When my older son visited the orthopedic surgeon on day five after his injury (the first time they would see him) he was placed in a removable boot cast for three weeks.
The boot cast is huge and uncomfortable. It is larger than his foot length so simple walking up stairs and moving around is clumsy and tricky. He has been tripping and stumbling, which can't be good.
The boot cast is two inches taller than his other leg while in a shoe. My son is walking weird as it is popping back in a terrible way. My son wonders if his knee or hip will go out of alignment. Days later the coach told my son the boot cast wrecked her daughter's hip for months since she had walked out of alignment for so long. Why are orthopedists using boot casts to fix one problem if they create another medical problem?
Also due to the teenage brain, my son is rebelling against the boot cast. We are having daily power struggle battles over him wearing it. He says it hurts, it is uncomfortable, and he wants to go without it. He says his ankle has no pain except when the orthopedist squeezes and pushes on it in certain areas and somehow feels his lack of pain during typical movement means he does not really have any problem that needs fixing. This is the logic of the teenage mind at work.
I am wondering why orthopedists stopped using plaster casts? You can't argue with parents about a plaster cast. You can't slack off with a plaster cast. You can't mis-use a plaster cast. Yes, the casts are heavy and they can itch and feel hot and can even start to smell. You can't swim with them and showering is hard. But at least you won't wreck your knee or hip and there is no fighting with parents every day about compliance.
A friend told me that last month her son also aged 14 was put in a boot cast after hurting his ankle on a trampoline. The boy refused to comply and he went without wearing it. At the two week follow-up he was found to have ligament damage. He is now on restricted movement for six weeks and may need corrective surgery. Would not have using a plaster cast prevented that problem from happening?
Orthopedists you may make a higher profit on selling a $110 piece of durable medical equipment and it may use less of your time but perhaps non-compliant, power-struggling stage teenage boys are not the population to use these on. Also since your Hippocratic oath asks you to "do no harm" have you considered the problems when the boot cast causes knee and hip injuries due to mis-alignment? Just wondering.
The more that kids do sports at young ages and in a more serious manner than when their parents were kids, the more sports injuries kids are getting. We need to seriously look at how kids are being treated by the medical profession and ask if the current fad treatments are always right and best.