Progression (or Regression?) to a Zimmer Walking Frame

After a week of rubbish attempts at walking without my splint I finally got to see my physio. She confirmed that there is a slow progress with my range of movement in my knee (now at 40) but was concerned to see how wobbly I was on my crutches. The problem was that I was so scared of my leg giving way, I was trying to compensate with the rest of my body and holding myself way too stiff to make any decent attempt at walking. 


She decided to try me out walking between parallel bar in the gym, which I managed surprisingly well, without panicking too! So from there she suggested I tried a walking (zimmer) frame until I build my confidence up a little more. This worked great and I was even able to walk with my brace let out to 90% ... I'd still been trying to walk with it locked until then! 


I've been using the walker at home for 4 days now and have progressed from a stooping dithering wreck, to being confident enough to stand up straight and tall and take "real" steps, with one foot in front of the other, instead of mini shuffle steps. Today I actually sat at the table to eat a meal instead of having it on my lap, first time in 2 months! Best achievement of the week though has to be making it to the loo on my own ... time to start regaining some dignity at last!


The exercises are still very hard work and a few extras have been added. Now that I can sit with my leg to the floor I can do some heel slides from that position, and I also have a bolster for under my leg to try short leg raises when I sitting on my bed. I'm still not able to get my leg from bed/sofa to floor and vice versa without some help, but I guess as my confidence continues to build I will experiment with some ways to achieve this.


What a difference a week makes ... this time last week i was ready to give up and feeling very sorry for myself, ... this week I can see some of the light at the end of the tunnel ...even if it is a long way off yet.

First Steps in My New Hinge Brace

This week began with the news that my physio appointment was cancelled and I would have to wait over a week for the next one. I was immediately disheartened because it had already been a week since the doctor had told me to start walking without the splint and I'd been hoping that the PT would be able to help me out with this. So it looked as though I was on my own with it for now, another week was too long to wait without doing something to try to advance my progress.

That same evening, I trawled the Internet for information about various knee supports and braces. What a mine field that is! There are so many different types, for various problems, and just selecting which one would be appropriate was quite nerve wracking ... I didn't want to buy the wrong one and do more damage! In the end I settled for a lockable hinge brace. I felt that I needed to be able to lock it straight to begin with, until I get used to not having the security of my splint, and then slowly let out the flexion as my range of motion improves. After much internet research, I decided on the PhysioRoom Elite Hinged, see below.

The brace arrived in two days and I was both excited and terrified at the same time! The first thing I did was inspect the hinge adjustments to make sure they locked securely and set it at zero range for added security! I tried it on for size and the immediate impression was how much lighter than my splint it was. Time to stand up and test the water next .....

It turned out that standing up was the easy bit. On the other hand, taking my first steps was an absolute disaster! I was convinced that my muscles would not be strong enough to hold me and that my knee would give way when it took the weight as I moved my good leg forward. The first step was kind of ok once I finally managed to pluck up the courage to move my good leg, at least there was no pain. But I was so nervous, I tensed up every muscle in my body and on the second step my knee jolted backwards because I was holding it so stiff. It didn’t hurt but I hadn’t been prepared for movement in that direction  ... I totally freaked out and gave up there and then!

The following day I resolved to try again, determined that if I didn’t master this then everything that followed would be an even bigger mountain to climb. The brace in place, I got to my feet and took a deep breath. This time as I was about to lift my good foot forward, I let my injured knee bend forward slightly – it couldn’t bend too much as I’d locked the brace in place. Success! There was no backward jolt, no pain and although I was shaking like a leaf I managed to take my first few unsplinted steps in seven weeks! The more I concentrated on the steps and movements, the harder and scarier it got, to the point where I almost froze to the spot so to take my mind off it I sang nursery rhymes as I plodded along! Ridiculous almost to the point of insanity, but I swear it worked! I rested for a bit and then tried again, this time all the way to the living room and back. And then later another attempt, from bedroom to bathroom to living room. I’d only covered a short distance, but it felt like such an achievement I may have actually just walked on the moon!

There is still much confidence building to be gained through practice before I can say its time to release the hinge a little, but practice makes perfect they say, so all I can do for now is keep at it, again and again and again....

Search for More Knee Braces here...

6 Week Check Up

Yesterday was my 6 week check up with the hospital. The X Ray showed good results and I was told the fracture has healed well.

X Ray showing my healed fracture and the hardware used to fix it
(6 weeks, 2 days after surgery)

Now all that remains is to get my knee bending again and to build up the quad muscles enough for me to walk again. The doctor proposed to remove the splint and progress me to a short hinge brace. However, the nursing staff would not fit this and instead tried to squeeze my knee into a sort of sleeve support that was a size too small, they didn't have a larger one in the size I needed. When it was realised that this wouldn't fit my swollen knee, it was announced that I would have to make do with a tubey grip bandage instead. I objected to this, as my PT had said the day before that my quads weren't strong enough for me to walk without something to support me yet.

So the doctor was sent for again and he eventually agreed that I could keep the splint to get around with for now, on condition that I remove it and try to do as much as I can without it once I was home. I have to say it wasn't a pleasant experience, and the nurse would really benefit from improving her bedside manners in future! I am not due to see my physio again until next week, so in the meantime I will just do what I can with getting used to not wearing the splint and building my confidence enough to stand and possibly try walking without it.

On the plus side though, although the stiffness in my knee was causing me some discomfort, there was no actual pain when the various inspections and procedures were carried out. This has given me a bit more confidence to try to do more with it and its encouraging to know that 6 weeks of doing nothing has helped to heal the break .... even if it HAS made my muscles disappear and my joint stiffen up big time! Can't have it all ways I guess, so back to the exercises for now ......