Hello I have just fractured my femur and trochanter following a slow fall
operation placement of a gamma nail, I ask myself a lot of questions for the rest of the bike I am a courier would I find the shape of before?
I shattered my femoral neck, intertrochanteric comminuted fracture.
I have a couple intramedullary rods holding it all together.
Before my injury I had been running 6 months, and had a month on the bike, so virtually no bike fitness at all to try and return to
Now I have about a 350 W ftp, have run a 16:41 5k, couple 4:30 ish half irons that I am hoping to significantly better this year.
It may take time, but you can come back quite strong if you rehab correctly, especially if you were already fit to begin with.
It’ll take time but I think you will !
I’m a courier too and after a break I don’t do any workouts besides working. So I advise you to do so. Just through deliveries you should get some base fitness back.
You’ll get back just fine, just be intentional with the rehabilitation and don’t force things to try and get back faster than they’re going to on their own - you can develop some nasty compensatory issues if you do that (n=1 with shattered patella a few years ago). Take it slow and treat it as an excellent opportunity to work on nutrition.
7wks ago comminuted intertrochanteric fracture for me. I have an intramedullary nail with a couple of screws.
I’m still non-weight bearing, probably until 10-12wks.
I was in great shape prior to the accident. At this point, my leg has visibly atrophied a bit. The range of motion in my knee has returned (leg isn’t swollen like a balloon). Range of motion in my hip is much better, but still nowhere near 100%. Still some mild pain and swelling. Still weakness in the muscles around the hip due to pain and/or swelling.
Recovery hasn’t been a straight line. Sometimes what feels like improvement will immediately be followed by bad days.
This is all quite fresh and ongoing for me. If you have questions, fire away.
I’ve always said recovery is very similar to training…you make progress but then you need to recover. It is the recovery days where you really improve.
With recovery, your body also needs time to recover from the rehab work you have out in. Just like with training, you have good days followed by bad days.
Accept the bad days for what they are - your body signaling you that it needs to recover from the work you have put in. Embrace the bad days because they are actually signs of progress.
thank you your injury almost similar to mine it gives me courage for the future
I am Belgian I do not speak perfect English
I also fractured my femur and had an operation to implant a dynamic hip screw. With good advice from physiotherapist it didn’t take too long for my cycling fitness to return, walking was actually more challenging. 5 months after my operation I cycled from Geneva to Trieste through the Dolomites (1200km and 20,000m of climbing). Just take it steady and good luck.
Perfect English not important. English is also my second language.
It’s a long process to get back to 100%. Do your best to rest and let your body recover from the trauma of the injury and surgery. Eat well, but not too well lest you gain too many kilos.
To get better you need to rest/sleep. BUT to rest/sleep well, you need your leg to feel better. Chicken egg problem Again, try to relax and get lots of sleep.
edit: here is a look at my upgrades
Thank you for your answer it cheers me up I’m a fighter for the moment of ups and downs, I was preparing my preparation for the April races after a good season and here is a stupid fall
I was wondering the other day how you were doing!
I fell 12/12/21 operation 12/13/21 12/14/21 Already physiotherapist
Discharge from hospital on 12/20/21
I have physiotherapy four times a week
visits with the specialist on January 4 or I would really be the result of waiting for fractures because a concern about the displacement of the lesser trochanter, it will take a little longer to co-solidify and I risk having pain according to my physiotherapist
I will go step by step and I will report back to you
I thank you for your comments on your experiences it gives me courage for the future
I’m doing alright, feeling better by the week. 4wk X-ray was good but really too early to see significant progress. At a minimum, nothing looked out of place or bad. Next week I’ll have 8wk check up with X-rays again. That should hopefully show some good bone growth. Time and patience!!!
Courage to you we will fight to come back stronger
So I did too. 3 months later back at work. The last 30 days were great, got to do my own physcio. Nothing but riding the trainer and watching the tour. Swimming and weights. Little nerve issues every day but at 61 so what. It’s only nerve pain not a real injury. Listen to the doctors and listen to the body, you’ll do great.
![:+1: :+1:](https://emoji.discourse-cdn.com/apple/+1.png?v=12)
How do you guys do it? I have fallen on my hip countless times and have scars to prove it. Just recently I’ve got blown out of the road and lost traction on the dirt and fallen on my hip. It was sore and it is taking longer than expected (I could ride in two days but feel it slightly after three weeks still) but bone ok.
Do (all of) you utilize strength training and/or running? That could perhaps help with bone density.
Personally, I doubt it was a bone density issue. When I suggested bone density, surgeon said, “No”. Then, when I asked about testing, he said I could but was confident it would be a non-issue. If I had to guess, I assume the doc could tell based on the feel and/or look of the bone when he was fixing me.
I was running about 80km/wk, looking to run a sub-85 half last week. And while I haven’t been doing weight training recently, I have a long history of heavy weight training in the gym.
I too have road rash scars on both right and left sides at, above, below, around the exact spot of the impact from the last 20yrs of cycling. So, this isn’t the first time I’ve landed on or around that spot. That said, it is the first time it was at next to walking speed. Long story short, I was flung up and then went straight down on to the apshalt landing directly on the spot of the break. My kit didn’t have a scratch. My bike unharmed. I had zero road rash anywhere on my body. It was just straight blunt force trauma to my greater trochanter.
It was a really bizarre accident w/a really nasty outcome. happens!
Mine too was not a bone density issue.
I have a physical job that has me loaded weight bearing throughout the day, and I am a runner as well. Also, I had been doing a lot of strength training at the time as well.
In fact, I’ve had it remarked that my bone density is impressive when getting scans done.
My accident was me going along at near 40 km/h / 25 mph straight into the side of an oncoming vehicle that decided to turn left right into me, so pretty well like hitting a brick wall with my femur and collar bone taking the impact.
That’s a lot of energy that was absorbed by that impact.
Just glad it went into my femur, and not my spine!
Well guys that didn’t help with my anxiety You both seem to have bone density covered. Either running a lot or running and weight training a lot. I’ve just got back to running (I mix it in my training only during winter) and to strength training (2 months break while abroad). And I thought that will keep my bones whole. I guess it is not enough when you are unlucky as you both were.
Speedy recovery to all!
thank you for your explanatory return for your fall very similar to mine I would give news of my evolution and progression