It takes about 3 to 6 months to walk with full weight bearing after a distal tibia fracture.
When the fracture is about 1 month old, the bone scab can be seen and the cast can be removed if the fracture is stable. Then crutches, so that the affected limb gradually weight-bearing, and gradually carry out functional exercises. Generally, in 3~6 months after the injury, it can be basically restored to the pre-injury walking status.
The recovery time of distal tibia fracture mainly depends on the degree of displacement and comminution of the fracture. Patients can be treated with external fixation in a plaster cast, while some patients need incision and reduction, internal fixation with steel nails, or intramedullary nailing, and so on.
Due to the special characteristics of this part of the distal tibia, if the patient’s nutritional status is not good or if the patient suffers a second injury, the healing time of the fracture will be prolonged accordingly, or even non-healing. In this case, another operation is needed, and if this happens, the healing time will be a little longer.