Pain Pain Pain!

[patchoulli]

Im a 55 year old woman that was in a motorcycle accident on 2/15/14.  Avoiding a head on, I swerved and my crashbar hit the car rear quarterpanel, which caused the crashbar to wrap around my leg, bringing me down, with the bike on top, and my leg wedged, which had to be pried out by EMS.  I feel fortunate I was knocked out, waking up in ambulance.
  
I had compound fx of tibia, its in a few pieces, as well as fibula which was left to heal on its own.  Ortho placed titanium rod into knee to ankle with screws at ankle and just below knee.  I tended to open wound and it was healed by week 4 without any problem.

The picture posted is Week 8 post op.

I was toe touch with boot for 2 weeks, then walker, cane and at this point 10 weeks post surgery, I am not using any device.  I went back to work after 5 weeks (Im a home health nurse), and I have had 2 follow up appts with ortho, with another scheduled for 4 weeks from now.

My last appt 2 weeks ago showed a small amount of callus forming between fracture sites. Problem...I hurt..sometimes not bad, a dull ache which is alleviated with Ibuprophen.  If I do any sort to exercise (walk around in the pool, ride my pedal bike a few miles), I hurt so bad I cannot sleep and end up taking a percocet.  

I still limp, although after the first 10 steps, once the leg moves a bit, I do better.  Most of the pain is in the knee, the leg still swells at the actual fracture site, but the knee is the major pain area.  

How long should I expect this to continue?  I was a very active person before this accident, walked a few miles a day, and now I feel like a slug!  The pain has changed me, and I hate taking the narcotics...Please...any advice would be greatly appreciated. Marian

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi Marian!
I understand your concerns! At times after an accident a major and visible injury overshadows an apparently minor injury. This could have happened in your case. You may have a ligament or meniscal tear in knee which needs to be investigated. Other than this, the hardware could be pressing into your knee joint.
Since a confirmed diagnosis cannot be given on net please consult your doctor regarding this. Hope this helps. Take care!

The medical advice given should not be considered a substitute for medical care provided by a doctor who can examine you. The advice may not be completely correct for you as the doctor cannot examine you and does not know your complete medical history. Hence this reply to your post should only be considered as a guiding line and you must consult your doctor at the earliest for your medical problem.