Witelli 0 #1 October 31, 2005 OK, I've heard a lot about breaking femurs in skydiving. I can't picture what action causes the femur to break. What is the most common impact point/direction that causes this? Sorry to ask such a stupid/gruesome question, I just can't picture how it happens. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #2 October 31, 2005 Lateral impacts with the ground tend to do the trick (from a low turn), as far as I've seen in my skydiving career. That seems to be a very common mistake leading to a femur break. As does the same, not as severe, but then reaching with that leg to the ground in which that single leg takes the entire brunt of the beginning of the impact instead of a proper PLF.--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
crotalus01 0 #3 November 4, 2005 a guy at my DZ femured in last year. he dove the canopy at the ground using the front risers and couldnt pull out in time, causing the first point of impact to be his knee. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AFFI 0 #4 November 7, 2005 Quote I can't picture what action causes the femur to break. What is the most common impact point/direction that causes this? I just can't picture how it happens. Initially I read this question and couldn’t believe what I was reading, I mean are you kidding? We are landing parachutes (hopefully) and you can’t see how someone can break their femur? Then I began to think of how many femurs I have seen broken? Amongst all the many many thousands of landings I have watched there have only been a handful of accidents that I actually got to see happen. Just imagine riding a motorcycle at say 40 MPH directly into a brick wall or jumping out of the bed of a truck being driven at say 30 MPH– can you see how that might cause serious injury? Hit a femur right and it does not take a tremendous amount of force for it to fracture. Don’t fall into the complacency trap, it is very easy to get killed or seriously injured skydiving. Just because we don’t see it very often we don’t have regular reminders how violent skydive accidents can be. The ones I have witnessed were very violent and placed into my mind a deeper respect for the potential ramifications of this sport when we make mistakes. Safer than driving? Yeah.... Right......Mykel AFF-I10 Skydiving Priorities: 1) Open Canopy. 2) Land Safely. 3) Don’t hurt anyone. 4) Repeat… Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
piisfish 136 #5 November 7, 2005 I think his question was why more femur than tib/fib, heel, ankle etc.... I wonder how come there's not more broken noses, jaws, forearms and tailbones...scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lawrocket 3 #6 November 9, 2005 Quotewhy more femur than tib/fib, heel, ankle etc.... We see plenty of those, too. The femur, though, is an interesting beast. It is one of the strongest bones in the body, which means it requires a high energy impact to fracture it. Femur fractures are usually caused by direct trauma to the bone. This can be seen in falls and the like. Heck, guys falling off of roofs break their femurs. The mechanism seems to be either landing on the knee or landing on the foot with knee locked. This will direct all of the energy up the leg. The tibia and fibula can withstand those fairly well as oppsoed to lateral forces. But the femur has a bend at the trochanter where the up force is converted to lateral force and, well, SNAP! If someone impacts with the knee, the energy will similarly be forced up. If the knee is impacted at an angle, the femur can also snap. Think about a knee digging into the earth and stopping, but the body keeps going. Something's gotta give, and it won't be several tons of dirt. My wife is hotter than your wife. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skyhigh57 0 #7 November 9, 2005 It might be interesting to note that as recent as 50 yrs ago, a femur fracture was a death sentence. Only about 25% of afflicts survived: embolisms, infections, you name it, you got it. It's a testament to modern medical science that "to femur" has now become a quite survivable verb. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fergs 0 #8 November 10, 2005 Well I broke my femur in 1976 after my strato star collapsed in heavy turbulence. So I guess you could say it was the speed of the landing that caused the injury. After 2 months in traction and a cpl more months doing lots of walking and physical therapy, i started jumping again. Not long after, the sport discovered that gust induced stalls were somewhat avoidable and so femurs were safer after that. Blu Skies, fergs Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Witelli 0 #9 November 12, 2005 Initially I read this question and couldn’t believe what I was reading, I mean are you kidding? We are landing parachutes (hopefully) and you can’t see how someone can break their femur?*** Sorry, I didn't mean to sound like such an idiot. I don't mean to sound disrespectful, but you're the only one that didn't answer my question. Femuring is a term widely referred to in skydiving, and when we land, knees together, knees bent, I don't see much pressure applied to the femur. That's why I couldn't picture it. Lawrocket answered my question, landing on the knee or landing with the knee locked, I could see how that could happen. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cacophony 0 #10 November 12, 2005 I shattered my femur by landing on my knee perpendicular to the ground going a good 40 mph. Target fixation sucks!! Thats what a Stiletto 150 can do to ya loaded at 1.3ish. Good times! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RayLosli 11 #11 November 13, 2005 Witelli: ..."I can't picture what action causes the femur to break." -------- Mostly, That would be the Action of, Flying above your level of skill you THINK you possess -AKA- ( flying above your head) ...... As I did in early 90's. Thinking I was a few hundred jump wonder. The one thing that you don't Realize & (it's kinda funny) is HOW MANY other people have & tell you that they broken there Femur until you do yours. Ahhhhh Yes I can still remember that till this day. My NEW ZP and every day going faster & faster & FASTER !......Wuuuu Haaaaa If I am not mistaken back then (the same year) It was the worst injury rate that year that uspa had on record for Low-Hook Syndrome. In my Case. Until that time. The Hottest Canopy on the DZ @ that time was a PD-150 & I would not listen to anybody's advice. So basically I was a case of ---- Flying With Head Up-ASS................ . Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gravitysucks 0 #12 November 19, 2005 You're right. The femur is usually considered the strongest bone in the body, and is associated with more internal blood loss (assuming it is a closed fracture) than any other break (except the pelvis). Of course if you do enough trauma to where you fracture a femur you will see other injuries too, but the femur is usually the most serious so it gets the most notoriety. Mr. X Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tbrown 26 #13 November 21, 2005 First of all, it sounds dramatic, and "Femur is NOT a verb !" is the name of a new and widely publicized safety campaign by USPA to get people to wake up to canopy safety issues. Secondly, canopies nowadays are considerably hotter than anything, even square canopies, that people used to jump twenty years ago. Because of the faster velocities and snazzier landing maneuvers people are attempting, with or without proper preparation, more femurs are sadly being broken, along with lots of other bones as well. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity ! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zenister 0 #14 November 21, 2005 QuoteOf course if you do enough trauma to where you fracture a femur you will see other injuries too not always.. all that is required is a localized impact.. happens fairly often between motorcycles and car bumpers, so "motorcycle acccident" is the first thing every xray tech i saw asked... ____________________________________ Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
