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overuse of heat therapy to ankle

My son has a mild contusion to the posterior talus and has been using a heating pad two to three times a day. My concern is that he has been using it on high for 15 minutes each time and may have exacerbated or caused further tissue injury. The physician felt this should have healed as only “subtle edema” showed on the MRI and it has been nine weeks there was no ligament injury. He used the heating pad for ten or eleven days in conjunction with a cam walker, which he is still wearing, but remained tender instead of getting better.
I suspected the heat and discontinued.
It has been three days off and he is better but still feels a twinge when he gets up in the morning and takes a few steps before putting on the cam walker. Could we have caused more damage to the contused bone, the surrounding tissue, etc, and is there anything I can do? He will be seeing a pediatric orthopedist on Monday.


1 Comment found

    May PT

    9 10

    ICE FOR SWELLING…HEAT ONLY MAKES IT WORSE!!!! Heat open up capillaries bring in more fluids and blood to the area…if you have edema and apply heat…guess what? You will only increase that edema. Use ice.

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