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In February I fell down stairs and broke the head of my left femur…nasty break and have been fitted with a femoral nail. I’ve made very good progress and have had physio and several sessions at the gym. I’m walking without a stick and have been for around a month. However, I’m not really walking “correctly” and wondered who I should see to help me? I don’t think I need physio again so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Alexander Technique?? Btw, I have a dynamic hip screw in my right femur and 2 fractured vertebrae – car accident 17 years ago! Thanks in advance.
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My physio was the one who got me walking properly after breaking my leg badly, now pinned and plated. I would walk up and down the corridor at her surgery while she scrutinized every movement and would not allow any limp or abnormality in my walking. She would give me different exercises every week to correct any weaknesses.
Have you done any hydrotherapy? I found this was the most useful in getting my walk back to normal. The water takes off some of the weight so you can walk up and down the pool and really concentrate on being symmetrical and moving properly. It also strengthens your muscles as its harder work to move forward. I went to the pool every day for a while until I got my leg working properly again.
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Another fan of hydrotherapy here. I was screamed at by an NHS physio for not walking properly when I couldn’t physically have done it anyway. She then tried to straighten my leg by leaning on my knee I ended up going for private sessions to a physio with a pool, and she was fabulous. Hard work and it hurt, but she fixed me.
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Not sure if this is helpful, but after I had my left hip replaced (which didn’t go to plan) I was very twisted and couldn’t put my heel to the ground. The NHS aftercare physio thought I’d be like that permanently. Private physio helped me to rebuild muscle strength and to walk with normal foot placement (heel to the ground first), but two years later I was still twisted through my pelvis, which was particularly noticeable when riding (it felt horrible). A friend then recommended a really good Alexander technique teacher.. she has made a huge difference to how I walk (so much so that the physio now refers clients to her). So in future, I would go to a physio for strength/stretching, and an Alexander practitioner for the best combo. I would also consult more that one professional if what they suggest isn’t working for you. Good luck with your recovery!
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When I fractured my femur and had it pinned it was physio who got me walking again, he was a hard taskmaster and I went weekly for about 12 weeks immediately after my release from the hospital. He used to make me walk up and down the corridor until I was moving properly and also used to measure the angles in all my leg movements to check I’d been doing the exercises at home! I hated every minute of physio but it really did work.
One thing to consider is the muscle wastage as your leg will not have been working as much, I started seeing a sports massage person 6 months ago (15 years after my accident) and she was finding lots of weak and damaged muscle and tissue which is gradually improving with exercises and stretching. That is making a huge difference to my straightness. -
When I broke my back I found the combination of physio and equipliates worked well, they seemed to compliment each other’s approach.
Broken leg/ankle resulted in odd walking for a long time. I asked on MFP for any tips to strengthen a particular muscle (having googled foot and leg muscles) and was directed to a runner’s forum with suggestions. It worked and now walking is a darn sight easier. You may well find a bit doesn’t always work properly. When tired or poorly my right leg isn’t grand at walking and that’s a result of the broken back.
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I badly broke my ankle mid March – dislocated and broke in 2 places, now pinned back together…
My (private) physio has been a godsend. I saw him the week after my plaster came off and I could only tentatively hobble without the air boot on. 6 weeks later I was dancing all night at my wedding! He gave me targeted exercises and stretches to do, as well as some work in the gym/pool to help strengthen it. I stuck to the exercises religiously (between 20 – 40 mins per day), and made such quick improvement even he was surprised! I did a lot of work on posture and balance – calf raises are tough but really helpful (straight and bent leg / on both legs then just balancing on the bad one), and standing on a balance board. I’m still seeing him now but only once a month rather than weekly / fortnightly like I did initially.
It’s been 4 months since I broke it and I’ve just started jogging again, and apart from being unfit, I feel pretty much back to normal! Would def recommend finding another physio to work with? Good luck!
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Thank you for all your comments and suggestions. I really think I need to go back to the drawing board. I was never offered any physio from the NHS and all my physio was self funded. He was very good, but limited in the facilities at the local practice and to return, I doubt I’d get the space that I need to walk correctly. I have been walking “heel toe” as I had it drummed in to me from my previous fracture. I’ve had hydrotherapy and I was fine walking in the water. Confess I’ve been remiss in doing my exercises on a daily basis as I found the heat of late, very oppressive. I think that you’re right…..I need to get my bad leg much stronger, as I found today walking around town for an hour. *note to self – do exercises EVERY day, despite the heat!* I think I might look for another physio with better facilities!
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That’s poor of the NHS not to offer you physio, as soon as my cast came off I was referred but chose to use my work health insurance and go private. Mine is based in a sports center and gym which has been great for learning what I can do – I use the TRX machines a fair bit as it helps support my weight.
One thing my physio encouraged was balancing on my bad leg as much as possible. I started doing it when I was brushing my teeth, fingers touching the basin so I wasn’t too wobbly and just holding it as long as I could. In 2 weeks I built up from 6 seconds to over a minute, just doing that, could be worth a try? The other thing my Physio said was very important is a wobble board. Use it every day – she said this at least twenty times every visit! Proprioception!
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