When you have a broken leg, you can feel restless and frustrated. It’s difficult to take care of yourself when you can’t move around the same way you could before. You might not be sure how to take care of yourself and avoid additional injury to your broken leg. These are a few of the most important guidelines for you to follow if you have a broken leg to avoid re-injury:
Keep your broken leg away from additional injury or dangerous falls by following the below-mentioned guidelines. Remember, your health is important and preventative care can go a long way towards living a healthy life. Visit website to learn more about the safety measures to be taken.
Rest is Productive, Make it a Priority
Too often we see people with broken legs trying to force themselves to “get up and do things” around the house. They feel unproductive sitting around and resting their leg for days on end. The problem with this is that rest IS productive. You need to rest in order to let your body heal. Think of rest as doing something productive for your body and your injury. Make rest a priority.
Part of resting includes using ice and cold packs to help heal. To do this, take a cloth and place it between the ice and your leg (the splint or the cast). Make sure that your splint or cast stays dry. Typically 10 to 15 minutes at a time is enough and doing this every few hours for the first few weeks will help bolster the healing process. It will help lower inflammation and promote important cellular healing processes.
Create a Supportive and Safe Rest Environment
Another way to support your broken leg and keep yourself from falling is to create a supportive and safe rest environment. You want to make sure that your broken leg is fully supported with firm mattress toppers that can help alleviate pressure. You also want to look at investing in rectangular foam pillows or cushions that can keep your leg elevated throughout its healing process. Elevating your broken leg will promote circulation leading to faster healing.
Another safety equipment piece that can help prevent falls with a broken leg in a wheelchair. Crutches and walkers are great for more active individuals, but if you do not have a strong sense of balance then opting for a wheelchair can be a safer choice. You want to make sure that whatever you use to move around is able to support your body weight and that you have a strong sense of balance.
It is also important to consider making investments in a small pair of 3lb. dumbbells or other weight training equipment that can be used with your upper body while you are immobile. This is particularly important for people whose lack of balance makes it difficult for them to move at all while their broken leg heals.
Ease into Activities
Avoid putting any weight on the broken leg. Your doctor will tell you during your check-ups when you can go ahead and start to use the leg again. Until then, do not use it. Walk with crutches or a walker to ensure that your other leg bears all the weight of your body. Make sure that you get out of your bed slowly and always take your time moving around to ensure that you are in full control.
When your doctor asks you to begin adding pressure, there will also be a set of activities and exercises that you can follow to build up additional strength in your leg. When this time comes, it is important to ease into activities to build back up your leg strength slowly without re-injuring the leg.
