Weight bearing
Encyclopedia
In orthopedics
, weight-bearing is the amount of weight
a patient puts on the leg on which surgery has been performed. In general, it is described as a percentage of the body weight, because each leg of a healthy person carries the full body weight when walking, in an alternating fashion.
After surgery of the hip, or of the bones of the leg, ankle, or foot, it is of the utmost importance for recovery to get the right amount of weight-bearing when moving around with crutches or frames.
The grades of weight bearing for each phase of recovery will be determined by the surgeon.
Orthopedics
Orthopedics is the study of the musculoskeletal system. The Greek word 'ortho' means straight or correct and 'pedics' comes from the Greek 'pais' meaning children. For many centuries, orthopedists have been involved in the treatment of crippled children...
, weight-bearing is the amount of weight
Weight
In science and engineering, the weight of an object is the force on the object due to gravity. Its magnitude , often denoted by an italic letter W, is the product of the mass m of the object and the magnitude of the local gravitational acceleration g; thus:...
a patient puts on the leg on which surgery has been performed. In general, it is described as a percentage of the body weight, because each leg of a healthy person carries the full body weight when walking, in an alternating fashion.
After surgery of the hip, or of the bones of the leg, ankle, or foot, it is of the utmost importance for recovery to get the right amount of weight-bearing when moving around with crutches or frames.
The grades of weight bearing for each phase of recovery will be determined by the surgeon.
Grades
- Non-weight-bearing (NWB): The leg must not touch the floor and is not permitted to support any weight at all. The patient may hop on the other leg or use crutchCrutchCrutches are mobility aids used to counter a mobility impairment or an injury that limits walking ability.- Types :There are several different types of crutches:...
es or other devices for mobility. In this grade, 0% of the body weight may be rested on the leg. - Touch-down weight-bearing or Toe-touch weight-bearing: The foot or toes may touch the floor (such as to maintain balance), but not support any weight. Do not place actual weight on your affected leg. Imagine you have an egg under your foot that you are not to crush.
- Partial weight-bearing: A small amount of weight may be supported by the affected leg. The weight may be gradually increased up to 50% of the body weight, which would permit the affected person to stand with his body weight evenly supported by both feet (but not to walk).
- Weight-bearing as tolerated: Usually assigned to people that can support from 50 to 100% of the body weight on the affected leg, the affected person independently chooses the weight supported by the extremity. The amount tolerated may vary according to the circumstances.
- Full weight-bearing: The leg can now carry a 100% of the body weight, which permits normal walking.