Originally Posted by
rachel120
For the OP -
Are you crazy for wanting to get back on a bike? No. Biking is fun. (This is being said by a person who hates every form of exercise.)
Are you crazy for wanting to get back on a bike so soon? Oh heck yeah, your papers certifying you as crazy are likely already en route in the mail. I can testify to the fact that pushing yourself after injury will make the healing process slow to a crawl and can create chronic issues that wouldn't exist if you just sat on your butt and rested. Plus, people are not made out of a cookie cutter and while 6 weeks is a good average, your particular set of bones may need 12 weeks. Or longer.
Well, I’m glad you qualified that by pointing out healing is not a cookie cutter, one size fits all experience. My experience over the last 3 months was exactly the opposite. I did everything ahead of what the conventional wisdom said I should, and I’m really glad I did. I made some people nervous, such as the physical therapist - or even mad at me in the case of my closest family members - but you know, my body, I used pain and mobility as my guide, did what I felt was safe and within my ability, and I trimmed total recovery time by a third. Originally, I was told 12 weeks on crutches and in a leg brace, got rid of both by 8 weeks. 4 weeks with a cast was pretty set in stone - well, fiberglass, but I ditched the follow-up splint entirely in about a week. Both the ortho and hand surgeon seemed happy and impressed with my progress, and I sure was.
And I have some now-funny memories, such as my older sister going home mad after she stopped by to “care for” me - which was her code for “you should sit in a chair for the next 12 weeks with your leg up and watch tv” - which was unrealistic, because I don’t watch tv and don’t sit around under ordinary circumstances. So, 6 days after my accident, I was back on my weekend summer project, a total redo of my landscaping. So, using a combination of a walker and crutches, with a broken leg, broken hand pre-surgery yet, and rotator cuff injury, I was out there cutting out overgrown shrubs, digging out old soil from planting beds, and making trips to Lowes for 2 cu ft bags of soil and mulch, 20 bags at a time, pulling and loading it mostly by myself. And I was out there the next weekend, after surgery to put my hand back together with titanium screws. And the next weekend. And so on.
I wasn’t being cavalier or trying to be macho, I was just doing, slowly and carefully, what my body told me was ok. And I think that, by keeping moving, working my muscles, moving my joints, it really sped my recovery.
Bottom line, OP, listen to your body. Do what feels doable as long as it feels safe. But don’t feel like you have to do something - or avoid doing something - just because of what “they” say.