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Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks

scientificamerican.com

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Re: Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks

#321

Post by yoyohello13 »

ArlenBales wrote: post #236
yoyohello13 wrote: post #188

My main take away from this thread is to never take up mountain biking.

Mountain bikers becoming injured isn't a question of IF, but WHEN. If you have a coworker in their 30s or 40s who is just starting to get into mountain biking (a common midlife crisis hobby), expect them to have a MTB related injury within the next year.

Mountain Biking just seems dangerous in general. I do a lot of trail running, and at this point I feel like my most likely source of injury is from a mountain biker colliding with me.

Re: Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks

#322

Post by stouset »

thoughtpalette wrote: post #296
stouset wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had shoulder surgery last May. My surgeon told me no combat sports (BJJ, judo) for six months minimum. I was 40 at the time. I went back on the mats a week later. Started with only doing warmups and movement drills, worked up to gentle flow rolling (with my arm tied into my belt) at a month, then drilling techniques with well-chosen partners and conservatively rolling with those same partners at two months. This wa…

That's honestly wild to me. I had arthroscopic labrum tear surgery on both my shoulders (1 in 2024, 1 in 2023), and I can't imagine going back to really any range of movement within a week. Even on my solid PT schedule. Glad it worked out for you but I would hesitate to expose yourself to any sort of risk at that stage. For me it took about 4 months to feel pretty comfortable with the shoulder(s) and about 6-12 month…

Mine was similar, labral repair as well as rotator cuff arthroscopy.

I had nearly zero ability to lift the arm under its own power at one week and limited (but good for one week) flexibility. To be clear, I did not engage in any actual drilling or movement of that shoulder in training for perhaps a month. It was in the sling, tightly affixed to my body. I started with one-sided warmup movements and drills and progressed as I felt able.

By a month I was helping newcomers by helping them with some details of techniques. Due to being unable to lift the arm under its own power, I would “crawl” my arm using my fingers where it needed to go to show them. This was with zero actual resistance, but I was at least using the arm: moving it, contracting the muscles, working through scar tissue, and getting blood flowing.

Again, I 100% acknowledge that I exposed myself to greater levels of risk by doing this. I did try to mitigate that risk as best I could, but that never drops it to zero. And while I was pushing things, I was also adapting things day by day to what I realistically felt my capabilities were.

Re: Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks

#323

Post by stouset »

reaperman wrote: post #318
thoughtpalette wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's honestly wild to me. I had arthroscopic labrum tear surgery on both my shoulders (1 in 2024, 1 in 2023), and I can't imagine going back to really any range of movement within a week. Even on my solid PT schedule. Glad it worked out for you but I would hesitate to expose yourself to any sort of risk at that stage. For me it took about 4 months to feel pretty comfortable with the shoulder(s) and about 6-12 month…

Also note that very nearly everyone practicing BJJ past 35 is taking exogenous testosterone. Without additional testosterone, it would be very difficult to sustain the sport due to frequent small injuries - the extra/"replacement" hormones help speed up recovery and actually allow frequent (>1x/week) training sessions. It depends on the details of the surgery, but this may have helped GP heal a bit faster. While test…

I do not take testosterone. I occasionally try to make a habit of taking creatine but other than that and whey protein while weightlifting (another habit I struggle to reliably form) that’s it.

Maybe I’m out of touch but I would be astonished to find that it was even remotely close to “nearly everyone” for recreational hobbyists over 35.

The level of injury is just not as high as you’re suggesting for people who aren’t training to be elite competitors. I’ve had perhaps one “small” injury (muscle pull, joint overextension, etc.) every six months or so, reasonably consistently for the last ~7 years of BJJ / judo which I do three to five days a week, 2-3 hours a day.

Re: Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks

#324

Post by devilbunny »

theultdev wrote: post #317
devilbunny wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Clearly, you have never worked in healthcare. Sleeve tattoos but needs an IV? “Oh, I’m not good with needles, you need to sedate me first.”

How is that relevant?

Perception of pain is highly individual. Like I said, people who have tons of tats will complain about an IV. You aren’t afraid of needles, you just don’t like them when they are used for your health instead of marking up your body.

Re: Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks

#325

Post by flocciput »

criddell wrote: post #300
flocciput wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How old were you?

Great point! A couple of weeks ago I went over the handlebars on my bicycle and broke my collarbone, needed 5 stitches on my forehead, got a little road rash on my hip, and an avulsion (?) fracture on one finger resulting in mallet finger. I'm 54 and have noticed that I'm healing much more slowly than I remember healing when I was a teenager. Mostly, things are going smoothly and the only thing I'm really worried abo…

Yep, something I'm realizing is a lot of guidelines/expectations around how long something will take to heal seem to be based on people in the 30-45 range. In your teens and twenties you might get injured and heal faster than expected and think "huh, must be my genes/technique/etc" when really it's probably just youth. Suuuuucks when you start to realize that superpower of yours is fading.

Re: Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks

#326

Post by thoughtpalette »

stouset wrote: post #322
thoughtpalette wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's honestly wild to me. I had arthroscopic labrum tear surgery on both my shoulders (1 in 2024, 1 in 2023), and I can't imagine going back to really any range of movement within a week. Even on my solid PT schedule. Glad it worked out for you but I would hesitate to expose yourself to any sort of risk at that stage. For me it took about 4 months to feel pretty comfortable with the shoulder(s) and about 6-12 month…

Mine was similar, labral repair as well as rotator cuff arthroscopy. I had nearly zero ability to lift the arm under its own power at one week and limited (but good for one week) flexibility. To be clear, I did not engage in any actual drilling or movement of that shoulder in training for perhaps a month. It was in the sling, tightly affixed to my body. I started with one-sided warmup movements and drills and progres…

Ahhh gotcha. Thanks for the response. That puts it in much better perspective for me.

Re: Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks

#327

Post by rodary »

flocciput wrote: post #285
rodary wrote: post #212

Anecdotal but... Broke my femur neck on a mountain bike. Surgery, plates and screws. Surgeon said no weight on the broken bone for 8 weeks and no walking on it for 12. And then we'll see he said. In 4 weeks I was on a trainer (fork fixed to the trainer). Started easy with 30min sessions and then increased time and force applied to the pedals. After 2 weeks of "riding", started putting weight on the bone with short wa…

How old were you?

43 at the time.

Probably relevant too – systematic endurance training since 12, elite-level racing since 18 (world champion at that point). So not a stranger to all kinds of injury and what works and what doesn't. For me that is.

Re: Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks

#328

Post by flocciput »

rodary wrote: post #327
flocciput wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How old were you?

43 at the time. Probably relevant too – systematic endurance training since 12, elite-level racing since 18 (world champion at that point). So not a stranger to all kinds of injury and what works and what doesn't. For me that is.

Nice! I was gonna say 43 is encouraging to hear, as someone who's worried about how age will affect my proneness to injury/ability to recover, but that's an impressive background and probably a major factor. Guess that's another good reason to stay active.

Re: Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks

#329

Post by Arch-TK »

I was in a cast for 6 weeks. Once they cut me out of it, it was straight into walking.

I wonder now if 6 was a bit long. It has healed fine but its still a bit sore over a year later.

But I also have a metal plate which probably doesn't help the soreness.

Re: Broken legs and ankles heal better if you walk on them within weeks

#330

Post by clumsysmurf »

sethammons wrote: post #157
clumsysmurf wrote: post #2

It was ~20 years ago, so my memory is a little foggy, but I gave myself a "dancer's fracture" in one foot. After many months, it was looking like a non-union. The podiatrist was worried any pin would split the broken bone even more. It wasn't looking good. I had read something along these lines even back then, so with my crazy immobilizer boot on, I head to the gym and started doing light squats several times per wee…

I dropped a few hundred lbs on my foot and got my ballerina's fracture. I like "dancer's" better haha. I went to the gym 4 times a week, every week, even in the boot. Just did mostly sitting exercises. It took 4 or 5 months to start to fuse still. :shrug:

> It took 4 or 5 months to start to fuse still

Yeah it was almost half a year for me. My doctor even started prescribing "non-standard" treatments like electrical stimulation, etc, which didn't work.

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