The Doc Spot: Injury report for season opener

By Chris Williams, CycloneFanatic.com Publisher

It’s new feature time fanatics.

I think that you’ll all this informative blog for the rest of the 2011 Iowa State football season, courtesy of the Iowa Clinic.

It’s the "Doc Spot."

Every week, I’ll send a series of questions to the Iowa Clinic and their experts in the field will answer questions about the status of your favorite Cyclones. Let’s get started with some analysis of wide receiver Darius Reynolds’ broken toe.

CF: Wide receiver Darius Reynolds broke his toe on Thursday, Aug. 18. He’s been in a cast ever sense. How long does it take for an athlete to fully recover from a broken toe? Any chance that he’ll be 100 percent on Saturday?

Dr: Eric Barp (foot & ankle surgeon) says:

"Darius will not likely be 100 percent on Saturday.  It typically will take a good month for a toe fracture to heal but modifications can be made to his shoe to stabilize the fracture allowing him to play sparingly and if needed in certain game time situations."

CF: All Big 12 linebacker Jake Knott broke the ulna bone in his right arm last April. Since then, the coaches have been taking it easy on him during fall camp. Are they coaches being precautionary? What are the chances that he’ll re-injure that arm?

Des Moines Orthopaedic Surgeon, Dr. Nicholas Honkamp says:

“Although most fractures undergo significant healing in the first 6-8 weeks after injury, the bone can often take up to 6 months to fully heal. In addition, the muscles in the forearm also become weak due to the injury and lack of full activity while the bone  is healing. So the coaches are likely being a bit precautionary but are also easing him back into practice to allow his arm to fully strengthen back up.  Once the bone fully heals on x-ray, he should not be at any higher risk for re-fracture.”