Injury recovery question

[Docspidey 0]

Hey all,

This may have gone into incidents, but since it wasn't a true reported incident (*cough cough*), we'll just leave it here.

Anyway, I experienced a burst fracture of my L1 vertebrae (and a wedge frac of L4, but that's not as bad), and I've been in a torso brace ever since. This was in June. My questions for all of you are two-fold....anyone out there recovered from a similar injury and how has it affected your skydiving (if you still do at all). Any residual pain/stiffness/immobility etc..? BTW, apparently there isn't any significant disc damage, so hopefully that will help.
Two, hypothetically, if this occurred on a landing where it was witnessed that an apparent downdraft/turbulence collapsed the canopy right at flare start, causing a straight vertical drop, which caused a heels-to-butt landing, what may have been attempted to prevent injury in a backward driven fall? PLF is great if your momentum is forward to do that, but what if you are traveling backwards? Hope this makes sense, if not ask and I'll try and clarify further.

Either way, hopefully I can get back up there next season, so long as I can convince family members it's ok! Any ideas on that are also appreciated!

Doc

~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~

"Chance favors the prepared mind."
-Anon

[juanesky 0]

The ideas to be share depend on what your experience was at the time of your accident. Jump #'s, time in the sport, canopy type, WL, actual conditions of your jump, but yet, most important, a clear bill of health from your doctor.

It is not a good idea with such an injury to go try it again just because you want to. If you are not that experienced enough, or not that current in the sport, consider also upsizing your canopy to a safer W/L that will most likely give you very soft landings.

Blue skies and good luck

"According to some of the conservatives here, it sounds like it's fine to beat your wide - as long as she had it coming." -Billvon

[pdj6p 0]

Returning to jumping after a spinal injury is all dependant on the individual. That being said, I spent all last summer in a torso brace after breaking my L4. I now don't have any pain from it if I freefly but if I have to arch hard on my belly I fell it for a couple of days after. But hey it just al depends on how you heal. Good luck.

Death is so permanant, and I'm just not ready for that kind of committment.

[jimbarry 0]

Quote

PLF is great if your momentum is forward to do that, but what if you are traveling backwards?

As far as I've been taught, PLFs can be done in any direction. 10 of my 11 round canopy jumps ended up being falls to the rear. Rear-left mostly. Push knees left, torso slightly right and slightly forward making your body into an arc, then roll.

[skymick 0]

I crushed my L1 over a year ago and spent 4 months in a torso brace, once I got out of it I spent 2 months doing shit loads of physio (even though my doc said I dont have to bother with it), this included swimming and a lot of walking/running. 6 months after the acident I was jumping again and havent hd a problem since, if anything it gets a bit sore packing but thats about it.

Now the smart thing to do would be to wait till you doc says you can jump again...I couldnt wait that long (my doc still thinks im not jumping) and got the opinion of a doctor who used to also jump who said I should be right to jump again.

Also it depends on how many jumps you have right now, if you have only 10 jumps as opposed to say 1000 then id be less inclined to rush back into it.

[vt1977 0]

I have a friend who suffered a burst fracture in the lumbar spine - she was back jumping (I think) 2 years later.

Vicki

[rickfri59 0]

Is what you describe as a burst fracture also known as a compression fracture? Back in May I flared too late (was looking down between my feet instead of out towards the horizon) on a no wind day and drilled it in on my butt, ending up with a compression fracture of T-12. I spent 2 months in a torso brace and the third month doing lots of back strengthening exercises. Doc said wait three months and I did. Yesterday I made my first jumps since my crash and all felt well.

[Docspidey 0]

Compression fractures are just that, the bone gets compressed on itself losing vertebral height, where-as a burst fracture is when the bone kinda explodes out. Think of dropping a watermellon and watching were all the pieces fly out.

For the record, I was quite light under a 212 (I weigh 165), so that really wasn't the problem. I think for me, given that there was wind (maybe 10mph or so), I just wasn't ready to fall backwards at all. Plus, the collapse came at like 3 feet I was told, so I really had no time. Just a freak accident, so I'm not ready to totally give up. Also, time is on my side since I live in the cold, snowy northeast, there is no jumping up here until May (ending in October, but that's way too soon for recovery. Brace won't come off until September I hope).
Thanks for the input everyone

Scott

~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~

"Chance favors the prepared mind."
-Anon

[argon 0]

I suffered a compression fracture of L1 on April 24 as well as a fractured tailbone. L1 is still not fully healed. Prior to that I suffered a previous spinal injury-not skydiving related that ultimately took a L4-S1 instrumented fusion to repair. It took me over 5 years to return to a level of fitness that I would have attempted to jump or do anything real athletic for that matter. For what its worth the fused area was not injured by the last incident. My latest injury was on my first tandem jump after a 20 year layoff of the sport. I really want to skydive,but right now I wish I could sleep through the night without back pain. Good luck.

***********
Freedom isn't free. Don't forget: Mother Earth is waiting for you--there is a debt you have to pay...... POPS #9329 Commercial Pilot,Instrument MEL

[Huha 0]

About 2 1/2 yrs. ago I've had a really bad (OTOH, sometime I consider it as a really good) landing - did a front riser turn into the wind too low, and ended up with my heels thumping me on the back of my head (well, almost - but you get the picture).

The resulting damage was that three of the lower vertebraes (from the pelvis up) were slightly dislocated, and some disc compression too.

I left a fortune to a chiropractor, and I regularly (read: every other day is a minimum for me) go to the gym to work out the stomach and back muscles.

I still feel discomfort when arching hard and occasionally have to see a phisiotherapist, but other than that, I'm OK .

Friends were hinting/openly suggesting changing the sport, but I love skydiving too much to quit just yet.

Wait for the bones to heel, _work out_, upsize, talk to your instructor(s), have a few days of hop-n-pops to figure out that new, docile canopy and IMHO that should do the trick.

Regards,
Huha (>o<-<

[TomAiello 25]

Quote

...burst fracture of my L1 vertebrae.......anyone out there recovered from a similar injury and how has it affected your skydiving (if you still do at all). Any residual pain/stiffness/immobility etc..?

I had a burst fracture of L1 in 2000. I had L1 replaced with a cage, and a fusion from T12-L2. I was jumping again around 9 months later, with very minimal soreness and no loss of motion. I did suffer loss of feeling in some areas around my hips, as a result, and that feeling has not returned, but the inconvenience is very minor.

A word of warning: reinjuring such a fusion is far worse than the original injury. I snivelled in around two and a half years later, and the fusion shifted, fracturing T11 and L3. At that time, the doctor told me that had I never been injured before, I likely would have sustained only minor injury from that accident. The second accident has left me with significant daily pain and minor loss of motion.

Bottom line: once there's metal in your back, you are forever more susceptible to re-injury in a similar manner, so be careful.

-- Tom Aiello

[email protected]
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[TomAiello 25]

Quote

...right now I wish I could sleep through the night without back pain.

Are you using muscle relaxants? They've helped me a lot. PT has also been very useful.

-- Tom Aiello

[email protected]
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[argon 0]

Doesn't help, even went out asnd dropped a ton of cash on a new mattress-tempurpedic-nice but I still wake up in the middle of the night and go to go stretch out on a 75 cm exercise ball to relieve the pressure,its bad-having gone through the spinal fusion- a 7 hour surgery-tons of rehab-forced retirement from my law enforcement job-pain management etc. spinal injuries are rough. I hope I can eventually get back.This latest injury has really been persistent and just doesn't want to heal- I guess that what happens after you turn 40. ;)

***********
Freedom isn't free. Don't forget: Mother Earth is waiting for you--there is a debt you have to pay...... POPS #9329 Commercial Pilot,Instrument MEL

[Docspidey 0]

Ouch. Well, hopefully I won't have as much of a problem since they decided not to do surgery, so I still only have all of my own parts. Glad to hear that even with serious surgery, normal life is still possible!

~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~o~~

"Chance favors the prepared mind."
-Anon

[Huha 0]

I've had my ACL replaced too. I was absolutely totally scared of the surgery - almost decided not to have it done. I was lucky to have gotten to a really good phisiotherapist: apart from doing a great job on me phisically, he also helped me psichologically (sorry for the spelling). I was literally scared of the knee after the surgery... I did not know the limits, I was afraid of reinjuring it, basically if it wasn't for him, I would have been treating the knee as if it was full of nitroglycerine or something: I would probably have never been running again.

A significant part of dealing with every injury, be it after the injury occurs or following the surgery, is the psychological aspect of it. In most cases, normal life is possible, we just have to _know_ it.

Regards,
Huha (>o<-<

[Zenister 0]

Quote

Bottom line: once there's metal in your back, you are forever more susceptible to re-injury in a similar manner, so be careful.

the doctor has floated the option of taking the rod out of my femur to prevent a much more serious injury if i do something to 'bend' it later.. problem is it is additional surgery and recovery time... how many people when given the option had their metal removed and how many have kept it?

how has that affected your jumping since?

____________________________________
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[Huha 0]

A friend of mine broke both of his femurs (few years apart). On both occasions he got a metal rod installed. After recovery he was jumping with the rod(s) in his leg... Then he had them removed as planned, and continued to jump. AFAIK he had no problems.

I've had an ACL restoration done, and the doc said the titanium screws will stay as long as they don't create any problems. It was done five years ago, and I haven't had any problems since (other than that I can feel the weather changing sometime)... I work out a lot and wear a knee brace while jumping...

Regards,
Huha (>o<-<

[Zenister 0]

the two lower screws appear (my prognosis need to talk to the doc about it next week) to be keeping me from completely straightening my leg... hopefully they will come out soon..as for the rod? still debating it... the recovery time is already getting annoying...but nothing for it but time....

____________________________________
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[argon 0]

Quote

Quote

...burst fracture of my L1 vertebrae.......anyone out there recovered from a similar injury and how has it affected your skydiving (if you still do at all). Any residual pain/stiffness/immobility etc..?

I had a burst fracture of L1 in 2000. I had L1 replaced with a cage, and a fusion from T12-L2. I was jumping again around 9 months later, with very minimal soreness and no loss of motion. I did suffer loss of feeling in some areas around my hips, as a result, and that feeling has not returned, but the inconvenience is very minor.

A word of warning: reinjuring such a fusion is far worse than the original injury. I snivelled in around two and a half years later, and the fusion shifted, fracturing T11 and L3. At that time, the doctor told me that had I never been injured before, I likely would have sustained only minor injury from that accident. The second accident has left me with significant daily pain and minor loss of motion.


Bottom line: once there's metal in your back, you are forever more susceptible to re-injury in a similar manner, so be careful.

I have 12 screws/bolts and twenty inches of titanium rod as a result of a L4-S1 Fusion(Non-skydiving related.) as well as extensive bone grafts removed from my left ileac crest-which still hurts like hell when its damp out this has resulted in chronic painand a loss of flexibility. On April 24, I suffered a fractured tailbone and a subtantial compression fracture of L1 due to a drilled in tandem landing (I was the passenger). Surprisingly the fusion remained perfect,the neurosurgeon that did the surgery and advised me on the other injuries stated the fusion is VERY unlikely to ever be damaged due to the substantial bone growth around the hardware. This healing took 5 years and I will never be pain free. After 4 months the L1 fracture has not completely healed yet but there are no neuro problems and none expected. Each case is different but the fact that metal exists in your back isn't the problem. It is very common to fracture a lumbar vertabrae when large axial loads are placed on them regardless of the previous injury. 9 months is absolutely not enough time for any fusion,instrumented or not to fully heal.In fact when I got checked after 2 years the fusion was still growing more bone.I am not a physician but my wife is an advanced practice orthropaedic nurse and most family friends are ortho surgeons. Bottom line-its still up to you to take the risks.Technically when a bone is fractured and is COMPLETELY healed it is stronger than the original bone. Also in my case a titanium cage would not support the previous injury and pedicle screws were used as well as a triple laminectomy. In 9 months I still could not walk and still wore a torso brace and an electronic bone stimulator. I still want to jump-I guess I'm fucking nuts but there is something about this sport....I think there are situations that the best of athletes would be injured with a high enough vertical load. At this point in my life I appreciate everyday and could only hope for a chance to really learn and train seriously to be a safe and active jumper. Those with the "go big or go home attitude" need a few weeks pissing in a tube and full or drains to realize that ground is far too hard to fuck with. Gravity sucks.

***********
Freedom isn't free. Don't forget: Mother Earth is waiting for you--there is a debt you have to pay...... POPS #9329 Commercial Pilot,Instrument MEL