What are the signs and symptoms of a stress fracture of the tibia or fibula?
Patients with this condition typically experience a localized pain in the outer lower leg that increases with weight bearing activity. In severe cases, walking may be enough to aggravate symptoms. Other symptoms may include night ache or pain on firmly touching the fibula.
What does a broken tibia and fibula feel like?
Other than pain and swelling, other signs of a fibula fracture include: deformity in the lower part of the leg. tenderness and bruising. pain that gets worse when putting pressure on the leg.
Is a fibula fracture serious?
Fibular fractures are usually treated as emergencies. You should visit a doctor if you suspect you have such a fracture. Call 911 or your local emergency helpline number if there’s been a high-energy injury such as a motor vehicle accident or gunshot wound.
Can you break your fibula and still walk?
Because the fibula is not a weight-bearing bone, your doctor might allow you walk as the injury recovers. You also might be advised to use crutches, avoiding weight on the leg, until the bone heals because of the fibula’s role in ankle stability.
What does a tibia fracture feel like?
A tibial shaft fracture usually causes immediate, severe pain. Other symptoms may include: Inability to walk or bear weight on the leg. Deformity or instability of the leg.
Does broken tibia and fibula require surgery?
Most people don’t need ORIF for tibia/fibula fractures. They may have bones put back in place without surgery. They may have pain medicine, a cast, splint, or a special brace, and physical therapy.
Can you walk if you break your fibula?
Do you need a cast for a fibula fracture?
The general process for healing a fibula fracture is immobilization with a splint or cast for several weeks, after which you might get a walking boot to help you walk. Recovery time depends on factors such as: the severity of the injury and the presence of any other injury at the same time. your age.
Where are the ends of the tibia and the fibula?
The ends of the tibia and the fibula both form part of the ankle joint. Different kinds of injury can damage the tibia or the fibula, causing them to break into one or more pieces. This might happen in the part of the bone near the knee, near the middle long part of the bone, or in the bone near part of the ankle.
How is the middle tibiofibular joint a fibrous joint?
The middle tibiofibular joint is a fibrous joint created by the interosseous membrane attaching the interosseous edges of the shafts of tibia and fibula. Its fibres are pointed downward and laterally. It’s wide on the upper side and narrow on lower side where it combines with all the interosseous ligament of the inferior tibiofibular joint.
Why does the fibula heal faster than the tibia?
In certain rare cases of complete fractures (the bone is completely broken into more than one part) of both the fibula and the tibia, the fibula can heal faster because it has more relative blood flow than the tibia. If not addressed, the fibula can harden and thicken to become more like the tibia.
What is the function of the fibula in ankle?
The fibula provides lateral stability to the lower limb and to the ankle joint. It also articulates with the tibia and the talus to allow for additional range of motion during rotation of the ankle. A natural fibula in an otherwise healthy individual does not bear any significant body weight.