|
Hi, my 90 year old mother fell last week and fractured her knee cap. Even more unfortunate it came only days after she had the cast removed from her right arm for a broken wrist. We had it xrayed and ended up at the orthopedist office. I wasn't overly impressed with his abilities. Her primary doctor whom she had seen earlier had told us that the orthopidiest would drain the knee and that should relieve some of the pain. It seemed to me that he was finishing up with his work and hadn't drained the knee so I mentioned it to him. He agreed that it "might" help and proceeded to drain it. Mom's pain level immediatly droped significantly. My main concern though isn't the pain, it is the brace that she was given. The woman assisting seemed to be unfamilar with fitting a brace. It was the lunch hour so the person who normaly works with the braces may have been out. Any how, they gave her a brace that was (in my opinnion) too large for her. The brace is one that has metal bars with a flex joint in the middle. I think the body is neoprime with velcro and straps. The flex joint is locked to keep her leg straight. My question is, isn't there something else that would be more comfortable for her? And how do you know if it fits? I would think it would be rather obvious. I learned from her arm cast that with someone in her delicate condition that ease of movement and use is everything. This brace that she has now is akward, cumbersom and difficult to put on. How much restriction of movement is required? The patella did not require surgery and although split seemes to be intact. Can she have a brace that lets her flex slightly or does the leg need to be rigid? If she can move her leg somewhat it makes a big difference in her ability to get around. H Thanks.
|
