Jumping with a slightly injured leg?

[masterblaster72 0]

I went to the orthopaedist yesterday and he told me to refrain from any physical activity for the next month because I have a small tear in my right groin muscle. No exercise, nothing that involves impact. Nada.

I think skydiving will be ok, but I'm a bit worried about the landings. Some of my landings, especially when I flare a few feet too high, can have an impact on my legs.

Has anyone jumped with leg problems? If so, how did you avoid aggravating your problem? I'm thinking of landing each time with a PLF on my left side. Good idea?

Thanks for your input...

Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

[MrBrant 0]

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Good idea?

nope

[Travman 6]

I've done a jump with a sprained knee before. landed fine.

But think about what might happen if you do have a bad landing... will that considerably extend your time out?

[sunshine 2]

Umm....it's your groin muscle and you think you'll be OK? I'm pretty good at anatomy and the leg strap will be right on your groin muscle. Just think what a hard opening would do. OUCH!!

___________________________________________
meow

I get a Mike hug! I get a Mike hug!

[Casurf1978 0]

I would ask your doctor. It looks to me like he pretty much told you to refrain from ANY physical activity that could result in an impact to the leg. Plus it's only ONE month, why risk your whole summer. You mess up a landing and aggravate the injury, now you're out a few months and your whole summer is gone. Why risk it. I doubt the sky is going anywhere. Again I would ask your doctor.

[masterblaster72 0]

Travman:

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But think about what might happen if you do have a bad landing... will that considerably extend your time out?

Yes, it could. But no exercise and no skydiving for a month is really f.cking up my program. My two favorite pastimes...
--
Sunshine:

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Umm....it's your groin muscle and you think you'll be OK? I'm pretty good at anatomy and the leg strap will be right on your groin muscle. Just think what a hard opening would do. OUCH!!

That's a good point, I didn't even consider that. Sh.t.
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Casurf: doctor was adamant about physical activity. I asked him about alternatives to running, he said no to biking, no to swimming, no to ellipticals. Nothing involving the legs. In light of that, I doubt that he would have said ok to skydiving.

I'm f.cked.

Thanks for your responses...

[skybytch 259]

If you can run without pain, I'd say go jump. If you can't, I'd say don't jump.

[wildcard451 0]

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If you can run without pain, I'd say go jump. If you can't, I'd say don't jump.

Eh, even so. I'm willing to bet that your orthopod knows a little bit more than most people giving advice here.

However, remember, that your greatest lesson of all is that skydiving is a sport of personal responsibility.

Jumping would be a stupid idea until you are healed. Take the time off and heal, then come back. If you go ahead and jump, and hurt yourself worse, don't come crying to anyone about it.

[mjosparky 3]

Why did you bother going your Dr. if you are not willing to follow his advice? Next time just mail me the check and I will tell you anything you want to hear.

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[Casquito 0]

Listen to your orthopedist.
You will only blame yourself when you make it worse and prolong your recovery.
Take time to read the written resources out there (SIM, Brian Germain's book, etc...)
The risk isn't worth the benefit if you think about it. Just find a way to deal with the frustration of not being able to jump by redirecting it.
Now do as I say and not as I did...

[Fast 0]

If I was you I probally wouldn't jump.

If I was me, well, I probally wouldn't jump either. Being that a groin muscle is pretty interconected in the legs it seems like a bad idea. There are many things I would jump with but only because I am pretty good at soft landings. Though it is extra risk!

~D
Where troubles melt like lemon drops Away above the chimney tops That's where you'll find me.
Swooping is taking one last poke at the bear before escaping it's cave - davelepka

[steve1 5]

I'd listen to your Doctor and your own feelings on this. If it's a groin injury, it may only take one hard opening or landing to ruin any healing that is going on.

Doctors know a lot. It seems they also are very conservative and cautious. Many judgments they make could involve a law suit, so you may have to use some of your own judgment on this. Trying to cowboy up and jump on it, might not be too bright of an idea.

Last summer my ankle was really messed up from a low turn. I really thought it was broke. Any Doctor would have told me not to jump for months and months. I should have gone to a specialist after my initial x-rays. I didn't even do that. I took about four weeks off because of the pain, and then started jumping again. Being your basic dumb ass I slid in most landings and was able to continue jumping. Things turned out okay, but I may not be so lucky next time.

Oh, and this isn't the only time I've done stupid things in my life. I remember riding broncs with my free arm in a cast, following a severe concussion (many years ago). A couple of other times I cut a cast off early, so I could return to work.

So, far I've got away with all this, but I was lucky. My ankle still isn't 100%, and I limp every morning till I get it warmed up. This may be a permanent problem. I should have taken better care of it.

Dan Brodsky was told by his Doctors never to jump again after he broke his neck. He went on to win several World Championships after that. But then again, the pain in his neck still bothers him a lot, today.

So, I guess this all boils down to a judgment call that only you can make. It's a good idea to take the cautious way out. If you abuse your body too much you may live to regret it

Eble Keneval is one of my heroes. I say a picture of him recently and he looks a 100 years old. He swallows a fist full of pills each morning just to get out of bed. I don't want to ever end up like that....Steve1

[kelpdiver 2]

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Doctors know a lot. It seems they also are very conservative and cautious.

Mojo - this is exactly the reason why people go to see doctors, but don't always follow their advice. Quite a few of them know very little about skydiving or motorcycles, but they know we should be doing such things.

[mjosparky 3]

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but don't always follow their advice.

They don't follow it for the same reason skydivers don't take advice from other skydivers, they think they know more then the person offering the advice.

But that’s OK because pain is an excellent teacher. The greater the pain the better the lesson is learned.

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[dharma1976 0]

see the way I look at it is its my groin muscle...I need to protect that area so I can get my freak on....do you want to risk that?

dave

Edite to fix bad typing

http://www.skyjunky.com

CSpenceFLY - I can't believe the number of people willing to bet their life on someone else doing the right thing.

[Ron 7]

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I went to the orthopaedist yesterday and he told me to refrain from any physical activity for the next month because I have a small tear in my right groin muscle. No exercise, nothing that involves impact. Nada.

That right there says no jumping.

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I think skydiving will be ok

Skydiving is a physical activity. So do you, know more than your Ortho guy?

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[masterblaster72 0]

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They don't follow it for the same reason skydivers don't take advice from other skydivers, they think they know more then the person offering the advice.

But that’s OK because pain is an excellent teacher. The greater the pain the better the lesson is learned

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see the way I look at it is its my groin muscle...I need to protect that area so I can get my freak on....do you want to risk that?

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Skydiving is a physical activity. So do you, know more than your Ortho guy?

Lest I be misunderstood as a know-it-all type with low jump numbers, I should explain myself.

The orthopaedist appointment was cursory at best. Including the x-ray, not even a 15-minute appointment, with very few questions asked, while two other patients were waiting in other rooms to see the same doctor. I was simply told to refrain from any form of exercise involving the lower body, no physical therapy, no MRI. What I did know is that I did not have a fracture, at least not the kind that would appear on a regular x-ray. The doctor was being very conservative, and I think part of that reasoning is the sue-happy climate we live in.

I should also explain that it hurts to walk only the day or two after I run. If I don't run, the pain subsides.

I felt a second opinion was warranted, mainly because the appointment was so cursory in nature. So I called my PPO plan to see if second opinions are covered, and it turns out they are. And I was fortunate enough to get an appointment with a sports medicine doctor on Friday who specializes in leg and hip injuries.

He reiterated *no exercise*, at least not until our next appointment, which is in two weeks. Not what I wanted to hear, but it is what I expected to hear. This doctor had me stand in certain positions, had me do certain stretches, etc to find out the particular nature of the injury since the groin is a complicated area of the body where many different muscle groups converge.

He determined that my injury is an overuse injury, and told me that the greatest risk will be repetitive motion and stress on the muscle. I explained to him that I skydive, what a PLF is, the risk of hard openings, landings, etc. Again, he reiterated that it is repetitive motion that is the greatest impediment to recovery for my injury (not something like a 5-second run from a no-wind landing). Though he did not tell me to skydive (and he made it a point to neither discourage me nor encourage me to skydive), he stressed many times that it is prolonged, repetitive stress on the muscle that will impede recovery from this type of injury. He also told me that whatever I decide to do with my weekend, that if I feel any increased pain at all in my groin area, to stop immediately.

I know the risk of a hard opening or of pulling a muscle on a run-out. But that's with any jump, whatever shape one may be in. Fortunately, I was able to do 15 jumps over the weekend, did not encounter any additional pain, had soft landings, and I'm feeling better today than last week. Perhaps a bit riskier than usual, but then again, we know what the risks are in this sport. I thought hard about it, was cautious over the weekend with my landings, and all went well enough.

Thanks for your responses -- I'm know the above responses were written with good intent.

Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

[AFFI 0]

If you wer determined to jump anyway why ask for advice in this forum?

A two week layoff and playing it safe could not have been a bad idea, its only two weeks compared to more time off if the injury was aggrivated and made worse, could mean months off and an expensive surgery.

[Ron 7]

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Lest I be misunderstood as a know-it-all type with low jump numbers, I should explain myself.

Two Dr's. told you it was a bad idea. So you went to an internet forum and asked for advice. The people on the forum for the most part told you it was a bad idea.

So you ignored all of them and did it anyway.

It is times like this I wonder why I bother to try and help people who are dead set on doing what they please no matter how many people tell them its a bad idea.

Ignoring me, or anyone else on here I could see. Ignoring all 12 that gave an opinion that it was a bad idea is not so smart....If 12 out of 12 think its a bad idea...It most likely is.

But ignoring a DR?!?!?!!?!?!?!

Sheesh.

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I know the risk of a hard opening or of pulling a muscle on a run-out. But that's with any jump, whatever shape one may be in.

Except you are more likely to get hurt if you are already injured.

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." -- Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334

[masterblaster72 0]

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If you wer determined to jump anyway why ask for advice in this forum?

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Two Dr's. told you it was a bad idea. So you went to an internet forum and asked for advice. The people on the forum for the most part told you it was a bad idea.

So you ignored all of them and did it anyway.

The second doctor did not tell me it's a bad idea. Nor did he say it's a good idea.

I posted here to get different points of view, and they were helpful. My intention was to see some views other than my own on jumping with a slight injury.

After getting the first few responses, my mind changed about jumping over the weekend. When I got my second opinion from the other doctor the day after about what would really be harmful in regard to this injury (repeated stress), I thought out the consequences and decided to give at least one jump a try. The first felt fine, and so did the rest.

I ended up jumping based on how I felt, and I felt good enough to jump throughout the weekend.

The last thing I want to do is irritate anyone or waste their bandwidth or time, and I will refrain next time from trying to gather different points of view here. Though I tend to think that a lot of these responses are written with good intent -- skydivers looking out for fellow skydivers -- sometimes it occurs to me that some are just looking to vent when they see the opportunity, with a smack of self-righteousness. I doubt you would do that, though.

I'm finished posting to this thread and I do appreciate the responses. The last word is all yours. Feel free to leave it on a note implying that I'm stubborn, stupid, dangerous, have delusions of omniscience, etc. if that's what you enjoy -- I'm rather self-deprecating by nature so I won't take a whole lot of offense to it anyhow.

Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

[Zenister 0]

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. Good idea?

ABSOLUTELY!!!


if your end goal is increasing the chance of a SERIOUSLY injured leg.....

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