Broken bone recovery and diet

[Merkin Weaver]

Hi Jordan thanks for all the great info in the forum.

Male:35

I have a two part question.
So... I broke my 5th Metatarsal in my right foot. I also have developed Dvt in the right calf. Are there any dietary modifications I can make to recover faster and promote bone union?
Supplements I can take?

In the mean time I would like to continue upper body training since I won't be squatting or deadlifting for a while. I don't want everything to totally detrain. Is there any evidence that lifting with Dvt is dangerous? I have not seen anything conclusive one way or the other.

Thanks for your time.

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

Merkin,

Sorry to hear about your injury and complication. AFAIK, no supplement or dietary change would make a person in your demographic have faster healing.

Additionally, I don't know of any data suggesting lifting makes DVT formation more likely or, similarly, that things like progression to emboli or PE are increased either.

Sorry man, I just don't know.

[I_iz_a_fatass]

The advice I got from a visiting nurse is higher-than-normal vitamin C and higher protein help to gain more complete healing but don't speed the process. My experience was trauma repair can be very calorie-hungry - I went from 1900 a day to 3000 to stop LOSING weight when I was mending from open heart. Healing, like muscle building, requires fuel.

[Jordan Feigenbaum]

The advice I got from a visiting nurse is higher-than-normal vitamin C and higher protein help to gain more complete healing but don't speed the process. My experience was trauma repair can be very calorie-hungry - I went from 1900 a day to 3000 to stop LOSING weight when I was mending from open heart. Healing, like muscle building, requires fuel.

Yes, BMR and protein turnover increase with trauma but the vitamin C thing is not true in this population. I would assume this guy is eating enough cals and high enough protein given this is a strength board but I may assume too much also. Good points.

[Merkin Weaver]

Thanks for the responses guys.

I also was wondering if increased protein could help the healing process. Makes sense to me in the case of heart recovery being that is a muscle. Probably not so much with bones would be my guess.

They had me on Coumadin but switched me over to xarelto for the Dvt. I plan to continue upper body training and maybe something for "core" or lower body that doesn't require me to put weight on the effected foot. I'm thinking leg extensions or something. Ortho told me I could do that but this was before I had the Dvt. I will run it by my GP.

Yes I am definitely eating enough calories(I'm 225 ish @5'7) but my protein is low usually I know that. Have not been actively trying to keep it optimal lately.

Funny side note GP that I saw didn't believe that I was really 225. He said "ohhh you don't look heavy" in his thick Chinese accent.

[pgx]

Just chiming in to give my experience, in case it is of any value to you, Merkin.

I had a Jones fracture Spring 2015. Treatment included six weeks with a bone stimulator and no weight bearing on the foot. I resumed normal activity right away but pain continued in the fifth metatarsal. Over the course of several weeks it subsided, but in Spring of 2016 it re-fractured, though it wasn't as severe as the first time. I opted not to have a screw inserted, and maintained no weight bearing with a boot for five weeks. After those five weeks there was no pain and the foot felt strong and stable. In my situation, the lack of activity in both cases resulted in weight gain.

If you have any questions for me, feel free to pm. I hope your recovery goes smoothly.

[MattBraunstein]

You may want to do a forum search. I recall a discussion in Rip's forum between pluripotent, Sullivan and maybe another doc discussing lifting risks with DVT. I don't recall the conclusion they came to though. The thread was around November or December of last year.