Leading with the good leg
My mother is in therapy for a fractured left femur.
Her physical therapy asst. has her walking with a walker, but she (my mother)leads with her left leg.
Should she be leading with her good leg?
I asked her therapist and she said it was OK for my mother to use her left leg, providing she doesn’t exert more than 10 percent of her weight.
The problem is, two weeks after the cast was removed, her leg is still very swollen and I am concerned that the pounding her leg receives from leading with that bad leg is wrong.
1 Comment found
May PT
The PTA is right…lead with the affected side first so you can load your arms and take 80% of the force off the foot when stepping with the good side. The swelling is because, one, she wore a cast, and 2 she was unable to put more that 10% of her body weight on her foot. The calf acts as a muscle pump that pumps fluids out of the leg up to the heart. This pump was not working properly for your mom because she was not able to walk normally. If the swelling persists she may need to see a lymphedema certified therapist. They can help manually move the fluids and maybe even apply some very light compression that will also help move the fluids out of her leg. BUT, this must be done by someone that is certified. Good luck.