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Titanium Rod And Screws Placed In Tibia After Fracture, Removed After 1 Year, Discomfort After Rigorous Workout, Pain While Sitting And Standing, X-ray Showed Swelling. Advice?
Hi. I had a titanium rod and 4 screws placed in my tibia 10 years ago after a compound fracture . My recovery was swift and uneventful and I had the screws removed after a year. I started a rigorous workout program 6 months ago, including aerobics , weight training, yoga and walking. All was going great until about 6 weeks ago when I began experiencing discomfort in that ankle/heel area. I pretty much stopped exercising (and have been using ice and elevation) for the past 3 weeks hoping it would improve, thinking it might be a sprain . It is getting progressively worse in a hurry and is now extremely swollen on the outside of the ankle around to my heel. It is painful not only when I stand, but even when I m sitting still!! I saw my PCP last week. X-rays showed swelling but no fracture. She referred me to an ortho and, of course, I will return to the group who did the original surgery. My question(s) is(are): could the rod be giving me trouble after this much time and with the introduction of strenuous exercise?; would removing the rod be an option after 10 years?; what is the recovery period for removal? I really hope you can give me some advice soon ... thank you for your time. Penny
Thu, 7 Jun 2012
Hi,
There is nothing specific in Medical Science, There are criterion and average duration for the procedures but things vary from case to case. In case of Implants and rods patient is always recommended to visit the Doctor at specific intervals as advised and with time the doctor decides to give patient the flexibility in movements and exercises. Generally when things start improving and we start feeling better and gradually we start discontinuing the visits to the doctor and start feeling healthy with everything normal.
In your case also it is more of negligence, you shall have consulted your doctor before starting any kind of exercise. The exact situation could be assessed by your doctor only, so do it at the priority and stop all the exercises involving that joint. The problem could be a sprain, muscle injury or muscular spasm. In such cases you need to take analgesics, anti-inflammatory medicines and application of ointments, so please do not take them on your own and have them strictly under the supervision of a qualified doctor.
As far as the role of rod is concerned, it is used there to strengthen the bone or replace the bone, so again it could be decided only on the basis of Clinical examination and radio-logical investigations like X-ray, CT-Scan etc. So the best thing you can do now is contact your Orthopedics at the earliest.
Wish you a speedy recovery to health.
There is nothing specific in Medical Science, There are criterion and average duration for the procedures but things vary from case to case. In case of Implants and rods patient is always recommended to visit the Doctor at specific intervals as advised and with time the doctor decides to give patient the flexibility in movements and exercises. Generally when things start improving and we start feeling better and gradually we start discontinuing the visits to the doctor and start feeling healthy with everything normal.
In your case also it is more of negligence, you shall have consulted your doctor before starting any kind of exercise. The exact situation could be assessed by your doctor only, so do it at the priority and stop all the exercises involving that joint. The problem could be a sprain, muscle injury or muscular spasm. In such cases you need to take analgesics, anti-inflammatory medicines and application of ointments, so please do not take them on your own and have them strictly under the supervision of a qualified doctor.
As far as the role of rod is concerned, it is used there to strengthen the bone or replace the bone, so again it could be decided only on the basis of Clinical examination and radio-logical investigations like X-ray, CT-Scan etc. So the best thing you can do now is contact your Orthopedics at the earliest.
Wish you a speedy recovery to health.
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