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The response to the question below was authored by Marc Mitnick DPM

painful foot from broken leg

Recovered from broken tibia , I have been back yo work for two weeks . I still have a bit of a limp and my leg is getting stonger, however my feet hurt alot at end of the day . Is this pain possibly associated with my limp ?

RESPONSE
Hi,

It would be safe to say that the your end of day foot pain is certainly associated with the trauma you suffered to your tibia. You do not mention if you had surgery or not, but I assume at the very least you were wearing a cast for a prolonged period of time.
Yes, the possibility exists that your feet hurt because you are limping. Walking abnormally, Limping, will certainly change your gait and because of that will cause the muscles going into your foot and the muscles within your foot to overwork which certainly could cause pain, particularly the more you walk. An abnormal gait may also cause your actual gait cycle to change somewhat, putting excess pressure on certain parts of your feet which you do not normally do and thus you will end up with pain in your feet.
The most common cause however, of pain in the feet after this type of injury is simply due to the fact that you are not used to walking normally. I will assume that the broken tibia tied you up for 6-8 weeks, possibly longer, depending on the severity of the fracture and during this whole time you were forced to walk in an abnormal fashion. Now, as you attempt to return to a normal gait you are getting pain because the muscles in the broken leg have weakened due to wearing a cast and all the down time you experienced while the healing process was going on.
In many instances that will account for the limp you are experiencing, simply the fact that the muscles in the broken leg need to be strengthened so that you can return to a more normal gait.
This will be compounded by the type of work that you do. If you sit at a desk all day, the pain will be less prevalent then if your job requires you to do a lot of standing and walking.
If this problem is a real issue for you, why not speak to your doctor about going for physical therapy, as therapy will go a long way to strengthening your muscles and allow you to return to a more comfortable gait.

Marc Mitnick DPM
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Nov 27, 2018
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Pain on top of foot after broken tibia plateau
by: Debbie

Hello everyone I am looking for any help that everyone can give, my husband broke his tibia plateau and tibia and fibula on May 26, 2017 at his job ( he fell off of a ladder ), due to workman’s comp my poor husband had to wait until June 8, 2017 to have his surgery he stayed 13 very long and painful days in bed until his surgery , well he ended up with 2 plates and seven screws, he went through 61/2 monthes of physical therapy for his leg and foot, his leg was always swollen as well as his foot and he did complain more for his foot pain then anything, he was released from his doctor on January 19, 2018 ( his doctor told us that he may always walk with a limp and never get better) and started back at work on January 20, 2018 , to this day November 27, 2018 his leg still swells a little and he doesn’t complain about his leg, but the top of his foot still swells and hurts him really bad, what can be causing this ? His physical therapist and doctor seems to think the pain is from arthritis, which he has never had before, he has never had any problems with his feet ever until he broke his knee and leg. I am desperate for help for him, and he still till this day walks with a limp but more towards the end of the day, sometimes he walks fine. I was told that it would take at least 5 years from the day of his surgery for his bones to fully heal. He was in good health , not over weight and 55 years of age when this happened to him, he is now 56 1/2 and fells horrible and slowed down a lot . What can I do to help him.

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ADDITIONAL REFERENCES

Mayo Clinic

Johns Hopkins Medicine

MedlinePlus

Arthritis Foundation

University of Rochester Medical Center

Harvard Health

Drugs.com

American Academy of Pediatrics

Penn State Medical Center

National Institutes of Health

Columbia University Department of Rehabilitation

ScienceDirect

Stanford Health Care

Illinois Bone and Joint Institute

Mount Sinai Hospital

Institute for Chronic Pain

University of Florida Health

American Family Physician

Cedars-Sinai

University of Maryland Medical Center

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Thank you for your response. It sounds like a good plan to me. He did not cut the wart out first ...

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painful foot from broken leg

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