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rogerpidactor

Recovery time back to jumping from plates and screws on radius

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Made a rookie mistake on my aff jump #5 and flared early. Like after the fact and all the reading/learning I have done in the last week I could just kick myself... That early. Impacted going backwards dislocated ulna and radius and crushed the end of the radius. Had surgery on the 22nd put in internal fixator (metal plate/s) and screws. Got a good 6-7 inch incision, fiberglass single sided splint and wrapped and sling.

Question is, anyone else with similar injury? How long till you where jumping again? What was your mental state getting back into it ie were you scared? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

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Describe the incident. All the how'd it happen shit. Perfect conditions and good training? Take up golf or bowling.
I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

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rogerpidactor

Made a rookie mistake on my aff jump #5 and flared early. Like after the fact and all the reading/learning I have done in the last week I could just kick myself... That early. Impacted going backwards dislocated ulna and radius and crushed the end of the radius. Had surgery on the 22nd put in internal fixator (metal plate/s) and screws. Got a good 6-7 inch incision, fiberglass single sided splint and wrapped and sling.

Question is, anyone else with similar injury? How long till you where jumping again? What was your mental state getting back into it ie were you scared? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.



Ignore the "take up golf or bowling" comment. It is just another smartass with quick judgement.

I have no clue about when can you get back in the sky. But most probably you'll be scared when you do it. Don't let it win. Another thing you might consider is the conditions to jump. If you were landing backwards the winds were probably too high for you to jump (unless they picked up during climbing). You might look for more conservative instruction. Flaring too soon is a common mistake. Normally, if you hold it and the winds are not too high you wouldn't have any problem.

Come back soon, have fun, be safe and welcome to skydiving.

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Had plenty injuries. Sounds painfull though....yours.

No idea who or what you are, but this might help:
Practice PLF. (Doesn't always work, but generally it does)
Drop a bit of weight, slows your decent.
LOOK and spend more time at the DZ, you will find some tips.
Get battons or a radio if you are really uncertain, just to get you over that first jump, and get your judgement aligned.
Some places have crappy or different canopies for students. It might be you jumped one that could barely flare, and then one that flared great. Check what you are jumping.
Weather. Just to calm the nerves, select a day where the wind is perfect and constant to get back. Should make life a bit easier (nerves).

BTW. I am currently booked off for 3 months, but I will wait with this one for 6, just so that I can heal properly. Remember, if you are a smoker, it takes much longer for bones to heal, as in my case.
You have the right to your opinion, and I have the right to tell you how Fu***** stupid it is.
Davelepka - "This isn't an x-box, or a Chevy truck forum"
Whatever you do, don't listen to ChrisD.

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akarunway

Describe the incident. All the how'd it happen shit. Perfect conditions and good training? Take up golf or bowling.



Way to go there, Miss Congeniality. Thanks for being a welcoming diplomat for the sport to eager students.

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Well, it was pretty ideal conditions, and I can say absolutely nothing bad about my instruction thus far. They are quite knowledgable and have felt nothing but safe and prepared heading into any jump. I don't blame either conditions or instruction, but rather my inexperience.

It was a raven IV 288 7 cell f-111 in a student rig. Loaded at .81. I jumped that rig on the previous aff jump and had a harder than i liked landing because it seemed like it just flat out didn't flare. I had a great jump tossed at planned 4500. Did riser turns to satisfy my category requirements and a controllability check. I did 3 practice flares before decision alt. and saw for my self it had a pretty sluggish flare. Flew the approach pretty much dead on and had decided already to flare earlier than I had the previous jump. As I came in on final I realize now, after some reading and further instruction, that I had the wrong site picture. I was looking down at the ground rushing by, had bad perception of my alt. and flared hard in one motion, and probably twice as high as I should have. The reason I landed backwards was from the pendulum effect of me dangling under a nearly stalled canopy.

I fully understand my mistake, why it happened, why I perceived the wrong alt. to flare, why that canopy didn't flare well to begin with and what not to do to try to get it to flare. Also learned that keeping your arms close to your body while plf keeps arms and wrists from being smashed. That being said...

I have no intention of giving up my dream and goal to become a licensed skydiver. That is the first reaction my whuffo friends have had," guess that's IT for the skydiving?" Answer is NO. This is a sport where injury is a likely even for experienced people from what I have read on here. I am trying to learn, made a mistake... Hard taught albeit, but I think I'll pass on the golf and bowling for now. Hope to be back soon, thanks for the people with the legitimate replies to my post.

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I had a similar injury- landed off, downwind, slid in the landing and smashed my hand on a rock. My distal radius exploded into three pieces. I had the plate and screws put in. I jumped again 8 to 9 weeks after, but it really depends on how your recovery goes. I still didn't have anything close to full RoM back, but I could pull all my handles and fly my canopy. I would not have had the strength to pull out of a dive if I got myself into a sticky situation.

My mental state was OK. I was a little nervous on landings for a bit after getting back in the saddle. No more so than I was when I first started jumping, though. The reality of injury is a lot more present for me now, obviously. I've had a bunch of shitty landings, going ass over tea kettle, but never had more than a few scratches and bruises as a result.

Take your time, heal up. The sky will always be there.

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Distal radius with me too except it was crushed into like 15 little pieces, with one long fracture running length wise up my ulna toward my elbow. Very similar to you.
I don't want to push it by any means and risk poor healing and not have confidence in it on the ride to altitude first jump back. Can't imagine having gear fear about your body!! Just bummed this has stalled me out getting to my immediate goal of getting on self supervised status but the greater goal of getting my "A" stamp this summer.
Thanks for the replies, post operation appt is this afternoon, we'll see what the orthopedic surgeon estimates.
...Ps there is a YouTube video of the jump but I'm a little reluctant to post it here. Not afraid of getting shredded on here- it was so stupid I can barely watch it myself but more so-I don't want to shed any negativity on my dz or the instructor who made the video because both are top notch class acts.

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akarunway

Describe the incident. All the how'd it happen shit. Perfect conditions and good training? Take up golf or bowling.



While I have felt this way about several students and have long said that skydiving is just not for everyone, that comment was just out of line here imo. Very poor taste. His instructors are more fit to make a suggestion like that.

To the op. That question is too hard to answer here. You will see how it is healing in the post op next week. I would be aiming for 8 weeks if it were me but depending on how your first 4 landings went it could alter that. That said you may come back immediately better at landing as you have knowledge and have practiced it over in your head so much since. Depends if it was a nervous panic high flair or just a simple mistake. A lot harder to overcome the former than the latter.

I came back from a Tib internal fixation at the ankle joint in 8 weeks that happened six months into my first year. And I bought a 107 during the break but did a dozen jumps first weekend on other gear working to it. Big difference was that I had a lot of jumps those first 6 months and was very confident in my landings. At 5 jumps and lack of skill(not that you won't get it) you may be more apprehensive. You really want to be mentally ready that your body is ready in your case. Only you can decide when that is. I would not want to be in your position thinking about my wrist at 15 feet.
That spot isn't bad at all, the winds were strong and that was the issue! It was just on the downwind side.

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Good call actually. Post op was this afternoon. Internal fixation is holding up well and everything was aligned well on X-ray. Doc says back to work in 2 weeks. He recommended 8 weeks from now before resuming jump activities with the warning that another blow like this in the same spot would be very bad given there are screws in just about every viable splinter of bone I had in there and another injury wouldn't leave much to work with in there. Cautioned me to proactively protect that wrist from injury going forward but expected me to return to 100% rom and strength.
The Rest is on me as they say, properly rehabbing and doing the work. Furthermore preparing mentally to know what I did, be fully prepared to perform correctly when the time comes and not let fear and apprehension get to a point as to hinder clear thinking and judgement.

However that first jump back plays out below 30 feet, and believe me I will and DO have better knowledge of proper flare technique, I'm sure a PLF will occur and my arms will be in close to my body, unless it is CERTAIN all the conditions are exactly under my control to have that nice standup walk out I am visualizing I can have.

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Didn't mean to be harsh. Just wondering how it happened. I made a bad choice w/ over 200 jumps and now have a titanium femur. Uppers where ripping, first load of the day, bad spot, nowhere to land but a tree. Low turn to avoid said tree. 10 mths. later back in the air. Scared as hell til exit. Learn from the mistakes. It is the best sport in the world but shit happens. Good luck.
I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

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akarunway

Didn't mean to be harsh. Just wondering how it happened. I made a bad choice w/ over 200 jumps and now have a titanium femur. Uppers where ripping, first load of the day, bad spot, nowhere to land but a tree. Low turn to avoid said tree. 10 mths. later back in the air. Scared as hell til exit. Learn from the mistakes. It is the best sport in the world but shit happens. Good luck.



Why would you expect anyone to answer your questions when you tell them to take up bowling in the same sentence?

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rogerpidactor

Made a rookie mistake on my aff jump #5 and flared early. Like after the fact and all the reading/learning I have done in the last week I could just kick myself... That early. Impacted going backwards dislocated ulna and radius and crushed the end of the radius. Had surgery on the 22nd put in internal fixator (metal plate/s) and screws. Got a good 6-7 inch incision, fiberglass single sided splint and wrapped and sling.

Question is, anyone else with similar injury? How long till you where jumping again? What was your mental state getting back into it ie were you scared? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.



Pay no attention to the A license expert about bowling or whatever. Flaring too high is probably the most common student error made. I did it--and 90% of the students I see do it. It just takes time and practice and a couple of thumps on your butt to get it right. Generally, if you flare too high and don't freak out by trying to correct it with going back to half brakes or even full flight the student canopy you're likely using will just come straight down--and if it's big enough it won't hurt much.

I broke my fibula jumping a rental and had to have it plated and screwed. My gf brought a canopy and container order form to the hospital and I designed both from my hospital bed.
Eight weeks later I was back in the sky. The only fear I felt was as I was on final--and taking my new canopy to the flare point. I remember thinking, "oh shit". But it worked out fine and have never had another problem. Get back in the saddle and have fun.

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I landed hard an dislocated my elbow and broke the radial head etc..not sure what the proper words are for it all (fucked my elbow joint up bad) had screws and plates which ended up grinding on bone and interfering with movement so had to get it all removed later...took a very long time and recovery to be able to straighten my arm out evan just halfway and ended up permanently losing a lot a range of movement in my arm
FTMC

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Are you seeing a sports orthopedic for this injury? If so, he'll know best when you can resume activities like skydiving. I'd just ask your doc. Each injury is different, and healing is different for everybody. I just got plates/screw in my upper and lower jaw after having it broken and I was told 3-4 months to go back to something like skydiving. I'll take longer if it doesn't feel right. Take your time to heal and there will always be days to jump in the future.

Good luck!
Apologies for the spelling (and grammar).... I got a B.S, not a B.A. :)

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rogerpidactor

Question is, anyone else with similar injury? How long till you where jumping again? What was your mental state getting back into it ie were you scared? Any insight would be greatly appreciated.



Distal radius fracture for me on a jump on Jan 26 of this year. Basic cause, IMHO, was unfamiliarity with flying the pattern at an unfamiliar DZ. This resulted in a low turn and a hard landing. I should have attempted a much less demanding jump (relative to my skill level) for my first jumps at an unfamiliar DZ, and also spent more time getting a DZ briefing.

Surgery on Feb 12. Cleared medically to begin putting normal weight on the wrist/arm on May 5 and finished occupational/physical therapy on May 21. Expect to get back in the air soon but do expect to be a bit nervous. So I'm going to do things properly this time--do a proper recurrency jump followed by fairly simple jumps until I'm used to flying again in freefall and under canopy.

I don't expect to ever regain full range of motion in the wrist but it has healed a great deal since the first weeks after surgery--and at this point I'm not really feeling any limitations on my normal non-skydiving day-to-day activities.
"It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

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"... I came back from a Tib internal fixation at the ankle joint in 8 weeks ..."

.....................................................................................

Thanks for sharing your experience.
Does anyone know how long it takes to heal a break near the top of the tibia ... just below the knobby part?

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riggerrob

"... I came back from a Tib internal fixation at the ankle joint in 8 weeks ..."

.....................................................................................

Thanks for sharing your experience.
Does anyone know how long it takes to heal a break near the top of the tibia ... just below the knobby part?



Well I also broke my tibial plateau 6 inches down and displaced it by 1.5 centimeters. Because this was a vertical fracture right through the center of the lower knee joint affecting the cartilage surface it was a longer recovery both in weight bearing and strength returning to activities. I remember getting ready for the slalom course and simple barefooting 9 months later and being in pain pulling thru the wakes and sticking my deep barefoot starts. I think skiing was my PT that got it to full strength. I remember the surgeon trying to talk me into not fixing it that week as I had my wedding in a couple days and he wanted to bolt it back after the wedding. He said it was the most major and painful knee surgery I could have except total knee replacement. I didn't listen and got it fixed before. Got out on Thursday and went to rehearsal dinner next day. All because I didn't tell him I was going on Honeymoon. Real smart.

Now if you are talking a fracture laterally just below the plateau(sounds like you are) that doesn't effect the joint and the soft tissue that commonly entails than depending on your body and how it heals it could be a short 6-8 week healing time for the bone. If it is minimally displaced or internally fixated it should not take a significant time imo. It can seem like a major place to break it but it can be a very simple break as far as they go. Mine always broke at or in the joint affecting the cartilage surface as well as the soft tissue itself. I Shattered the lower tib once also

But everyone is different. Age, Gender, Smokers, ect.

Also I should have noted as I mentioned my downsize after coming back from surgery that the injury in earlier post was not a skydiving injury. Non of them were in fact. Just mention because reading my post not knowing that can sound pretty stupid to have downsized right after the injury. It still was an extremely aggressive move but their was not in fact a landing mishap related to the fracture.
That spot isn't bad at all, the winds were strong and that was the issue! It was just on the downwind side.

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I had to have my hardware removed as well, at about the 8 month mark after the original ORIF surgery. There was grinding and clicking on the tendons in my wrist, causing pain in my fingers and palm. Doc said 15% of hardware needs to be removed- shitty luck for me. I was in and out of day surgery and back jumping in three weeks. Packing was very difficult, though, as I had very little strength in that hand. It turned out to be good exercise, though, as I gained my strength back quickly.

Still doing physio to help break up the scar tissue and work on RoM. I'm at about 80%. As someone else mentioned, though, I don't expect to get 100% back. My wrist/hand will never be the same. Docs also mentioned it's likely I will end up with arthritis in that hand/wrist.

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I got told same shit about the arthritis in later life.. but none of my breaks have ever stopped being sore evan 3 years after...the elbow hurts less now and doesnt bother me much but the real problems are when u break bones/joints that support body weight such as ankles legs femurs etc..
FTMC

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I hate to nit pick but an Orthopedic sports surgeon is not the correct orthopedist to see. It would be an ortopedic TRAUMA surgeon who is the ideal treatment provider. Just a personal pet peeve of mine that somehow people think if you injure yourself doing a sport, then you need to see a sports surgeon.
I dont know but I am willing to bet that the person who put screws in your jaw was NOT an orthopedic sports medicine doctor

dwh

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