[profro]

Okay, I crashed in pratice at the last Windrock race and broke my humerus (non-displaced fracture) underneath my rotator cuff. I didn't know it at the time, but I went on to race and win the Expert Master's class. I have been on the mend for two weeks now and at the doc's orders I haven't done anything more than use a trainer every other day. He expects the bone to heal by 6 weeks and then wants me to start physical therapy to last for another several weeks. I assume that while in PT I won't have the doc's permission to DH again (as if he knows what it is). So my question is...Is PT that important for someone in decent shape to begin with? I have never been in PT, but I walked by it on the way to get my MRI and it seemed to full of old, over-weight couch potatoes. I have been impressed with the amount of movement I have gotten back in two weeks and I expect that by 6 weeks I should be back in business minus the loss of strength from not using my arm for 6 weeks.

I am trying to get back and race the final Windrock race of the year. I will have missed 4 DH races by then and I really want to salvage the season in the series final. I know I will know much more about my situation by then, but how strictly should I follow thre doc's orders? What have been your experiences?

 

[dan-o]

If you've been referred to PT definately go and follow their exercises as instructed. All it will do is speed up your recovery and improve the end result of your healing. Yes, most PT places are full of fat asses recovering from a sprained finger but you can find a more athletic oriented location if you want, your doctors recommendation just clear the way for insurance to pick up the tab. He can't force you to go to a specific PT clinic (ie. one in his building etc) Be very clear with the PT about your goals when you start, too. There's no reason you can't ride during PT but your body will ultimately tell you when its ready.

 

[Rik]

I know from 2xknee recons, that the doctor always knows right, and that risking worsening any injuries just to ride in the short term will come back to bite in the long term.

 

[Matt D]

Quite a few of my friends have gotten major surgeries (knee, elbow, shoulder etc) and doing the prescribed PT has brought them back to 100% quicker than expected. I highly recommend it.

Remember that all professional athletes and serious collegiate athletes to PT whenever something goes awry; not just geezers and fatsos.

 

[profro]

If you've been referred to PT definately go and follow their exercises as instructed. All it will do is speed up your recovery and improve the end result of your healing. Yes, most PT places are full of fat asses recovering from a sprained finger but you can find a more athletic oriented location if you want, your doctors recommendation just clear the way for insurance to pick up the tab. He can't force you to go to a specific PT clinic (ie. one in his building etc) Be very clear with the PT about your goals when you start, too. There's no reason you can't ride during PT but your body will ultimately tell you when its ready.

Thats the kind of feed back I was looking for. I know my shoulder will tell me what is enough and for the time being I have written off DH until 6 full weeks and even then I'm not sure I want to risk it. Because if I don't have all my strength then I know I just end up crashing a lot and possibly reinjurying it. I have hope though because I didn't have any muscle or tendon damage just the fracture underneath the rotator cuff. I am excersing my hurt arm as per the doc's instructions to keep it as strong as possible during recovery.

How did Fabien Barel dislocate his shoulder and get second at the Worlds ten weeks later?

 

[bpatterson6]

Trust the Doc. If he wants you to go to PT. Do it.
I have broken many bones and Tore many Ligaments & PT is always a good tool of rapid healing. I have done both with and without. Trust me. Your body will thank you later on in life for doing it.

 

[Jm_]

hell yeah it's worth it.

I tore a ligament and the meniscus in my knee. Physical therapy was key to recovering as fast and as strong as possible. They do good work. Nothing happens overnight of course, but Physical Therapy is great...

 

[Jimmy_Pop]

Okay, I crashed in pratice at the last Windrock race and broke my humerus (non-displaced fracture) underneath my rotator cuff. I didn't know it at the time, but I went on to race and win the Expert Master's class. I have been on the mend for two weeks now and at the doc's orders I haven't done anything more than use a trainer every other day. He expects the bone to heal by 6 weeks and then wants me to start physical therapy to last for another several weeks. I assume that while in PT I won't have the doc's permission to DH again (as if he knows what it is). So my question is...Is PT that important for someone in decent shape to begin with? I have never been in PT, but I walked by it on the way to get my MRI and it seemed to full of old, over-weight couch potatoes. I have been impressed with the amount of movement I have gotten back in two weeks and I expect that by 6 weeks I should be back in business minus the loss of strength from not using my arm for 6 weeks.

I am trying to get back and race the final Windrock race of the year. I will have missed 4 DH races by then and I really want to salvage the season in the series final. I know I will know much more about my situation by then, but how strictly should I follow thre doc's orders? What have been your experiences?

I broke my collarbone 17 days ago. it broke near the tip of the shoulder where the break was held almost exactly in place due to muscle in the area. Was in a sling and discomfort for about 10 days until the bone fused itself back together where it was not floating around/grinding.

Today I have near complete movement and use of my arm. I am waiting the full 6 weeks before any heavy lifting and even then, being careful. Until then, I'm about to start riding on the road for general excercise. At about 8 weeks, I plan on racing DH again.

Until then, if you can wait it out until the bone fuses then start getting back to normal. Hell, just the other day, my arm felt like **** and I was thinking about getting back in the sling. But like my powdered heel from a few years back, I knew the bone was fused so the rest of the pain was probably just general pain and discomfort. And here I am a few days later feeling fine - I'm over the hump.

When you realize and feel that you are over the hump, start getting back to using your arms range of motion - not the muscle necesarily which puts a load on the bones. Look on the internet for PT exercises for your type of break.

Good luck bro! I think that PT is something that you can research alittle and use your own brain and get back to 100%.

joel

 

[biggins]

yes doug go to pt. if you dont you run a risk of a lifetime of pain. my dad had identical surgeries on both knees. he went to PT on one and not the other. the knee he PT'd never gave him a problem again. the one he did not PT has never quit hurting and he had this done 21 years ago.

 

[Brian HCM#1]

Yep what they said.

 

[profro]

As he explained it, the rotator cuff, if used, tries to pull the bone apart and that is what hurts and is why I need to not use my arm for the 6-8 week healing process of the bone. At that time the shoulder will not have been used so much, so PT will help to losen and restrengthen the shoulder muscles. And because of such I had planned on doing PT. But since immobility will be the main reason for the shoulder weakness, I was thinking that I might start riding again before PT is over.

I just keep wondering if trying to race in mid Sept. will be worth it. I am sure the bone will be healed by then, but I KNOW my shoulder strength won't be there. I guess I don't have to make the decision now and I should just heal for another two weeks and see where I am then.

 

[bagtagley]

The real value of PT isn't so much it's ability to help you heal more quickly, but it's ability to help you heal correctly. The excercises they give you help ensure that you won't have problems or be in pain later in life.

 

[Lex]

As he explained it, the rotator cuff, if used, tries to pull the bone apart and that is what hurts and is why I need to not use my arm for the 6-8 week healing process of the bone. At that time the shoulder will not have been used so much, so PT will help to losen and restrengthen the shoulder muscles. And because of such I had planned on doing PT. But since immobility will be the main reason for the shoulder weakness, I was thinking that I might start riding again before PT is over.

I just keep wondering if trying to race in mid Sept. will be worth it. I am sure the bone will be healed by then, but I KNOW my shoulder strength won't be there. I guess I don't have to make the decision now and I should just heal for another two weeks and see where I am then.

I guess the question I would ask is: what does racing (with the potential for reinjury) gain you? Yes it would be nice to end the season with a good result, but wouldn't it be better to just get your shoulder back to 100% and worry about next season.

 

[Jeremy R]

No way.
All you need to do is dance the funky chicken for 3 hours a day,
every day for 6 months. Your wing will be like new, and you will have a ton of fun as well. neaky:

Um, how about No.
Do your rehab!!
You have a choice of coming back and doing one local smocal race, and risk not healing properly, or healing up and coming back next year strong for all the races.
I say if you are going to push it at all, do the PT and if you are able to, race the last race, but either way, do the rehab.

 

[profro]

Yeah, we'll see. I am pretty sure I can win my class given what happend at the last race even if I am not 100%. My class is full of old geazers. That is unless Wyatt returns to the Expert Masters.


I hate not riding.

 

[bizutch]

bro, having been the recipient of numerous PT visits, I'll speak on this:
1. ACL....atrophy is a gruesome thing to overcome with a PT to walk you through exercises you woul d never ever know to do.
2. 3rd Degree Separated Shoulder - major PT to get everything back together right since no surgery could be done to repair it. (With it, my shoulder is almost fully recovered-without it I would have done a lot of damage doing simple stuff) The PT taught me a ton of what to do/not to do!
3. Torn Ulnar collateral ligament in my thumb. Could have never built the strentgh back up without hte use of all the freaky little gadgets and puttys (soft, softer, softest)!
4. Fractured Scaphoid in my wrist - PT made sure that I didn't lose my range of motion. Met a guy who didn't do his PT and he could barely bend his wrist any any direction...sad!

As for Barel...I think he did what I did which was a separation. With a separation you can have force upward from the bars and itdoesn't hurt that bad...but if you pull up on the handlebars, it's like a fat lady ripped your arm off. Plus healing time is 6-10 weeks on a separation.

Basicly, what will happen is, you'll go to the PT a few times and if they're worth a snot, they'll let you go after 2-3 sessions when they know you're doing oyur exercises right and give you a workout schedule to progress through. My guess is that you will be able to race. Keep spinning on the wind trainer b/c it will rapidly increase your circulation and healing time. 6 weeks on a broken bone is for the average sedentary person. You can accelerate the healing by keeping an accelerated metabolism

 

[profro]

Butch, That is basically what I have been thinking. Keep drinking milk (which I love anyway), keep the circulation up with the trainer and the approved exercises and I hope that by PT time I'll be way ahead of the game.

I can pull with my arms and push, it just hurts to get it over my head. I am thinking of getting a soft ball or puddy to work with my hand to keep my hand muscles strong.

 

[marlopez]

yep go.
im doing PT right now and its helping a lot.

 

[bizutch]

Butch, That is basically what I have been thinking. Keep drinking milk (which I love anyway), keep the circulation up with the trainer and the approved exercises and I hope that by PT time I'll be way ahead of the game.

I can pull with my arms and push, it just hurts to get it over my head. I am thinking of getting a soft ball or puddy to work with my hand to keep my hand muscles strong.

or just break out with some wicked booty massage on the little lady's lower half.

You'll get an excellent strength workout....you may then seek a reward for your efforts by participating in a tantric release of energy I like to refer to as "knockin' boots!".

 

[profro]

Riiiiiiiiiggggggghhhhhhhhhttt.

 

[profro]

What part of love vid?

Don't get me wrong. I'm going to PT. What I really meant was should I go back to riding before PT is over when I feel up to it?

 

[dante]

What part of love vid?

Don't get me wrong. I'm going to PT. What I really meant was should I go back to riding before PT is over when I feel up to it?

ask your PT. mine had me back to riding within a couple weeks of my shoulder operation, basically with the advice of "if it doesn't hurt, it's fine". Was probably 6 weeks before my doc gave me the ok, but he wasn't working out with me 3 days a week. LIsten to your PT, or ask both your PT and doc and see who comes up with a shorter rest time. I LOVED my PT. :love:

 

[profro]

When I get there I hope to be riding (light XC) already. I don't go back to see the doc until August 31st. By that time it will have been 6 weeks since the injury and if I don't have any pain I am going to start light, very short XC rides to see how things feel. If things go as well as in tha last two weeks, then I hope to accelerate things quickly with the help of the PT.

Dante, what was the nature of your shoulder injury?

 

[dante]

When I get there I hope to be riding (light XC) already. I don't go back to see the doc until August 31st. By that time it will have been 6 weeks since the injury and if I don't have any pain I am going to start light, very short XC rides to see how things feel. If things go as well as in tha last two weeks, then I hope to accelerate things quickly with the help of the PT.

Dante, what was the nature of your shoulder injury?

torn Labrum, some type of ligament that goes over the whole shoulder to keep it in place. originally tore it like 3 years ago, crashed hard but didn't go see the doc. over the next 2 years the pain would come and go, nothing for a month or two and then I'd strain it and it would HURT. Couldn't do exercises to strengthen it, either, push-ups made a horrible clicking noise (and horrible pain), so I just lived with it. Then my gf made me go to the doc after a ride where I strained it, again, and MRI said I needed surgery (tear was 2 o'clock to 6 o'clock). Sucked, but at least got to pick my own surgery time...

Surgery went well, almost *no* pain, was riding again in probably 2 weeks. Doc said 2 months from surgery, PT said 2 weeks. Like I said, I love my PT. Did PT for probably 2 months, and left stronger than when I went under the knife. Both arms got stronger, too.

No pain now, am riding/racing and still shoulder is fine.

 

[profro]

Well, its been 4 weeks and 5 days since my injury and I'm back to riding. Since my brake didn't require a cast (proximal fracture of the humerus), I don't have it to restrict my activity. My MRI was negative for ANY muscle or tendon damage, so after 4 weeks I decided to start riding again. I had been riding the trainer every other day, so my conditioning was fine, but my balance and comfort was sketchy at first. I rode light, very light XC last Saturday and Sunday for about 1 hr each. Then last Tuesday I rode at the MTNx course for a few mintues followed by a longer XC ride. Then Wed. and Thursday of this week I rode back at the MTNx. I am jumping again, but not taking any chances. I don't want to go down on my arm just yet.

I found a bunch of PT exercises for my type of injury and I have been doing them regularly and I can tell a huge difference. I haven't gone back to my doc for the final follow-up nor have I been to official PT yet, but I researched a lot online and most sites said I could start PT by the 4th week, so I did. Not once has my arm yet to improve from day to day, so I keep going forward. I told my wife lastnight that my arm has gone from a good feeling broken arm, to a bad feeling good arm. So I consider everything okay. I am going to try some light DH this weekend. Maybe one or two runs to get back into the swing of things.

 

[DH Dad]

I too have been through multiple shoulder injuries and have found that PT and continued PT done on your own are the only solution if you want to keep doing everything you want to.

I tore my Rotator Cuff on my right shoulder 11 years ago. At the time I didn't bike all that much but was competing in power lifting competitions, my bench press went down about 250 lbs. and I had to give up competing which ended up being a great thing since it's what spawned my interest in Mountain Biking. I went several years going through PT until the shoulder felt better then going back to lifting/throwing (football, softball...) only to end up where I started. Then I started doing the rotator cuff excercises daily for about 3 years and was able to have full use of my shoulder from that point on. When I got to about 32/33 I felt I was overdoing the excercises (body needs and can handle less as you age) so I now do them 2-3 times a week religiously now.

I separated this same should two years ago and the fact that my rotator muscles are so strong and resilient now I was able to recover and ride within 2 months plus I picked up two new shoulder excercises as a result of that PT (stabilization excercises).

I'm a firm believer in PT and not just for the recovery period but to a certain degree working it into your lifestyle to prolong the ability to keep doing the things you like. For me it's not that hard since I've been a religious gym person for 20 years now and vacations/sickness is the only thing that stops me. I've got friends who do that 3 month stint to get in shape then stop for 6, I'd imagine it'd be more difficult for someone with this attitude towards working out to commit to a lifetime of PT.