Broken tibia fibula
June 9, 2009
I recently broke my tibia and fibula in an adult game of pick-up soccer. Not sure what exactly happened, but I was most likely playing impatient defense, got beat and must have turned to follow the other player and twisted my leg “just right.” Several people heard the snap across the soccer field. These photos are the result!
Broken tibia fibula
Broken tibia
I was transported to the emergency room and had surgery late that night. Surgeon installed a pin in the tibia and I am recovering without a cast, off work for a couple of weeks until I get my next instructions from the doctor.
That soccer game made a real Mess of Me!
Category: Ouch
Hi, I was just looking at your photos. Sorry for your injury. I had a question if you have a minute. My son is 12 and he also broke his fibula, tibia and ankle. He broke it August 1st of 2010 and had two titanium rods put in from his knee down to his ankle. After they took off the cast, his fibula bone looks like it wants to pop out of his skin!! There is a huge bump which i know is the bone itself and it looks all awkward. I have taken him back to the doctors and they say its normal and that it will heal in time. As a mother, it just does not sit well with me for some reason. Basically, Im just curious to know if your bone did the same thing for some time?
Thank u.
Hi Noel, thanks for stopping by.
My fibula did not jut out as you say your son’s has, however when it started healing it did look awkward in the subsequent x-rays, almost like it just healed across like you see in the picture above (which of course looks like it is not straight).
However after a year the new x-ray showed that it did adjust itself somewhat, not a lot, but it looked straighter than the original x-rays after the bone started healing. But again I didn’t have it sticking way out. Hard to tell without seeing your son’s injury.
One thing I will note is that where it broke on the tibia I do have a bulge where the bone grew around the main break. That won’t go away, as the new bone had to grow around the break to heal itself. So I have a slightly lumpy tibia, just above my ankle where it broke.
The body is amazing how it heals though. The bone will actually replace itself and form as new bone. When you see x-rays in a year you will be amazed how the bone will have replaced itself; it will look normal, but perhaps misshapen. I wish I had those photos to share here, it’s pretty cool.
Sorry to hear about your son’s injury. Hopefully it will heal well over time and if he is able to exercise as time goes on, that will help the healing. Just don’t overdo it.
In my case it was sore for just about a year. It will take time so ask him to be patient. Hope that helps!
–Paul
My doctor explained that the fibula really only supports 11% of the weight and the tibia does the rest.