Dealing with injury risk

The Reverend

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Don't leave it too long. If it's tendons and ligaments, there's an optimal period for repair you don't want to go past.

Get referred and have an MRI.
A hospital X-ray and Ultrasound showed up nothing on my shoulder, MRI showed it to be reconstruction time with two torn tendons, torn labrum and other damage.
 

ozzybmx

taking a shit with my boobs out
Don't leave it too long. If it's tendons and ligaments, there's an optimal period for repair you don't want to go past.

Get referred and have an MRI.
A hospital X-ray and Ultrasound showed up nothing on my shoulder, MRI showed it to be reconstruction time with two torn tendons, torn labrum and other damage.
Yeah it might not be broken but the impact to joint, bones, muscle ect... can be worse.

My last collarbone was healed in a matter of weeks, the trauma to the surrounding area caused by the impact lasted for ~2 years.

Not good... old man ;)
 

Cardy George

Piercing rural members since 1981
Don't leave it too long. If it's tendons and ligaments, there's an optimal period for repair you don't want to go past.

Get referred and have an MRI.
A hospital X-ray and Ultrasound showed up nothing on my shoulder, MRI showed it to be reconstruction time with two torn tendons, torn labrum and other damage.
The more I think about this, the more queasy I feel.
 

ashes_mtb

Has preferences
So I’m going through that same life choice as you right now.

I broke my ankle back in 2013, that took ages to mend and surgery and I couldn’t walk properly for near on 18 months. I decided to stop riding downhill after that injury and figured all mountain riding is better, safer and all round good for the body.

Over the years since about 2015 I have been riding more and more, And the native bike control was always there (comfortably riding down black and double black / red grade trails) but missing a lot of the a line gap jumps and things as a “if that goes wrong it’s going to end very badly”

Anyway fast forward to the 7th of jan, I was out on my local trails, a blue grade slightly down hill track with 3 small features that I have ridden close to 400 times. I’m going slower than usual “taking it easy” next thing I know I’ve clipped a tree at the second feature, my body’s twisted off the bike, knee has landed on the tree log feature and I roll down the hill in immense pain.

Luckily I had phone reception and the Strava emergency beacon came in to its own! It took the ambos and ses 2 hours to get me out of where I was, and I was in hospital for 15 days. I had a dislocated knee, broken tibia (read shattered) and fibula. I went through 3 different surgeries to correct the damage and now my legs non weight bearing for another 6 weeks or so while the breaks heal. I also have half a hardware store of screws and plates in my leg.

So not to put a damper on the whole thread (as it had a pretty good return from injury vibe going) but laying on the ground with a dislocated knee was something I never want to repeat, let alone the 15 days in hospital away from my family- and I haven’t even started rehab yet.

I guess the point I’m making is everyone has different circumstances, for me, my body doesn’t bounce like it used to. I have a young family with 3 kids, and also work in quite a physical job. My body at the moment is too important to put through this sort of accident again. So as much as I love riding bikes, and I’ve been riding and racing bikes since I was about 10, in this case keeping my body in one piece for longer wins.

Injuries suck and they are a part of what we do, but there comes a point where the risk vs reward scale shifts too far to the risk, and completely negates the reward for riding. That’s where I’m at now.

One day I may get back on a bike to follow the kids around the bike paths, but I can’t see that happening any time soon.

Good luck with your recovery op and let us know how you go
Shit news mate. I’m all recovered now and back riding, but have shelved plans of dabbling in enduro racing and progressing on jumps. Happy as Larry sitting at the back of the slow group on my Thursday night rides.

Still some risk there, but I’ve decided I’m comfortable at the relaxed pace I’m riding now.

If I wasn’t comfortable with that I’d stick to the fire roads; I’d still love riding my bike in the bush even if that was my limit.
 

cooki_monsta

Likes Dirt
The more I think about this, the more queasy I feel.
This seems very similar to my ankle.

I had an x ray and ultrasound once the injury happened, they said no break. After 8 months of Physio it wasn’t getting better so I paid to have a private mri done, and they found a hairline fracture in the cuboid bone. By then though the bone had been broken too long and created further damage. It was fixed with surgery but my advice is if it’s not right, do everything you can to get the answers as early as possible. Don’t leave it because it’s only going to get worse
 

Cardy George

Piercing rural members since 1981
This seems very similar to my ankle.

I had an x ray and ultrasound once the injury happened, they said no break. After 8 months of Physio it wasn’t getting better so I paid to have a private mri done, and they found a hairline fracture in the cuboid bone. By then though the bone had been broken too long and created further damage. It was fixed with surgery but my advice is if it’s not right, do everything you can to get the answers as early as possible. Don’t leave it because it’s only going to get worse
I'm going to book the GP for next week. Hopefully by then the swelling has gone down and I'll be able to tell what's right and what's not.
 

Reb2

Squid
Oh no, I hope you get well soon and stop feeling those symptoms. I always try to make sure I am wearing the best protective gear on the market, sometimes they might be a bit more expensive, of course, but it is worth it paying some extra bucks if that means peace of mind, especially on helmets. I can't even imagine stopping mtbiking either.
 

Haakon

Keeps on digging
I'm going to book the GP for next week. Hopefully by then the swelling has gone down and I'll be able to tell what's right and what's not.
Yeah, get it properly checked.. I had a big off 15 years ago landing on my arse from great height and speed - was fine for a couple of years and got niggly and then progressively worse over years. By the 10 year mark I was in agony all the time and many misdiagnosis didnt help. Eventually had the torn labrum in my hip no one found early fixed and all good.

If the injury had been found a LOT earlier, I could have managed it and likely avoided surgery and certainly avoided many years of debilitating pain.

TLDR - don't ignore it.
 

pink poodle

気が狂っている男
Injuries suck and they are a part of what we do, but there comes a point where the risk vs reward scale shifts too far to the risk, and completely negates the reward for riding. That’s where I’m at now.



One day I may get back on a bike to follow the kids around the bike paths, but I can’t see that happening any time soon.


Well that is a huge crash dude! Hopefully the recovery is swift and your spirits get a boost. Sitting around all sore and beat up is such an oppressive downer.

I had a big crash a long time and despite having ridden plenty of bigger and riskier jumps than the one I crashed on since, I still haven't ridden it again. Maybe one day I will, but even now my shoulder pings a little when I'm near it.

Yeah, get it properly checked.. I had a big off 15 years ago landing on my arse from great height and speed


I'm surprised your head didn't break the fall before your ars hit the ground?
 

Chriso_29er

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I agree with some of the other comments in regards to minimising situations where possible, especially recognising fatigue and calling it quits or slowing it down before you make a silly mistake. If you're not comfortable doing a feature, no harm in missing it.
Seems I have trouble following my own advice in this thread haha.

This was the slam that did my hand in on the 2nd of Jan this year, putting me off all bikes for 3 weeks. Just starting to come good again now.
Again I knew I was buggered but just pushed it for one last bigger step up only 200m from the end of a 50km/1586vm ride, this was the result.
I was going to give it a miss, but stupidly decided to do it anyway.

http://instagr.am/p/CZZD_67BE5R/
 

Lazmo

Old and hopeless
This latest hit I've taken really fucking hurts and is taking longer than usual to recover from. I still can't raise my arm under its own power and my collarbone area is still swollen so much that you can't see the collarbone itself. It has only been three days though.

The problem I'm seeing is while I know I'm not getting any younger, and if I had actually broken bone it would've stranded Mrs George and the kids in the caravan park, subconsciously my brain is now thinking 'if you wanna stop me, you're gonna have to kill me'.

Seems the more I hurt, the more willing I am to get hurt. And that can not end well.
Hey CG... bummer, I hope you recover pronto.

I know you xrayed and found no break, but it may be a subluxation... a partial dislocation. I've broken both collarbones, and the first one was horrific, but easily matched pain-wise but a huge headon at Lysty which resulted in a subluxation of my bad shoulder. I couldn't move for half an hour, the ride out was shocking and my shoulder has never fully recovered... haven't played tennis since. But I am old.

You'll be fine. Ha ha.
 

Cardy George

Piercing rural members since 1981
If it makes you feel better I fell off a ledge in 2020 into a river cracking a few ribs and damaging the shoulder. X-rays showed nothing but it still took 6 weeks for the shoulder to feel right. TL: DR don't panic
That was Mrs George's advice yesterday after she taped it. It felt so much better and it got to me a little bit. The fall was the fall and it won't stop me riding at speed. I know my shoulder will be fixed and usable again. It's the shit in between that's making me feel a bit uncertain.

Hey CG... bummer, I hope you recover pronto.

I know you xrayed and found no break, but it may be a subluxation... a partial dislocation. I've broken both collarbones, and the first one was horrific, but easily matched pain-wise but a huge headon at Lysty which resulted in a subluxation of my bad shoulder. I couldn't move for half an hour, the ride out was shocking and my shoulder has never fully recovered... haven't played tennis since. But I am old.

You'll be fine. Ha ha.
Cheers Lazmo. That's the general thought about what I've done, and we taped to support a sublaxation. Off to the GP tomorrow to start the repair process.
 

The Duckmeister

Has a juicy midrange
This latest hit I've taken really fucking hurts and is taking longer than usual to recover from. I still can't raise my arm under its own power and my collarbone area is still swollen so much that you can't see the collarbone itself. It has only been three days though.

The problem I'm seeing is while I know I'm not getting any younger, and if I had actually broken bone it would've stranded Mrs George and the kids in the caravan park, subconsciously my brain is now thinking 'if you wanna stop me, you're gonna have to kill me'.

Seems the more I hurt, the more willing I am to get hurt. And that can not end well.
Seems a long time to have swelling... Have you had it X-rayed/checked?
Some things can take a while for the swelling to go down. I had knee surgery quite some years ago; it took close to a week for the swelling to subside enough to even make out the edges of my kneecap! And that was from the surgery, not the injury it fixed!!
 

cooki_monsta

Likes Dirt
Some things can take a while for the swelling to go down. I had knee surgery quite some years ago; it took close to a week for the swelling to subside enough to even make out the edges of my kneecap! And that was from the surgery, not the injury it fixed!!
I’m a month post op and can only just start to see the edges of my kneecap.

Apparently during some surgeries the knee can stay swollen for ages


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Cardy George

Piercing rural members since 1981
@Cardy George, did you get any update on this? Shoulders are fickle, complicated joints. Hoping it hasn't required surgery.
Yep, yep. I mentioned it in LTIL but probably should've put it here too.

Ultrasound shows Bursitis. For those playing at home the Bursa is a sack of fluid that stops the tendons rubbing over bone. That's still inflamed, range of motion is pretty good and improving day by day, just don't have a massive amount of strength when raising my upper arm directly forward, or holding it above shoulder height. No other damage was evident. Bit of hamboing has taught me/us how to tape it for support, it helped a heap by taking the pressure off and letting the swelling go down. I suffered from Bursitis in that shoulder when I was a teenager, it was quite the relief that I was dealing with something I've dealt with before.

I'm not an expert, but I'm not feeling any sharp stabs or grinding so I think I've avoided surgery. Physio is definitely required, and if they say surgery, then so be it, but I couldn't get in before the weekend, so I'll manage it through the Otway Odyssey and book in then.

It'll give me a chance to really fuck it up and make the physio worth it ;)
 

The Reverend

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Good to hear you've dodged the surgery bullet it seems. Definitely look after it, but also - give it the beans at the Otway. Super close now. Ridden it myself in earlier XC years - still shudder at the cramps in my quads and hamstrings at the same time.
 
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