delayed physio, have I caused permanent damage?

[brokenfemurguy]

I'm 23 years old and I broke my femur on Dec 28, 2007. They put an IM nail into the thigh bone. I had 2 follow-ups since then, and my surgeon said I was healing fine. My last follow up was 4 weeks ago, they told me that I should begin full weight bearing and that I should walk without the crutches on occasion. They also gave me a list of exercises to do. Since then I occasionally do the recommended exercises and have been walking/limping around the house without crutches.

My concern is this, I never thought that I would NEED physiotherapy. Not because I don't believe in its affect, but purely because of my ignorance. Now I've been reading some articles and forums online stating that physio is very important even for a femur fracture. So I do want to start physiotherapy because of this newfound knowledge. I just wanted to know, is it possible that I may have permanently damaged my thigh muscles or knee joint by not going to physio earlier?

I'm worried that I might have to walk with a limp for the rest of my life because of not going to physio as soon as I should have. I can nearly do a full bend but it is accompanied by soreness and pain in the knee and thigh when I attempt it. I really hope that my ignorance hasn't cost me the full usage of my leg. Please, any input would help. thank you.

[Canuck Physio]

The human body is highly adaptable, bony changes occur and are occuring all the time. The matter of getting movement back to 'normal' and optimizing that will entirely depend on a variety of factors. Will physiotherapy help for this? I believe yes, and the evidence appears to support this notion. Is it too late for you? No not at all, long term chronic or degenerative changes take years to manifest, and even then much can be done about them with effort, consistency, persistence, and sheer positive force of will.

Good luck

[sarahwatt]

I agree with Canuck Physio. The only thing I would add is that the worst thing you can be doing is walking around with a limp. Get back on your crutches, take as much weight through the fractured leg as you can, but walk with a normal gait. The saying goes "It's takes 100 steps to learn a bad habit, and 1000 steps to unlearn it......."
AND GO AND SEE YOUR PHYSIO! He he he....

[Yarok]

hi

i agree with u guys,

get a physio, rehabilitator, sport therapist simply to speed up your recovery, means come back to normal life,
thanks