Printable View
after only riding for about 15-20 rides, i took a wrong line on a climb and a root took me out. i fell back and down about 8 feet. broke my radius in a jagged form all the way across and across the ulna too. no surgery since everything is sitting right in place, but a cast up past my elbow. time to sell my cannon dale lexi since i won't be riding her for 8 weeks and can get the trek lush with the correct stand over for my size! suggestions on coming back after a broken bone?
owie! Good healing to you!
I dislocated my elbow a few years back and spent a few months griping about it here:
http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...ght=dislocated
I broke my wrist in a similiar accident as yours. I was in a cast for 8 weeks. It was in the summer and hot and humid. I found that putting an ice pack on the cast kept the itching and irritation down. My ortho was very concerned about the bone healing correctly because of the location. He thought improper healing would cause arthritis. Apparently the bone healed correctly because I've had no problems with it.
I lost a lot of strength in my hand due to the way the cast was fitted. When the cast came off my ortho did not prescribe pt but showed me some exercises to help regain my strength. I also worked with an exercise physiologist/rehab person at my gym. As I recall, it took about 4-6 weeks after the cast came off to be able to ride my bike again but by that time bicycling season was over with. By the next summer I didn't even know I had broken a bone.
IMHO, it was the easiest injury to get over. Knee and shoulder injuries are much worse.
Oh gosh! Heal up quick!
It sounds like the root stalled you and you fell back? I hit a root once that sent me over the bars but I somehow managed to remember to tuck in my arms and I ended up landing on my shoulder, knocked the wind out of me with my elbow.
I had done the broken wrist bit at 7 years old, falling off the rings at school, and wore a plaster cast up to the shoulder through the peak of summer. Pencils. Yes pencils were my best friend; to quell the itches I jammed pencils in the thumb hole. It was a horrid summer!
Do you feel the bike being too big played a role? *sigh* If you don't feel right or in control, maybe you should rethink the bike- hope you have a good LBS that can assist. But for now, just let it heal and listen to the doc. When you are ready to pt he should get you pointed in the right direction.
Ouch! I hope you heal quickly and can get back to biking soon. :)
Yikes! I hope it doesn't take too long to heal. I recently gave myself whiplash the same way - hitting a root at the wrong angle and going too slow. Thankfully, at least so far, I've been able to keep hold of the bars when I've fallen and allowed the side of my body to take the brunt of my falls on the trail.
Owie :eek: Hope you get to feeling better soon!
Eat adequate protein and take your calcium supplements. Have someone put aero bars on a bike in a trainer, so you can ride the trainer - hope for bad weather so that all your friends are on trainers indoors too so you don't feel so bad for yourself, lift weights with your uninjured arm - this will maintain overall fitness, even for your injured arm. Avoid anything that require balance and could risk losing balance - like stability ball or hiking. You can still do stuff like squats, stationary recumbent bike at gym, walking. there are waterproof cast covers that you can buy so you could swim (can't recall the brand) my ortho offers water-resistant casts too for an extra charge. get your fingernails painted so well-meaning friends stop telling you that you should. I think those are all my tips. tokie
Be patient with your recovery time. It is what it is, and you can't rush it. At least it sounds like you have a new bike to look forward to! :)
#1 (speaking as a 50 yr old still riding after many injuries- 2 car wrecks-not me driving lol)
DO YOUR PT!!!!!!! Whatever the sports med physical therapist says you need to do to strengthen whatever to be in the game- do it! It is the only way to keep playing (: