Just found out I have a non displaced fracture of my sacrum, which occurred two weeks ago (per MRI), caused from a bike wreck (thanks to the overweight woman driving, talking on cell phone and smoking). Any collective experiences on healing? Supposed to race again in Lubbock on June 27th (I have to assume that race may be doubtful). I was in pretty good “race shape” prior to wreck (raced a winter schedule, incl IM China), so I am hoping not to lose too much fitness, but running is my relative weakness. Thanks
DAB - What did the docs say about your healing, applying stress to the fracture site, and return to training? Any possibility the doc is involved in tri?
My doc is sports med doc for major university. He treats all sports there, incl distance runners, but no tri folks. He has said i can swim as much as I can tolerate, and is fine with bike on trainer, again as I can tolerate. He is hesitant to set a time restriction on running. He doesnt believe I will do more damage to fracture from bike or swim, but concerned about impact of running. I am 47, and he reminds me that I am not 20 on regular occasion. I am able to get therapy every day at the athletic dept training room (I joke about being on year 30 of a swimming scholarship). I am just curious as to any other experiences as to when triathletes have been able/released to run after similar injuriy.
DAB - Year 30 of a swimming scholarship eh? That’s a good one. For the sake of argument, I’m going to assume that you are now (and have been since the injury) neurologically intact, no change in bowel or bladder, numbness, impotence, that kind of thing and that you’re truly dealing with a non-displaced sacrum fracture. And, that you don’t want one of the guys from your bike group talking about Floyd Landis to take you down from behind when he gets distracted on the Thursday night ride converting this into a more serious problem. The diagnosis used to be made in part by rectal exam where the examiner would push backwards against the sacrum - occasionally trying to push pieces back into alignment. But, if the rectal wall is torn accidentally and it’s contents contaminate the fracture, well let’s just say it’s not good.
I think most people would be comfortable letting you return to the track when you are not tender at the fracture site, or minimally so, and start checking for this 4-6 weeks post injury. I would expect that now, being given permission to sit on the stationery bike, that leaning back and loading the tail bone region somewhat painful. No?
Doc- Thanks for the guidance. Fortunately, the advances of a MRI (and the fact it showed it was non-displaced) spared me the rectal exam for this malady.No other meaningful symtoms beyond pain. Riding upright (the “lazy, must getting a better viewing angle of the tv” position) does hurt, but staying down on the bars/aero does not. My ortho wants me on the trainer for at least two more weeks for the reason you suggested (although I have seen people wreck on a trainer- not rollers, a damn trainer). Your advice is helpful in convincing me to scratch Buffalo Springs on June 27 and consider Racine, WI on July 18th. Thanks!
I have had two sacral fractures, one in 2008 and one in 2009, due to stess fractures. I took three months off of no running. I could bike easy, swim all I wanted, and Aqua Jog. Your June 27th race may be a stretch. I upped my Vitamin D and aborsbable calcuim levels also. www.letsrun.com has a lot of good information on sacral fractures. For my last fracture was in July 2009, I took the rest of the year easy. I am back to normal this year (IM St. George, Memphis in May so far). Let it heal and don’t try to do too much too fast.
I am a 46 year old male who has been training and racing consistently for over 12 years. In December last year, I overdid my run training and was diagnosed with a stress fracture on the right side of my sacrum. It was diagnosed 4 weeks from onset. After diagnosis, I was back to running in six weeks. I took the first week off completely. Reduced load bearing as much as possible, and used crutches for a few days. The remaining five weeks, I rested as much as possible, did lots of pool running and swam with the pull buoy. After week four, I rode easy on the stationary bike. I also had PT throughout. Focused on the core and upper leg strength. Return to running was super-low volume. It took me 8 weeks from the start of my return to running to get to 30 miles per week. I still had a way to go to get back to mid-season mileage and speed at that point. This is just my experience with an injury in this area, but it might give you an idea as to the parameters and activites one might take on the way to recovery. It’s best to listen to a doctor who can be more specific to your situation and condition. (Unfortunately, I didn’t listen well enough, and at that 8 week point I overdid it and injured the other side of my sacrum. I am now recovering from a stress reaction on the left side of the sacrum. This underscores ruggercsc’s point about letting it heal.) Best of luck with your recovery and season this year!
A family member had a similar fracture 20 years ago in a rock climbing accident. She did not go to or listen to docs right away. Unfortunately, she’s still dealing with it. Everything is at a toleration limit. She’s since gone to several docs all with different letters after their name, mostly to no avail. She was and is able to ride at the pro level, even MTB as a pro, but running is the worst for it. She’s got a good chiro on speed dial.
I hope yours is better. My advise: gather the best medical team you can and don’t leave until satisfied.
Sorry to hear. Get lots of calcium!