Who to trust, Physio or Consultant Surgeon?

[Spike 0]

Ok,

Spiral fracture of the distal fibula on my left leg back in July. Surgery = plate and 7 screws, 7 weeks in a cast non load bearing and now a couple of weeks in physio.

Saw the Consultant after the cast came off. I say "when can I jump?", he says "as soon as you can run". I say "physio", he says "its a foot, try walking on it". I try and fall over, he says "you May need to use crutches for a while". Yeah right! I ask whether I should have the metalwork taken out before jumping in case it breaks again, he says "nope leave the metal in, just don't break the leg again"

So I go my way and get my own physio. Relate story, which give rise to raised eyebrows, yada yada yada, "typical consultants, you break it we'll fix it".

Now I'm getting better and better and am starting to think jump soon, so I ask my physio, when does she think I'll be able to jump? Small huddle of physios comes up with...

Have the metalwork out, so waiting list for elective surgery. 6 weeks non load bearing. Then another 6-9 months physio. So I'm looking at a total time out of over a year.

I read the thread on jumping with metalwork, but I'm really reluctant to have surgery and end up back on crutches again.

So who to trust? Consultant or physio?

[dcgilbert 0]

OK, here's my advice for dealing with medical people and questions about skydiving- don't. I have a rebuilt ACL from soccer (football to you). When I asking them about returning to skydivng, their answer was never. (I returned 12 years later- college and graduate school got in the way). They don't know the physical demands of skydiving on the body, what's needed to run out a landing, etc. Ask them when you can play football, rugby, baketball, tennis, etc. again. When they clear you for sports, you're probably about as ready as you will ever be. The medical people are much more used to answering those questions.

(Note- I have no medical training in this area, just my own experience.)

Hope this helps.
Dave

[Emma 0]

Gus jumped with metal and then when his ankle was strong enough he got it taken out. I wouldn't risk jumping with metal in. You might end up an amputee .

Oh yeh, the surgeon told him never to jump again though. They tend to be rather doom n gloom imho.

Good luck with it Colin, I hope you're back in the skies again soon.

If not...tunnel?

[Spike 0]

Yeah, I remember seeing him with his neoprene brace, hopping along like a marsupial, but then thats genetic bias for you.

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You might end up an amputee

Yeah thats what the physio reckoned. But the surgeons attitude was "you bust it, I'll fix it".

Tell me, the story is, scars are a hit with the girls? I take it amputee is a scar too far?

People were already taking the pi$$ about me being a tunnel junkie, but I guess thats gonna be the way to go, for a while. Its all about risk and reward I guess, I'm just gagging for a jump and its only 3 months now. In a year I'm going to be mental.

Tf vibes

[Spike 0]

Hi Dave,

The conversation went... Skydiving, 6 to +12 months. I said so what can I do in the meantime? They ruled out anything which involves habitual impact, like soccer, skiing, snowboarding, moutain biking, even running. They then went on to suggest that sports which could result in accidental impacts like rock climbing, or surfing were bad too.

Its then that I began to think, well maybe they have a different attitude to risk, rather than the actual risk of further injury being so high? Its like I don't want to stuff myself up by starting too soon. But they are the professionals who should know this stuff, but a year+ honestly.

Seems like walking, cards and chess are in the "safe" zone. Ummm, I used to think I had a life.

[jmpnkramer 0]

I posted to your other thread.

Check it out.

Laters,

KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The REAL KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMER!

"HESITATION CAUSES DEATH!!!"
"Be Slow to Fall into Friendship; but when Thou Art in, Continue Firm & Constant." - SOCRATES

[TimHurford 0]

I’m married to an Orthopedic Surgeon – and I need to firstly state that she is not a fan of my jumping, so her initial reaction was ‘tell him not to jump’ … that said, after some gentle coaxing she offered some professional guidance that you can consider.

Yes, being married to her does have some advantages, particularly after a snapped ulna and radius after a bad landing (two plates, fourteen screws). It was nothing sexy – a common newbie mistake, after hitting turbulence from the runway (too hot, too fast) mid flare, I pushed my arm out and frapped in.

Anyway, onto your problem.

The short answer is to leave the metal in. Metal is usually only removed when it is causing a problem. I had some screws taken out of one of the plates in my wrist, because it irritated me, and I could feel them when typing and writing – I don’t even notice the other plates or screws, and there is no reason to take them out. Footballers routinely play with plates and screws in their knees, ankles and other miscellaneous body parts.

The metal will make the bone stronger at the site where the injury is (her assumption is that the break is about 3cm above the ankle, which is the most common site for an ankle break, as this is where the pressure is transmitted too) – however the consequence of injuring yourself sufficiently to break bone will be that this pressure will be transmitted to above the plate, breaking it there, which will be more difficult to fix.

If you have the plate removed, and then have an accident to cause it to break again, it will most likely break at the same site, as that is where the pressure is transmitted too, not because that site is any weaker.

The other consideration if you have the metal removed, is that you will then need to give the bone time to knit, where the screws (and holes) are, which is about three months.

A final comment from the missus, is that you shouldn’t jump until you have full range of motion in your ankle.

Of course, you may want to consider other factors to mitigate the possibility of breaking your ankle on landing, such as landing area considerations, your canopy skills and the canopy handling/landing characteristics etc, etc

[Spike 0]

Hi Tim,

Thanks for the insider info, leaving the metalwork in is what the surgeon suggested. Taking it out is what the physio said.

Yeah, my break wasn't sexy either. Normal flare, glide and took a couple of steps on landing. But I on the way through I caught the foot in a tuffet of grass, kicked up some dust and twisted the foot to/beyond the limit. It was my fault that I slightly changed my run in at the last minute and I came in faster/lower than normal, but we are talking about fractions here. Before now I've hit the dirt hard, bounced, rolled and still got up with just bruises to my pride.

Waiting till I got a good range of movement in the ankle was my idea too. With the current rate of improvement I was expecting that to be in a month or so. I'm just expressing my dissapointment/shock at how long the physios said I should wait at this mornings consultation.

In short I guess I'm going to keep doing the physio/excercises/stretches and wait well into the new year before pulling a rig over my shoulders again.

Thanks to you and your good lady for the advice. Nice to have some educated input on what might happen if I do stoof in again.

Happy jumping.

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[TimHurford 0]

My own experience again, is that the missus rarely agreed with what the physio was saying; to paraphrase her (ok, removing expletives), 'bones are what she does for a living' ... that said, I used to tell her the most absurd things just to bait her!

My accident was six years ago, 50 jumps and while I wasn't jumping a pocket rocket by any standard, the wing loading certainly made it more responsive than my skills could handle in other than benign circumstances (no more said, there is another thread on low jump numbers and high performance canopies!). I waited three months for the fractures to heal, and to regain RoM and strength in my hand and arm before jumping again. And I bought a bigger canopy!

I think that strength and fitness also plays a part here- you need them as well as the fracture being healed and RoM - to be able to (and have the confidence to) run out a fast landing, or take the impact of getting sink on finals/late flare. If you have all that, then why let a little bit of metal put you off - if you break something, then it was going to break regardless!
FWIW

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