Bike crash 7 days ago, not all the way through the trochanter, and not displaced, so no surgery. I am weight bearing to keep the muscle in tact, normal walking allowed, “not triathlete walking ie: logging miles”, cleared to swim now, upper body strength, no biking until I go back in 3 weeks,
I am still in a lot of pain and walking gingerly, adductors really sore Wondering about easy spin on trainer, Orthopedic says no, so I will follow but just curious if anyone has experience. Any sudden movement, falls or hard efforts put strain on the trochanter via muscles.
thank you
Disclaimer: MD here who has fractured his femur in the past but otherwise does no orthopaedic surgery!
It has obviously been a pretty decent smash to fracture your greater trochanter like that. Ouch. Cannot be pleasant.
Can I ask-what scans were done of the area? Did you have a CT and/or MRI done in addition to plan x-rays?
It is a pretty uncommon fracture to get and I doubt there will be many on here who have had similar fractures in the past.
I would strongly advise you to listen to the advice of your treating doctors in terms of what you are allowed to do exercise and weight bearing wise at this point in time. If you try and do too much too soon, or load your leg with exercises you are not supposed to be doing, you run the real risk of doing further damage which could lead to an even longer period of downtime.
As hard as it is, sometimes you need to just “take your medicine” initially and let your body do what it needs to initially. It is frustrating watching your fitness drop away but it is important.
I’m so sorry about your crash and injury. I haven’t had that particular fracture but have had others and had to take time totally off so I empathize.
I’m replying to send sympathy but also to suggest that you avoid using a pull buoy, as gripping it will use adductors and you don’t want to stress an already v sore muscle right now. I would avoid breaststroke kick for the same reason. If you want to pull (and this might be a good idea while your leg muscles get un-sore) use a resistance band and tie your ankles together. Or, that plus buoy would take stress off adductors (the band will keep your legs together and require less work of adductors).
I totally get keeping supporting muscles strong but if they get weak while fracture heals, that is better than strong muscles and delayed (or no) fracture healing.
Google bone stimulators - might have to pay out of picked but could speed healing.
Keep us updated, ok? Come post on the august swim thread. We’re here for you.
Wishing you the best.
Going to second what amnesia said
I had a fracture in my foot in summer 2021 and was non weight bearing for a couple months. I resisted the urge to do walking miles on one leg and crutches, although I considered it. I am glad I did.
You can probably do some upper body lifting? Arm bike? That xc ski machine that uses just arms (blanking on name)?
I’m 5 weeks today from a femoral neck fx repair with 3 pins after crashing on my bike. No wt bearing for 12 weeks, no strengthening… Listen to your doc and give your body time to heal. I am riding single leg on a stationary bike, but following advise from surgeon the best I can regarding my injured leg.
Bike crash 7 days ago, not all the way through the trochanter, and not displaced, so no surgery. I am weight bearing to keep the muscle in tact, normal walking allowed, “not triathlete walking ie: logging miles”, cleared to swim now, upper body strength, no biking until I go back in 3 weeks,
I am still in a lot of pain and walking gingerly, adductors really sore Wondering about easy spin on trainer, Orthopedic says no, so I will follow but just curious if anyone has experience. Any sudden movement, falls or hard efforts put strain on the trochanter via muscles.
thank you
You probably could, but I would give the body a rest. It’s doing a lot of repair and recovery right now. Get some swimming in with a buoy to keep some aerobic fitness. When you go back in 3 weeks I bet you’ll be cleared and you can ramp back up. I’d usually say 2 weeks off, but I don’t think it’ll hurt to have 3 off. It’s going to be a long road to recovery either way so try to “enjoy” the time on the couch if possible. I know that’s easier said than done. Here’s to quick healing!