Re: Aleve or no Aleve...! (stress fracture of the foot)
A fracture means there is a break in the bone, which needs to heal. Bone Healing is dependent on many factors and main factor is the recovery of the many tiny blood vessels in the foot that have been damaged by the inflammatory response. My doc said he is more concerned about the blood vessels than the bone. The #1 way to encourage this is to keep the swelling down, and the best way do that is to keep your foot elevated above the level of your heart. I did that and am still doing that 6 weeks after surgery and I have not had to take pain killers at all. Basically, I am just lying around or sitting with my foot up REALLY high and the foot looks great. I even sleep with my foot above the level of my head. It takes patience to do that if nothing hurts, but a lot is going on under the surface and you have to leave it alone to get the best result. I walk around a bit now, up to an hour, do my range of motion exercises or go on the exercise bike, but then it is back to the couch to elevate to drain the swelling. There are no shortcuts. You can't make it heal faster, but you can postpone healing by allowing it to swell for long periods. I hope you are not smoking. That delays healing by months because nicotine constricts blood vessels.
The throbbing you feel is swelling and that is a message from your foot to elevate it. You will actually feel the fluid draining down and away from the foot. If you keep it elevated, my guess is that you won't have to take pain killers.
My physio told me to go back to weight bearing in stages. First put foot down while sitting. Lean on knee to put pressure on foot, but not too much. After a few days of that, put foot down standing and rock side to side putting pressure on affected foot. See how your foot tolerates this before walking. but again, drain swelling whenever it occurs. The longer it is swollen, the longer healing will take and the more complications you could have.
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