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FIREFLYR

Fractured L2, How long to heal?

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Yo,
I recently suffered a wedge fracture to my L2 vertebra.
The fracture was luckily stable and I was given a brace(ok its a girdle:$) and released. this Injury occured overseas and I don't have medical here in the states so I was curious if anyone has suffered a similar injury and could give some advice as to healing time and what exactly
'taking it easy " is.
Thanks a bunch.
~J
"One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest"
"There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

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I had a compression fracture of L1 on 16-Feb-2002. Wore a brace until that May. You're always going to feel it.

After 6-8 jumps wearing 16 lbs of lead doing 4-way, I feel like the tin man from the Wizard of Oz (...everything creaks). Never felt that before the compression fracture.

Look into getting a health bridge from:
(www.healthbridges.com)
I have #1, #2 and #3. Start out with the #1. Make it a way of life.
We are all engines of karma

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Dude!

I'm glad you're ok. Are you going to share your experience with the class?

Aisha fractured a vertebra on opening in Byron a couple years back and I think it took her around 6 months to get back in the air but I don't know what the circumstances were.

Heal fast!


ok here goes.
I was in Malaysia for the tower jump 2005 event.
I got 10 jumps off the 340ft tower on day 1, and was on my 4th of the second day. I exited with a gainer and opened on heading. the canopy immediatly started rotating and I pulled the right toggle to continue the turn and avoid the tower,which started a spin caused by a lineover. I gave it 2 hard pulls to try to clear it and threw the toggle. The lineover didn't clear and i spiraled into the ground.I got my feet under me and flared with the risers.
I got real lucky.
~Goodtimes;)
~J
"One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest"
"There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

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I have a 30% compression fracture of T-12.I was told not to jump anymore(yeah right Doc).That was 1300 jumps ago.If you are healthy your bones are going to heal in 2 months.The doc will tell you 3 to keep you from doing stupid shit.I made a skydive 2 weeks before my last scheduled doctors appointment(at about 2 and a half months.Probably not smart.

You will be highly aware of this injury for quit some time,probably about a year.You will feel pressure in the surrounding areas.This will improve with time.Mine only bothers me when I do alot of fisical labor,if I jump alot in one weekend or when the weather changes rapidly.Get yourself a hot tub for the winters.

I'm not a doctor but I play one in the RV sometimes.Happy healing.

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Care to share this story on the BASE forums? I'm sure we can all learn something from it.


Yo, I just posted something.
Is this the ghost of Jaap?
I knew you'd be back:P
~J
"One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest"
"There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

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I did the L4

after a year & half Im just starting to feel better, the first 4 months were pure agony. came off the drugs last March and wish I came off them earlier.

Do lots of yoga, importance on the back work...especially 'Sun Salutation' taking care & and work the back muscles...but most importantly of all remember keep smiling and get as fit as you can. This is the way to beat this injury. Dont let the pain get you down....

best wishes & speedy recovery

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I came off the pain meds. very quickly,about two weeks.My opinion is that when the pain is masked you will do things that you should not be doing and prolong your healing.I also hated being doped up all of the time.If you can stand the pain come off the meds.


I totally agree about the meds, I wouldnt let them give me anything at the hospital, no way was I going to let them put me out in that place, seriously, geckos and cats walking around the hospital-scary!
After that I only took two pills over the next few days. I can take pain but the fear of furthur injuring myself scares me.
~J
"One flew East,and one flew West..............one flew over the cuckoo's nest"
"There's absolutely no excuse for the way I'm about to act"

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I came off the pain meds...



I was flat on my back for 5 days, and they were giving me demerol injections in the thigh(s)/arm(s) every 4 hours. Didn't do squat except take the edge off the pain and put me to sleep. As I shuffled out of the hospital, they gave me a laxative prescription, which I didn't bother to fill. Then, I get home and realize I hadn't made a poop in about 6 days. That first poop was like giving birth. Must have been 6 feet long, and my god I'll never forget the smell. Morphine based drugs are _not_ worth it.
We are all engines of karma

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Fractured my L1 snowboarding last year, 2004. Dr said it would heal on its own, didn't jump for about a month and that was it. Having a high tolerance for pain helps but a bone density scan 5 months later showed everything was fine. Hope you're lucky too.

madjohn

Main goals in life: Be on the "Jumpers Over Eighty" (JOE) World Record and attend the Lost Prairie Boogie once after I'm gone.

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It will take some time to heal enough to jump again... and even more time to heal enough to not feel it all the time. I chipped L4 when I was younger... I remember the pain of just trying to sit in those hard chairs in school (it always seemed to perfectly hit the sore spot on the chair backs). Anyhow, any injury you have will eventually end up haunting you for life... as you get older you'll start to feel it more, like when it rains, etc.
Just glad you're ok. Make sure you get it checked out, and get an ok before you decide to jump again. you got very lucky, don't risk hurting it even more by doing things before it's ready.
Take care Jamie...
Jen
-------------------------------------------
"Scars remind you that the past is real..."

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My fiancé had a compression facture on L2, had an operation to correct it and now has a backbone of steel..;)
It's been 9 months and he sometimes still complains about "feeling" the pins and screws. He'll only be cleared for jumping again sometime from December on.
He had a bad landing.


Gene Police: "YOU!! Out of the pool, NOW!!!"

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