Broken ankle with surgical hardware 6 1/2 months ago. Is it safe to use vibratio

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   tibfibgirlposted 13 years ago

   Broken ankle with surgical hardware 6 1/2 months ago. Is it safe to use vibration exercise?
   
   I broke my ankle and had a metal plate and screws inserted (tibia/fibula) 6 and a half months ago.  Is it safe to now use vibration exercise?  If not, how long should I wait before beginning?  I'm anxious to exercise but am unable to do any kind of high impact activities.

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   Mickmcposted 13 years ago

   Hi Tibfibgirl.
   I just joined Hubpages today so I'm not sure how these questions usually get answered, so I hope I don't commit any faux pas.
   From a strictly bone healing point of view, by six months your bones (tib/fib) should be strong (usually very strong by 6-12 weeks unless there are complications). By six months I would expect that you'd be getting back into whatever activities you did before the fracture. Without seeing your x-rays, taking your history, knowing details of the plates/screws etc. it would be inappropriate for me to offer specific advice about this, but a session with a physical therapist might be a good idea to put together a comprehensive rehab program that you can undertake on your own, to get back to whatever exercise you used to do / want to do. You can probably pick one with access to a vibration machine if you are interested in giving that a try.
   I've seen many people not reach their full potential after ankle fractures simply because they never really tried to get advice / help (and / or didn't put any effort in to rehab exercises) for their ankle. So while it may well handle using a vibration machine (can start on low settings), it's probably best to get specific advice from your Dr. or a physical therapist about the best overall program for your ankle to get your exercise ability back to where you want to be.

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   caderade2posted 13 years ago

   I don't recommend vibration at all. I participated in vibration studies in college and they never showed any advantage in any way.
   But 6 months is plenty of time in my opinion to start doing any type of exercise you need to.

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