Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks
Twenty years ago my husband, Mark, broke his left ankle and was in a cast and on crutches for nearly two months. Last year he broke the other ankle. But this time, after surgery, his doctor surprised us by instructing Mark to walk on it two weeks later. It turns out the standard advice to stay off a broken leg bone for at least six weeks is based less on scientific evidence and more on cultural caution—physicians like to play it safe. But now studies show that complications are no more likely w