Ankle Fracture Treatment – Staying Ahead of the Congestion | Dr. Kelly Starrett
Part One of Two
Dr. Kelly Starrett, DPT, of The Ready State sits down with his daughter Caroline to explain how she stayed ahead of the swelling and congestion using H-Wave after her ankle fracture.
Caroline experienced an acute ankle fracture, which needed a split and then a boot in order to stabilize the ankle bone while it began to heal.
Kelly points out that one of the difficulties of treating a significant lower leg trauma like an ankle fracture is that it’s always “down in gravity”, aka below the heart all day long. So injuries to the foot and ankle may have a harder time healing compared to other body parts since it’s harder to clear out congestion from that lower region.
So how do you handle post-surgical swelling in such a congested area? By utilizing tools such as H-Wave. Since H-Wave doesn’t have harmful side effects and it’s comfortable to use, Caroline was able to get the non-fatiguing muscle contractions from the H-Wave to increase circulation and flush out waste during her “down time” such as: while she slept at night or rested during the day with her leg elevated.
Since she had the split on, she couldn’t access her ankle directly, so she’s placed the electrode pads regionally on her thigh and calf and sometimes close to knee cap. This was how she was able to manage her day-to-day swelling after her ankle fracture – by getting a strong pumping action which increased circulation (good groceries IN) and flushed out waste and congestion (garbage OUT).
After surgery, while immobilizing the immediate area of trauma, the most important thing is to stay ahead of the congestion. You can do this through “movement without motion” utilizing the H-Wave. By adding non-threatening input into the system using H-Wave, Dr. Starrett was able to help his daughter stay ahead of the congestion and set her up for a maximum healing response after her ankle fracture.
Watch the 4-minute video here:
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