http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/3970926.html Yao's recovery progresses Center cleared to remove boot, step up his rehab Rockets center Yao Ming moved to the next step in his comeback from a broken foot and surgery when he was cleared Tuesday to replace his protective boot with regular shoes and to step up his rehabilitation. An examination Tuesday showed the bone now holding a screw is healing ahead of schedule. Yao was cleared to begin running on an underwater treadmill and will return to China within the week. There, he will begin rehabilitation work with personal trainer Anthony Falsone, who has been working with the Chinese national team. "His rehabilitation is on track," Rockets spokesman Nelson Luis said. "The healing process has gone faster than his doctors expected. He is ahead of schedule." Luis said it was too soon to know if Yao would be ready to play for China from Aug. 19 to Sept. 3 in the World Championships in Japan. JONATHAN FEIGEN
It's great that Yao always seems to heal so fast when he's injured. Let's just hope he doesn't rush anything.
To me it doesn't sound like it is Yao rushing anything, it sounds like the doctor's gave him clearance to go to the next step. Heal well, Yao. We need you to be the monster you were after the All-Star game this year.
No doubt in my mind he will be playing for China in the World games at the end of August...and it will be good for Yao to get the rust off there, and be ready for the NBA season in the fall. DD
I just like clicking on threads about Yao's recovery so that I can read all the people pleading for Yao to skip his commitments to the CNT. As DaDa said, we all know he's going to play. Go Yao! Go China!
I didn't realize they put a screw into his foot. From a layman's perspective, that doesn't sound good for Yao's longterm health prospect in his feet. If he can come back playing as well as last season, I'm already excited about next season! Hopefully TMac can stay healthy too.
Putting in a screw to fix a bone fracture is a pretty standard practice. You don't need to worry about the screw gets rusty in Yao's foot or anything like that.
fyi: No such thing as routine surgery. But my point was I didn't realize the break was severe enough that it required a screw. I though it was just a minor hairline thing. Many big men have a history of lower leg problems that cut their career short and I hope we aren't seeing that here. Regarding the screw, any foreign object entering the body is at risk of being rejected and/or getting infected. Metal is particularly prone to getting infected and can lead to superinfections later on. I'm sure Yao gets top notch medicine and they took triple precautions to avoid problems but foreign objects in your body are not optimal. Best case scenario is the fracture is small enough that no screw is necessary.
As I understand it, a screw speeds the recovery process and is standard practice in the kind of fracture Yao has. DD
That is exactly the case. He could have healed without it, but the recovery time would have been far longer, perhaps even into the beginning of next season. http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/brokenbones/g/jones.htm Definition: A Jones fracture is a fracture of the fifth metatarsal of the foot. The fifth metatarsal is at the base of the small toe, and the proximal end, where the Jones fracture occurs, is in the midportion of the foot. Patients who sustain a Jones fracture have pain over this middle/outside area of their foot, swelling, and difficulty walking. Treatment of an acute Jones fracture that is not significantly displaced consists of a cast or walking boot for 6-8 weeks. Patients should not place weight on the foot until instructed by their doctor. Jones fractures can become chronic conditions if the fracture fails to unite. If this is the case, surgery will likely be recommended to secure the fracture in place with a screw. Also Known As: 5th Metatarsal Fracture They used the screw to assure that the fracture united and the bone could heal as quickly as possible.
in my opinion i think this kinda sucks for rockets fans... i want Yao to heal quickly and all but it would be nice for him to be unable to play during the China games so that he has another offseason to rest. think of how much better he was this season after the rest.
They better be careful not to rush Yao, 'cause refracture rate for Jones fracture, even with screw treatment, is pretty high, especially among elite athletes.
Okay we need to hear the story behind this picture. I smell another "Sura Faints" or "Hiya Big Elephant" coming out of this one.
