How long does it take to recover from muscle atrophy after fracture through exercise

Falls and injuries are inevitable in life. Such situations often lead to fractures. Fractures have a great impact on the body, and fractures must be treated as soon as possible without delay. They often cause muscle atrophy. How long will it take for muscle atrophy to recover after a fracture? The recovery time is relatively long, and patients must be patient to avoid causing psychological problems.

A fracture is a break in the integrity and continuity of a bone. Most fractures are caused by trauma, which are called traumatic fractures; others may be caused by bone diseases, including osteomyelitis, bone tumors, and fractures caused by slight external forces, which are called pathological fractures.

Generally speaking, the treatment of fractures includes three basic steps: reduction, fixation, and functional exercise. The fixation of fractures often requires a long period of time, which means that the affected limb will be confined to a certain position and cannot move for weeks, months or even longer. Even before the fracture achieves clinical union, certain activities that may affect fracture healing are still prohibited.

At the same time, due to the pain, some necessary and appropriate exercises cannot be adopted by patients. As a result, the skeletal muscles of the affected limb do not receive sufficient mechanical stimulation, their metabolism is greatly reduced, and disuse atrophy occurs. The atrophy of skeletal muscles in turn limits the recovery of joint limb function. Therefore, while treating fractures, effective measures must be taken to prevent the occurrence of muscle atrophy.

The most effective way to prevent muscle atrophy is to carry out early functional exercises, proceed step by step, and persevere to minimize muscle atrophy. Generally speaking, after the fracture heals, with the improvement of the overall condition and active functional exercise, the atrophied muscles can restore their normal shape and strength. The following are some precautions for early, middle and late stages of fractures:

In the early stage of fracture (within 1-2 weeks after injury), the injured limb is swollen and painful. The main exercise method is muscle relaxation and contraction. In principle, except for the upper and lower joints of the fracture, other joints of the body should be appropriately moved. To exercise the upper limb muscles, you need to clench your fists and flex and extend your fingers repeatedly. Exercises for the lower limb muscles include contracting and relaxing the thigh muscles, curling the ankles and moving the toes, which can help reduce swelling.

In the middle stage of fracture (2 weeks later), the swelling of the injured limb subsides and the local pain gradually disappears. The muscle contraction and relaxation activities should continue, and the upper and lower joints of the fracture should be gradually moved. The movements should be slow, and the range of movement should be from small to large, and the strength and range of movement should be gradually increased. Special attention should be paid to the fact that the joint movement should not be too strenuous. At the same time, you should ask the doctor which activities cannot be done.

In the later stage of fracture (after fracture healing), the main focus is to strengthen the active movement exercises of the joints of the injured limb so that the joints can quickly return to their normal range of motion. Special attention should be paid to strengthening exercises for joints with limited mobility.