tetonrider

ovoleg...not saying our injuries compare, but if you are (or anyone else is) interested in some things that have been successful for me in reducing inflammation, which i believe promotes pain-free range of motion, i'd be happy to help.

today was 2 weeks post-op and i was out riding 40' of tempo yesterday and did a 2h ride today (easy, but still).

i'm about as skeptical as they come, but i've had some success with acupuncture, cupping and scraping with some injuries.

hope you are doing well with recovery.

tetonrider

i think i got back to those who PMed me.

i am about as skeptical as they come when it comes to these types of treatments, and to be perfectly honest i don't put too much stock in the acupuncture portion, but the cupping has seemed to be effective for me in reducing inflammation related to soft-tissue injuries (esp back and neck issues related to getting hit by a car). the scraping was effective for breaking up scar tissue (but so is regular massage, and any step taken early is more key than what the particular step is). all of it is done to increase functional ROM...in some ways a variation of massage.

basically, the above provide blood flow, and they have been an effective compliment to western medicine. in my case, the treatments are also incredibly inexpensive ($15). i have had some injuries that haven't responded and others that have (perhaps it is random says my inner skeptic), but in conjunction with western surgery + drugs, healthy diet, PT, and massage it has helped me to come back quickly from some serious injuries. i only have one body so i can't go back in time and re-test without the treatments, so it is mostly based on what i've felt before and after the treatments and for injuries where i have done it vs those for which i did not.

anyway, for people who are looking for something to integrate into their rehab, it may be worth investigating and drawing your own conclusion.

[the car incident is where it helped me the most. beforehand, i was able to ride up to 9h at a time without a break and up to 45h in a week...then suddenly i was riding with pain after 1-2h easy rides for months post accident (whiplash/lower back injuries are harsh). i did a few sessions 2 months post injury, and it was helpful for me to get over a little hump--to reduce inflammation and/or calm down some sensitivity that enabled me to push a little further in my rehab exercises. resting wasn't helping, nor was riding normally...nor was PT on its own.]

tetonrider

ovoleg...no updates from you in the past 2 weeks. how are you doing?

tomorrow is 3 weeks for me. i woke up today and was walking for a while without a limp. it was shocking because i had a tough weekend (was just constantly tired...guess bone growth takes some energy). i've been walking (with a ski pole or crutch) 2 miles a day and cycling, on top of the core work.

did the same workout 3 times in the last 8 days -- 40" on and 20" off for an hour -- and each one was 20W harder than the last. the 40" is upper threshold/vo2.

something in recovery is working. the most painful things for me now are my knee, shin and ankle. it's not much of a surprise as my gait has changed. being on the bike feels better than anything else.

hope you are coming along and hope that you are able to use all the tools available to assist in your recovery. i'm rooting for you.

ovoleg

Hey man. It's been about almost 7 weeks now, I'm still on crutches. I was suppose to see the doctor this week but didn't reallize it was just the Physician Assistant(PA). I didn't like him the last time I saw him so I opted to wait another 5 days and see the actual doc. I have my appointment next Tues. Hopefully at that point he'll clear me to put some weight on the leg assuming everything is going well. The PA felt like he was rushing me when I was last at his office so I really got a bad vibe. He kept telling me everything will be fine and just told me outline, I just didn't get a good feeling overall.

I was doing 50W spinning around week 2 but gave up after a week. Pointless. The only thing it would of helped me was improving my range of motion and right now I seem to have 100% range of motion according to the PT. I stopped going to the PT after 2 weeks also, pointless again because I can't put weight and the only thing they are allowed to do right now is give me massages and improve range of motion, but since I have 100% range, again nothing they could do.

I'll start doing PT on Tuesday afternoon(again if all goes well with the doc). At that point as I understand it, it'll be progressively increasing weight every week until I can start walking again which will probably happen in 2-3 weeks?

As far as pain goes, it doesnt hurt throughout the day unless I sit in one spot for too long. At night sometimes it bothers me but not too much. Sleeping on the injured leg still feels awkard, it doesnt hurt but it feels strange and I can feel some hardware.

I had to stop reading the forums, facebook and other team events. It was just turning into a huge downer and I'd get depressed...I'm looking forward to doing rehab and being able to walk again.

7 weeks on crutches is...um...yeah...

rbart4506

Keep staying positive, you'll get there!

shovelhd

Glad to hear both of you are coming along. If you are doing PT, right now that is your training. Hit it with the same vigor as your training workouts. You are competing with yourself in order to get better.

beatlebee 

Keep your head up Ovo!

ovoleg

Started walking this morning, first time in 7 weeks. Rough. Gimping for sure. Sometimes I get up and I can walk about 50% fine, other times its more like 25%. Walking with 1 crutch which is what my PT recommends.

Hopped on the bike for the first time in about 5 weeks. Held 130 W avg which was moderately hard. NOthing hurt but the cardio pretty much disappeared so my HR was fairly high and I was sweating. PT told me not to go overboard but to push a little.

I am on 100% weight bearing now. No running, no jumping, no biking outside, aka nothing that can potentially result in me inducing anything very high intensity.

Doc says things look good for the most part and he is optimistic about the outcome, says I have about a 10% chance of developing AVN but he thinks I shouldn't worry about it because if it happens then it happens, and the tests I'll be doing for the next year or so should detect it. Apparently I really lucked out because my fracture wasn't displaced, which he says is a very good thing.

Taking it one step at a time...I'm fatter now, but also a little greatful to be alive and now sorta "walking".

You won't believe how much of a smile I had when I first walked down the hallway without crutches...

Ygduf

I didn't start biking until I was 28. You'll be fine. Get your leg healed and start up and you'll still be way ahead of the curve.

And congrats on the walking! I didn't realize your break was such a serious thing. I hope you're recovery continues to go well and you rejoin us soon!

furiousferret

This place is boring without you ovo!

On a positive, you'll be able to carry me in the 4's next year!

revchuck 

ovoleg - Great news! FWIW, I gained weight when I was off the bike, but it's coming off - slowly - since I've been riding again.

waterrockets 

Sounds like great progress ovoleg. Just keep pushing a little bit from below your prescribed limits, don't overcook anything, and you'll be seeing huge gains very soon.

JohnKScott

It's good to hear that progress is being made. Keep it up! OH and 130 watts. That's my 65% FTP number right now. That sound pretty impressive to me!

mattm

@ovoleg glad to hear things are coming along about the best they can be.

Congrats on those first steps without crutches!

happybday29475

Ovo I hope things are continuing to improve...

Did you know that Tilford broke his hip? He blogs about it...
Broken Hip and Pelvis, but it could be Worse | Steve Tilford

You have good company, you should introduce yourself to him.

ovoleg

Foot pain almost completely gone. Now getting some odd pain in the hip/quad area. PT trying to get to the root cause. Walking up stairs is rough, walking down not so bad. I walk with a limp, and pretty slow. The faster I walk the more limpy I walk. Hrm.

I'm able to at least hold 130W on the trainer with some 1min intervals of 200W. Mostly cardio has disappeared. I would love to ride outside but it doesn't feel like I"m anywhere near that at this point. Standing on the pedals and spinning is impossible, hurts the quad/hip area. Just doing my daily dose of PT, 20mins of what used to be Z1 and now feels like Z2 and taking it easy.

Weight has increased but I'm not too concerned, I'll lose it once I can ride outside and return to normal life.

3 more weeks of PT and rehab until I see my doctor. At that point he'll look at X-rays again and either A) clear me to full activity, B) tell me I need to cool it.

revchuck 

ovoleg - Sounds like you're progressing well!

ovoleg

thanks man, trying. This is one hell of an injury, I'm now at 9 weeks since the accident and still can't ride outside :/

I wish I broke my collarbone instead lol

tetonrider

are you using a cane/pole/crutch? i suggest considering it until you can walk without a limp. think of it as a tool to help you avoid learning to limp. walk as slow as necessary to maintain a normal gait. if you start to ingrain that limp into muscle memory it is one more thing to unlearn.

are you full weight-bearing? if so, i also suggest you consider working with someone (your PT or otherwise) who can really look at your alignment and posture. i had far less time off than you -- just as an example -- and in a brief period of time what my brain thought was 50-50 weighting was more like 70-30. all this has consequences for your hips, back, neck....and as you are experiencing the anatomy of the leg is pretty complicated so pain can get referred to another location.

maybe it sounds hokey but it is really easy to wind up with other issues, in addition to the pain from your primary injury.

[i've said before that every injury is different, but this stuff can have impact. i'm 6 weeks out from the surgery on my femur and was able to run 1.5 miles this week and rode 6h today. it's worth pursuing all options, IMO.]

ovoleg

I'm definitely going to focus on walking slower. Yeah I'm 100% weight bearing w/o a cane/pole/crutch. My PT has been looking at my posture walking and has given me some tips.

My hip/quad aches a lot in the mornings and if I'm sitting for any extended period of time. It also aches in the same spot when I walk up stairs or do any kind of body squats.

I was off of my leg for 7 weeks so definitely a lot longer, but my injury is kind of serious because the break happened at the neck which is crucial for bloodflow/etc. HOpefully the time off will ensure it healed well(crossing my fingers hard)

tetonrider

AVN is no joke. hope you at least considered some of the suggestions you PMed me for, with respect to blood flow.

even though you can walk without a crutch, doing so with a limp can be counter to progress. it's amazing what a quick pole tap here and there can do to preserve the gait. good to hear that your PT is super-mindful of your stride. i found my (im)balance issues popped up not only walking but standing around. in fact, walking around i was very focused but just standing was more subconscious and lead to far worse posture, even when i thought i was balanced. had to retrain my brain.

i've had to go 2 months non-weight-bearing with injuries before so know what that recovery can be like. not fun. glad you are back at it and hope you can keep moving in a positive direction.

beatlebee 

Keep riding the trainer.

mike12

Ovoleg - How's your power coming along (as a % of FTP before the injury). I'm a little below 70% now and thinking it's going to take a while to get back to before injury level.

I'm thinking my cardio is going to come back much quicker than power.

BTW, I still use a cane just to try to get rid of the limp.

tetonrider

what was your specific injury (sorry if you mentioned it earlier and i didn't see the post) and how much time off did you take?

a big variable is how much training you have under your belt; the more you have, the faster you'll get back to previously-attained levels.

i can tell you with 100% certainty it's possible to ride at 100% levels for 20 minutes at 7 weeks post-op, but that won't be true for everyone. that's taken a ton of hard work, and i also turn over every stone in search of ways to reduce inflammation and increase functional ROM, quickly. the point is there the mechanics of the injury itself may be less of a limiter than the rider's history and what happened in the weeks immediately following the injury.

tetonrider

also, you may find some elements of power come back quicker than others, but if you've been there before you'll get there again.

the cane is an excellent tool if you've got any hint of limp without it. don't want to ingrain a limp into muscle memory.