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Broken Fibula, Muscle Spasms. Any Ideas How To Sleep Comfortably?
Hi, I broke my fibula about two weeks ago. It is a simple fracture and was not cast or braced and is healing well. However, when I sleep I get muscle spasm (unrelated to the brake and not controllable at this time) and when I do it almost feels like I am breaking it again. I also have troubles finding a position that is comfortable and as such I am not sleeping well. Is there something I can do or that I should talk to my doctor about. I am in the country and my husband works in the city, so I have limited transport to the doctor right now. I am also using a wheelchair as opposed to crutches as I am on the heavy side and previous muscle and tendon damage to my other leg make it tough for me to bear the extra weight for too long. Any ideas how I can be more comfortable at night?
Thank you!
Thank you!
Tue, 13 Aug 2013
Hi, thanks for writing to HCM.
Muscle spasm is a natural protective phenomenon which occurs secondary to any irritant stimulus in the affected area.
So I suspect that you could be putting more pressure on the broken fibula side (while sleeping) wherein the soft tissues are still in the healing phase, thus causing muscle spasms.
* Avoid lying on the affected side of the leg
* Use a foam pillow underneath your calf muscle
* Moist heat fomentation will relax the taut muscles
* If the muscle spasm is very severe and is disturbing , then a muscle relaxant medication may be helpful.
Hope this information is helpful. Good day
Muscle spasm is a natural protective phenomenon which occurs secondary to any irritant stimulus in the affected area.
So I suspect that you could be putting more pressure on the broken fibula side (while sleeping) wherein the soft tissues are still in the healing phase, thus causing muscle spasms.
* Avoid lying on the affected side of the leg
* Use a foam pillow underneath your calf muscle
* Moist heat fomentation will relax the taut muscles
* If the muscle spasm is very severe and is disturbing , then a muscle relaxant medication may be helpful.
Hope this information is helpful. Good day
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