Fractures and broken bones

[Dairygirl]

I am 36 going on 37. Had never broken or fractured a thing until 2 months ago. I got pitched off my horse on a country road in the middle of the national forest. I think it wouldn't have hurt as bad if it wasn't for the big golf ball size gravel I hit. Any way I broke a lower rib and fractured my pelvic bone. Pain was very bad needless to say but after 2 months I feel fine other then when I touch my hip in one spot. Still very tender. How long does this take to go a way? Doc. told me no riding for 3 months but I have rode a little for the last few weeks trying to get ready for trail riding season. Only thing I notice is I have bad chest pains at night after I ride. All I'm doing is walking my horse. Hate to sound stupid but here it goes. Could this be from the rib that is broken in the back? I didn't have near as much pain with it as I did the pelvic. He said it was the bottom rib if that makes a difference.

I'm waiting to go on the areas big trail ride this year since I missed it last but don't know if I can handle it. It is in one month. Plus it doesn't help having friends pressuring me to be their.

 

[ChrystalPaths]

Absolutelt the rib. Picture your body as it sways from the hip up the spine thru the ribcage.....you are NOT healed yet. Be patient and let it heal.

 

[Shari]

I made a mess of myself last Dec, I am still not totally healed.

You will heal but you have to Give it time.

added: I did try to ride Dyfra a few times bare back... was in a whole lot of pain and this is with one of the most smooth horses on earth. People kept telling me my body wasn't healed or ready yet and they were right.

The first almost pain free and ejoyable ride I have had since the accident was a couple of weeks ago. I walked and tolt just a tiny bit for the first time.

When you can get on and ride at the walk ...without any pain, then you are healed. I know how frustrating it is to wait but it is better for you in the long run if you wait.

Normally major breaks .. I was told anyway.. take 3 months for bones to heal for healthy people.

If you have brittle bones like me then.............

 

[sdmini]

Niece broke her pelvic really bad five years ago when her horse fell in a prairie dog hole. Too this day riding isn't enjoyable and she has all but given it up.

 

[Kootenay]

I broke my ankle about eight years ago--shattered it actually--almost lost my ankle/foot due to a young quarter horse 'jumping on me' , while I tried to hold the reins while it's rider was mounting. Just the break was bad enough. Now I have pins and plates on both sides of my ankle. It has it's good days and it's bad--I still ride when I have a horse available.

It took about 6 months, and then tons of rehab before i could walk properly or run again. Give your injury time. It will heal, but it may have it's moments.

:Kim

 

[Westwood Farms]

yes, I think it is still the rib, and My goodness girl, let it heal!! I am still sore from childbirth 3 months ago, because he was stuck...Take it easy my friend..

 

[alongman]

Here's my opinion - take it for what it's worth. Broken ribs, especially those that are floating (like the bottom ribs) take a long time to heal. With each injury (such as moving, bending, etc...) it can actually rebreak the injured area and prolong the healing time. Think of the break as an open wound - at first it bleeds then develops a scab or sorts. If you move that scab, the injury starts to rebleed. The bone is somewhat similar in that it forms a layer of healing to repair itself - if that is dislodged, then it has to start over again.

The other concerning thing here is, with any major bone (aka pelvis) break, there is a possibility for developing actual blood clots in the area. These clots can remain for a period of time before being reabsorbed by the body. If these clots break free from their location of injury, they can travel throughout the body until they get "caught" in smaller vessels - most commonly brain, lungs or heart. If these clots get stuck, they can cause complications such as heart attacks, pulmonary emboli and CVA's (strokes). Working in emergency medicine, we do see a fair share of these types of emboli in patients who are post-surgical.

Talk to your doctor!!!!!

 

[iluvwalkers]

[SIZE=14pt]sep.15th 2006 i came off a horse onto pavement, i broke my back in several places, broke 3 ribs and my pelvis was smashed, 7 breaks. i had some major surgeries to put me back together with lots of screws and was non weight baring for months and had to learn to walk again. i am in pain most of the time still but sep.15th 2007 i got on my horse and rode. this may sound odd but when i was riding i had no pain. it probably depends on where your break was and how well/fast you heal, it's different for everyone. i would talk to your Dr. about the pain your having, do what you feel is best for you as far as the ride, you might be feeling much better in a month, give it time. hope you are riding pain free soon, good luck and be careful

: , Nikki [/SIZE]

 

[Mercysmom]

[SIZE=14pt]sep.15th 2006 i came off a horse onto pavement, i broke my back in several places, broke 3 ribs and my pelvis was smashed, 7 breaks. i had some major surgeries to put me back together with lots of screws and was non weight baring for months and had to learn to walk again. i am in pain most of the time still but sep.15th 2007 i got on my horse and rode. this may sound odd but when i was riding i had no pain. it probably depends on where your break was and how well/fast you heal, it's different for everyone. i would talk to your Dr. about the pain your having, do what you feel is best for you as far as the ride, you might be feeling much better in a month, give it time. hope you are riding pain free soon, good luck and be careful

: , Nikki [/SIZE]

Oh Nikki - glad to hear you are back on board your horse!

Yup, don't rush it - I am so itchy to start breaking my Morgans but learned the hard way (Marty will probably give me the business I need

: )... decided after two knee surgeries I was feeling pretty good and would sit on Enterprise without help (she is the smaller of my two Morgans). She launched me not once but twice...first time bruised my tailbone and the second time she broke my glasses and even with a helmet on, I had a headache for three days.....

Learned my lesson - the breaking training will be done by someone in a little better shape than I am in but we are still doing our ground work.

Good luck,

Denise

Silversong Farm

 

[Dairygirl]

Thanks all of you so much. I will take your advice and give it time. I miss riding but I sure don't need another fall and get hurt all over again. I have no help with my animals ( husband in Iraq) and those friends who are pressuring me to ride on these trail rides sure wasn't their to help me feed when I got hurt the first time. I had to feed my horses on pain meds and one scoop at a time till I got it done. Funny thing is my horses new I was hurt. They stayed back to let me feed where they usually push to get to the feed. Bad thing is I had a rooster who started jumping on me. He knew I couldn't do anything about it but when I got better I broke him of that. Funny how animals know!

I'm sure glad I posted.

 

[Valerie]

Oh my gosh, please give yourself time to heal.......a wrong move & you will definitely have some serious issues.....

Sorry to hear about your friends not helping out.........that isn't very nice.......

Take care of yourself.......sorry your got hurt...that just sucks.

 

[Dairygirl]

Thanks Valerie. Friends are hard to find and the ones that would go out of their way I wouldn't dare ask for help because they live a way from me. I did or do have one good friend I could have counted on but she has gotten herself in a spot. Messing around with her married boss at work and has forgotten everyone else. She is young and will learn the hard way. I feel bad for her and want to help her not get hurt but how do you go and do that with out making her mad and loosing a good friend. You know that may be a good post. maybe I can get some good advice about that too.

 

[Valerie]

I can totally relate to the "friend" issue...... "true" friends are very hard to find, that is one reason I am happy to have 3 sisters I can count on.....even though they all live in Oregon & I live in WA, I know that they will do anything for me and I will do anything for them. I am also very blessed to have a Dad that will drop things & come up if I need the help.

We do have a few horse friends around that I could ask in a pinch, but a lot of my friends are not horse people, so it's more work to explain things and not worth it.

Do remember to take care of yourself, keep yourself #1 right now. Your friend is going down a dangerous path but she is also going to have to learn her own life lesson, just don't let her get you dragged into her game of self-defeat........ I had a friend who cheated on her husband with a police-officer (who happened to be our boss when we were volunteers with the police dept).....this was a close friend & I never knew she was cheating on her husband until he found out & told me. You could have knocked me over with a feather!

But it didn't end there, she ended up suing this policeman and the city over how she got fired from her volunteer job and was harrassed.......that being said she called this man she had the fling with over 500 times in a 7 hour period. I ended up being getting summoned to go to trial & I stopped talking to her the day that happened.....have since lightened up and will talk to her about work things (we work at the same company on the same team, so we do have to communicate), but I do not delve into any personal info. My husband is a police-officer (for another county) and he and several of his co-workers also got summons. Anyway, to make a long story a little shorter, nothing good comes from people cheating on one another.

If the man wasn't happy with his marriage, he should leave it and if your friend doesn't think that he will cheat on her also, she is sadly mistaken. Ok, I am off my soapbox now.

I do hope you are feeling a little better......remember get some rest where you can & take care of yourself.

 

[LindaL]

I understand the "need" to go on with your life like nothing happened, but please be careful and listen to your body.

I broke my elbow and sprained my wrist about 8 weeks ago. The elbow has healed pretty well and the wrist took its time and i still have twinges of pain in both if I do "too much"...which for me is...weight training and dragonboat paddling...

: Today, I feel it a little worse than others, because I pushed myself harder, but I continue to do it.

My injuries arent bad like yours tho...yours can bring on other issues that are life threatening (as Adam pointed out). I hope you take it easy and get well soon!

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