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Broken Femur
Kevinmurraywrote: My doc wants me to be mostly off crutches before I drive. Unfortunately my wife heard the doc say that so … |
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In the femur fracture club. Heart goes out to you. If after 6 months you haven’t really improved in the pain department get an xray. I hit the lotto and had what is called a non-union. Basically the bone never healed. Had to have surgery over again, rip the pin out, replace, and second time around it healed. Downstream effects of the injury was major imbalance in my hips/pelvis. Supine twists and yoga keep me right and pain free. Good luck! |
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Master Beta - I’m fortunate that my bone is healing nicely. I’m already at 100% weight bearing. I’m able to walk without crutches as I can tolerate. I’m still weak and unstable without some support though. |
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43 M here. Having two major injuries in the span of 7 months, my advice as others have said are: Do PT (conservatively) without re-injuring yourself or aggravating another part of your body. As a member on this forum, we are by default going to do the bare minimum PT and push ourselves.. but I've learned the hard way that pushing myself too hard could set you back. I tore my ACL + meniscus in Nov 2023 and had surgery in Dec 2023. Was killing rehab and was cleared to climb by my doctor in May 2024. I went back to it with gusto only to have an unfortunate accident in June 2024 where I took a 27 foot groundfall and shattered my ulna (compound fracture), radius and dislocated my elbow. On top of that: severing my ulnar artery, L1 compression fracture, broken sternum. Fast forward to today (14+ months since my second injury) and I have full ROM in my knee, wrist and elbow. No back pain anymore and I can run, jog, swim, hike 14ers etc. The doctors said I would never achieve hyperextension on my elbow again and would get 85% ROM best case in my wrist. WRONG - I got it back equal to my other side. But I pushed my arm rehab too hard to achieve goals that I am now dealing with tendon issues in my wrist. So I'm backing off now to heal. That said, I've had tendonitis in the past and am hopeful I will heal fully. So focus on ROM, stretching and eventually strength. They certainly work in concert together, but without good ROM / mobility, pushing strength too quickly (in my case), led to other issues. I've also used this to do some serious soul searching - practicing gratitude, mindfulness and overall healthier habits. A part of our identity dies with a setback like this - while our initial reaction is to re-create that identity because of the joy our activities bring us, this is also a great time to reassess values and see if there are other activities that can also bring us joy.. mine is simply spending more time with my young kids. |
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Broke my scapula yesterday while climbing man. Stay up brother ✊️ |
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Bicycle you butt off |
Steven oxleywrote: I was. That’s how I broke my leg. I’m walking now with a cane. I able to walk without one however my hip flexors are weak so I fold over injure weak leg. For PT I’m doing a hour of stationary biking an elliptical machines a week. In addition I’m doing leg press, quad extensions, hip abductors, hip raises, and balance ball work. My goal is to do ‘easy’ cc skiing in December. My glide won’t be good but that’s OK. |
Sean Cardenaswrote: I’ve broken my scapular and ribs at the same time, same side. It took about four months to heal up. You’ve got this! |
Chad Millerwrote: I appreciate it man..it's been just shy of 2 months since the accident happened so my scapula has healed considerably |
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That’s great Sean! Mine was ‘minor’ enough that no surgery was required. Took about three months for the bones to heal then a month of PT before I could push it again. |
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It’s been nearly six months since my broken femur. I’m healing up slowly. When I meet with my ortho surgeon next month I’ll know if things have healed up enough. I’m still weak and limp without a cane. That’s due to the weakened side glutes. Here is the before and after pics of the break.   |
 Chad, I broke my femur the day before Labor Day. I was just wondering if you had any issues with tissue rubbing against those knee pins. I can feel grating when I bend my knee and have a distinct knot on the inside lower pin. The ortho said that the bothersome pin can be removed if it continues to bother me but I’m trying to avoid anymore cutting on my leg. Any feedback would be appreciated. |
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fx con - I’m not experiencing that. I think it’s because my screws are higher up. I do experience a pinching around my high hip though. |
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I experience pinching and rubbing at my hip - its not significant and has gotten better over time. But it has never gone away. My hip flexibility in the affected leg is much lower. Pidgeon pose mobility on that side is poor- I recommend slowly working on that over time. |
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Active outdoor lifestyles take a heavy toll on our community. They say if you can get through the first 5 years of climbing injury free you are good to go. I fell off a climb in year two and fractured my ankle. That was 48 years ago. And while it healed, I'm constantly reminded of how it's not happy like my other ankle. I've lost track of how many friends spent time in the hospital after mountain biking. I tried that sport with my kids a few times. Speed with no safety net is not my thing. Unicycling is my wheeled sport of choice. It's aerobic, has an amazing flow state and crashes, dismounts are at walking speed. With skateboard armor no harm is done. Knocking on wood here. Skydivers, base jumpers, windsurfers, skiers, climbers and cavers all have one thing in common. They all get injured mountain biking. |
Mark Websterwrote: Well I’ve been / have
Only 6-8 were the fault of mountain biking. |
Mark Websterwrote: Ha! I love this quote - I am going to use it. |
fx conwrote: I have the same screws. In my case, bone growth capped over the screw and impeded the movement of the IT band. So while I recovered strength through PT, I still couldn’t walk very well. About a year after the injury, the offending screw was removed in an outpatient procedure, and effected an instant cure for my walking problems. The total recovery from the surgery did have some issues. It had to be drained a couple of times, and I had to do a course in oral antibiotics. Frankly, I overdid it in the immediate aftermath of the removal. However, the result was absolutely worth it. |
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Well, it’s been nearly seven months since breaking my femur. I’m recovering. Some days it seems like it’s not fast enough. I walk with a cane to stop my weak leg / hip from collapsing. I’m able to do some short / slow hikes and cc skiing. 2 miles, 2.5mph. Still no climbing or mountain biking. I’m hoping that over the next five months I’ll be able to move without discomfort or my hip collapsing. |
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Hey Chad. Having been through a femur fracture myself, chin up! You’ll get back to it eventually. I’m reluctant to offer advice as everybody’s body is different, but I wonder if you’ve thought about ditching the cane? Are you doing PT? I actually found I could climb before I could hike, since you can use your hands as well… have you thought about giving it a try? |
