to learn to walk without a limp while you heal or you will develop chronic buttock and knee pain." Well, buttock pain used to be one of the MBS issues in my past that went away as I did my program. Surprise, surprise... it is back. I have never sustained an injury like this so I am just not sure what to expect. My foot is still swollen and black and blue even though it will be 5 weeks this Saturday since I fell. The pain I deal with fluctuates from an ache to a sharp, knife pain in my ankle if turned ever so slightly in the 'wrong' direction. The knee and buttock pain began a week ago and today it is bad. Yes, I admit to fear that I will not heal or be 'normal' again. Could this pain in my knees and buttocks not be from the limp but MBS? I do not have a great PT; meaning, no clear answers. I need to find treatment that will help and feed confidence in me that I can heal rather than feeding a fear of permanent injury. (Side note here; it is very odd how people 'help' you by telling you their stories of accidents finishing up with "Yeah, I've never been the same since"! Goodness sakes! Talk about feeding fear into someone!) Thank you for your support and help! |
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catspine
USA
239 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2010 : 22:14:11
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Hi Hopeacres
A small bruise can take couple of weeks or more to go away and you're only 6 weeks away from that big sprain... What is the physical therapist saying about the black and blue and swollen? Did you have it X-rayed at least? did you seek a second opinion? Maybe there is something to do to improve that a bit.
Anyways you will have to be patient because ligament and tendons are slow to heal but here is a good ending story: A friend of ours went through the same thing you did but also had bone damage when the whole foot turned on itself and moved next to where it usually was attached while the end of the leg bone hit the cement. She's stubborn and waited too long to go to the hospital and I guess some hardship could have been avoided there.
With time she recovered and even goes hiking now if the trails are not obstacle course style. The fear of injury to the same area is there occasionally but I guess it also keeps her from unsafe expectations.
Although she was off work for months, had to use crutches for a long time, had plenty of PT ( her country's heath care system easily allows for that or any treatment necessary as long as it would be needed), she kept on limping for almost a year but there is no trace of it anymore. She can even run for a short distance now.
She was told that in the process of recovery the other muscles or tendons learn how to compensate for the weaker ones and get stronger over time. It was painful at times while the body was adjusting and her worst fear was cramps but this is part of the past now.
If you question whether some of the pain could be MBS because you had a history of it well then it seems possible - you also said it went away before so I assume you already know how to get rid of it if you suspect the injury to be the cause of the other symptoms indirectly due to such things as fearing it will not heal completely or that you won't be able to work or that you'll never be able to walk normally again or something else that's possible but which may or may never happen.
You may be tormenting yourself unnecessarily by projecting your thoughts too far in the future at this point because it seems too soon to tell anyway but in the meantime it won't hurt to do your part in order to remain hopeful and positive you'll recover completely .
I fell in some boulders and flipped my fingers so that they went to touch the back of my hand and swelled like a puffer fish. This happened at the same time I was already having TMS equivalent symptoms of different sorts. I was a mess at the time but I treated the injury as an injury and the TMS issue as such separately careful not to mix them up. It took nearly 6 month for the pain in the hand to go away and about 11 months to heal but I do not have any problems with it at all anymore. I couldn't afford it at the time so I never saw a doctor either but I cannot recommend taking the risks I did.
Don't forget that all your body wants is to get better.
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hopeacres
USA
27 Posts |
Posted - 06/05/2010 : 23:29:29
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Hi Catspine,
I so appreciate the time you took to reassure me! Thank you so much. Patience is not my strong point. :) However, I am being refined like fire in that area right now!
Yikes, your finger injury... oh my. I felt queasy just reading about that! I am sorry for that incident in your life but so glad you are better now.
Definitely fear has been wrecking havoc with my brain over this injury. So the last few days I have fought the fear off by telling myself that I am strong and God made my body powerful and it WILL heal fully. Well, the knee and buttock pain disappeared. So, I will keep replacing the fear/anxiety with confidence and truth.
Today was a tough day. Our daughter had her first ballet recital and I was so limited in being able to help with the preparations. My heart longed to be involved with her as she wanted me to and I felt great sadness and frustration. I had to work hard on just dealing with the sadness and 'loss' but move forward in confidence at the same time.
Anyway, thank you so much for your encouragement and support.
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catspine
USA
239 Posts |
Posted - 06/06/2010 : 23:29:26
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Hopeacres,
It good to hear you're feeling a bit better.Thanks for the feedback.
There are different techniques to deal with fear and I'm happy you found one that worked well.
The body is always doing the best it can to get better you can count on that but it has its own pace and we can get impatient sometimes especially if the recovery takes its time.
In a way this is very good because it also confirm that the body is doing something although not fast enough for our taste. One of the reasons for that is that the mind is often in the way: Impatience originate from expectations and expectations either good or not so good consistently generate tension in the body. Tension then may promote and boost fear with its load of consequences, even worse it can get help from the mind depending on our disposition. This is why it's important to avoid doubt at that time and try to remain in the present moment and in that trust and confidence will help you.
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Help with injury... TMS or real?
