[Closed] Dealing with injuries/not being able to ride

Healing vibes.

This may not be what you want to hear, but when I had a broken arm I put a turbo trainer in the living room and I found that absolutely invaluable.

At the time I had Eurosport on the Sky+ so I could watch road races while I was pedaling.

Now there's Zwift obvs, but I'm not really into computer games apart from Mario Kart.

Start going for some serious walks to get your mind of stuff

Tried that but it just feels like my shoulder is going to fall off when I walk.
Got half a mile last time before it started to hurt.
Tried the MTFU technique and got to two miles before I couldn't cope.
The two miles home hurt more than the ride out of the forest when I broke it.
TBH I think anything physical until the bone either starts to weld back together or gets plated isn't really an option.

This was taken at week six. As you can see my shoulder has nothing to stop it just floating around.
https://flic.kr/p/2jvfkcL

I did mine at the end of May, didn't look too dissimilar to yours. They couldn't get me out of A&E quick enough and gave me a crap single loop sling. I saw a consultant 2 weeks later and it hadn't come close to starting to union and given I was at that point Running the house, trying to work a bit and home schooling 2 kids 5 days a week whilst my wife was working at another hospital, they put me on the list for an op mid June. Shoulder finally felt good enough for a proper ride this weekend.

What sort of sling have you got? I was finding pre-op the higher I could get my shoulder the better it felt, cranking the sling right up seemed to help bring everything back into alignment and walking etc was ok. I also tried a figure of 8/butterfly sling which again felt better the tighter it was done up.

Whilst I didn't use a turbo pre op, that was mainly due to the effect of concussion after the crash. Post op Zwift has been a fantastic tool to keep the legs and cardio up and I'm actually fitter than before the accident. The game side of it is decent too though I like video games so you might be different.

Next appt push for an op, I was told that although they don't normally go that route, they were fairly convinced that 6 weeks down the line it would probably not have joined and that I'd need one anyway, which is what has happened to you unfortunately. That you have a physical job and are normally fit and healthy with a very active lifestyle should be enough to convince them it might be worth it. That said my shoulder still isn't great, I broke my other one and had it plated 12 years ago and I don't recall that shoulder being as niggly as this time around.

Healing vibes.

Its tough.

I've had time off the bike recently with pneumonia and its miserable.

I did things like:

Dismantle my bike in the front room, clean everything, weigh everything and log it on a spreadsheet
Search for replacement items that weigh less
Buy replacement items
Convert wheels to tubeless
Watch 11 series of Gold Rush on discovery
Watch Nazi mega structures on discovery
Cuddle the dog (dont tell anyone that though, and definitely dont mention said dog is a chihuahua)
Eat Ben & Jerrys

Can you do squats or anything like that? Turbo trainer would be really good if thats doable.

I've never had that type of injury, so it's not easy to know what your limitations are, could you do z1/2 efforts on a turbo or is there anywhere very safe near home you could pootle outdoors?

It's three weeks since my back abscess drain now, it is extremely frustrating to see my best post-Covid fitness gains in mid July now unravelling before my eyes, because getting sweat in the open healing wound does it no favours... While piling on the weight.

Thankfully I've been able to do some short non-sweaty rides, but I went back to work yesterday and the physical job could well be why today's dressing change was the first time in over a week when the wound wasn't dry under the old dressing, hopefully things will look more positive on Friday.

Thanks all so far.
Got a decent sling but if i crank it up it just pushes the top bone up even higher and more out of alignment.
I asked the doc about this and he said not not use a sling at all. This was at ten days which seemed like stupid advice to me.
Tom.
Did they just offer you the op at 2 weeks?
Got a scan a week tomorrow and then an apointment with the fracture clinic the week after.
I really can't think of any way they can't offer me an op if its not showing any signs of healing at 9 weeks. Then again they told me that I could have the op if there were no signs of healing after 4 weeks then said I couldn't have it.

On the plus side I do have a new custom built frame arriving on Friday.
Shame i'll not be able to ride for quite a while yet.

Week 5 of my recovery from dislocation and break of my fibula
It's hard! Lots of teary moments as my wife and kids go for walks etc
Turbo and rehab exercises keeping me semi sane

Broke my clavicle

Is that not an acromioclavicular joint separation as opposed to a clavicle fracture?

If so what grade❓

Self refer to a NHS Physio at your local hospital online.

If it is an ACJ injury, taping / strapping may help.

IANAD

Definitely a broken clavicle.
That's what they told me it was.
The bone looks like it's in 2 seperate bits.
I can feel the two ends of the bone moving uder my skin and with my fingures when i press it.🤮

Are you saying it's not?

Don't know how old you are, but in your 50s injuries take so bloody long to get over.
I smashed my shoulder, didn't even break anything, at the start of lockdown, so early-mid March. It's still giving me massive gip now. Took ages before I could actually use it or ride. Then I found swimming was ok and actually great for strengthening a few weeks back and so the weather goes shit.

But, having said all that, it [i]has[/i] got better, there was a period, during May/June when I thought it had reached a plateau and would never recover. At my (our?) age, you just have to have patience with your body. They don't like being bashed around and take their time recovering.
You'll get there.

(Did laugh at the suggestion to go walking, when you'd just said how painful walking was! 😆 )

Thanks Dez.
I understand that at 52 i'm not going to repair as quick as I did BITD but in order to repair the bones would first need to be in the same postcode to even have a chance.
The suggestions of a walk or local bimble did cheer me up though.
Only on STW

Doh - I just looked at the bit on the left of your photo, that's snapped. I got focused on the other end. Ignore me!

IANAD

There's a lot of evidence to suggest that early molbilisation after breaks can give much better healing outcomes. I broke mine a couple of months ago, went to physioclinic.net for some lasers and magnets (have been before as have others I know, sounds like witchcraft but works), 3 weeks back on the road bike, 4 weeks back to normsl mtb with no pain etc. Treatment 1 week after break and no pain after.

Isn't there someone folk on here recommend in terms of progressing breaks like this?

I had a fracture last year, through luck it healed fast and not what the consultant thought would occur, trouble is it's healed in a way that's caused shoulder pain for the last year, weirdly not an issue on the bike though!

Stu,
Yeah I was pretty surprised to be honest and it caught me off guard a bit but they straight away said they were fairly convinced that 6 weeks down the line it would probably not have joined and that I’d need one anyway. This is in Edinburgh BTW. The main consultant was in one room and a registrar and med student were in the clinic with me and kept popping back and forth. It was a bit weird TBH. They told me I was on the list and it would be sometime in the next 2 weeks, but I got a call at 9pm 48hrs later to be in the following morning.
Then on the morning of the surgery, about 20mins before I was due to go into theatre another registrar who was doing the pre op checks started going on about how the surgery was unnecessary, they all heal by themselves blah blah blah, at which point the anaesthetist butts in saying actually for someone like me fit, active, young (Im 41!) its entirely appropriate!
Turns out he was a mountain biker as was another assistant and we all ended up having a good chat about bikepacking as the needles went in and the lights went out...

pic

Thanks Tom.
Sounds like a stroke of luck.

Yeah, I suspect orthopaedics were pretty quiet at the beginning of June, which probably helped!

I had collarbone surgery last week
Crashed the day before lockdown, had 9 cracked ribs too.
Was told to let it heal itself, with the NHS sling, thats all(maybe due to complications from the ribs)
I got to walk a bit, very slowly at first, and needed painkillers after 30 mins.By week 10I was walking 3+ miles a day average. The physio I was doing helped but I didnt get full ROM.Then the XRay showed it was 30% new bone/forming, and was told to give it 6 weeks before deciding on surgery.
So at 16 weeks I got an apppointment with the surgeon ,in 3 weeks time. He said OK, surgery, we'll call you
I heard from them a few days later, they said I have surgery in 2 weeks, and have to self-isolate until then
I was fixing the bike and other things as I could with the left hand until something felt bad and I had to be really careful, but walking around here,watching nature was good for me. I could drive, but under lockdown.
I got the all clear from the doc to cycle,but too late because of a cockup, so I had only 3 days to ride before self isolate
Doc said I can do anything except fall over, or heavy things, Im 60 now, and going to take it easy this year.
Im sure I meant to write something useful, or encouraging, but I forgot now, so maybe later
Lifes not all about doing the same thing, it seems

Start going for some serious walks to get your mind of stuff

Very much this.

I was told in 2016 that a re-injury (lower-abs/groin injury) was ‘too complex/not suitable’ for repair surgery (too expensive morelike) and that it would take ‘time’. ‘For now, do no exercise. Try and do nothing’

I asked how long and consultant gave me pantomime shrug. Heartening! Have since been reinjuring twice a year and each time am off bike and driving for weeks at a time. Sometimes it has been months/maybe occasional bimbling on the level with the seat slammed. Bottom line is I’ve hardly cycled in last 4 years.

Prior to that it had taken me 5-6 years to get remission/get out of a wheelchair and cycle again (following an aggressive RA) eventually resumed some ‘gingerly-on the level‘ form of cycling using only heels on pedals. Off bike was still on crutches, couldn’t walk unaided. Also use the bike as a support if walking until walking became to painful, then would cycle again, until that became too painful. Then walk/shuffle again Often had to use streams/watercourse to dunk feet until numb with cold as pain relief. Eventually took a towel in my backpack just for this!

Took a total of about 15 years to get to the point of riding without appreciable pain (from joint deformation, atrophy, scar tissue/neuromas. By which time it had overlapped into the first instance of this current abs/groin injury.

If I think too hard about it’s sometimes hard to swallow losing about half of my cycling life so far (now I’m approaching mid-50s) When I first went down with RA/got wheel-chaired I’d just registered to take the First stage of the MTB Leaders qualification so had to cancel it (along with my first driving test) That was 1997. I drove again in 2004. Cycling was patchy. Have just gotten to the point where I think in a couple of years I have the strength and flexibility where I could try the leadership qualification again. Small steps.

But all in all being able to make any progress at all however minute is what keeps me going. At one point a year ago when injuring on every climb (cycle) I changed things around by getting a foot-bike so it would take the seated-climb problem out of the equation.

Other times walking saved the day. It reminds me of the times when I couldn’t walk. Walking always saves the day though. Walk paths and explore. Breathe deeply. Walk faster/listen to music and walk as exercise. You’ll be back on the bike when the time is right.

At the very worst point (ie bedridden, sleepless, on pain killers) there is always distraction! For me it was PS2 Tomb Raider, Downhill Domination or PC Flight Unlimited II. Free-roam type escapist games. Helped massively over the best part of two years. That, and physio. Podcasts are also good. Especially educational ones. I use them now when off the bike walking.

All the best for your speedy recovery and expanding horizons. Having the right attitude is key and you seem to have that. I learned - Bitterness = killer. Gratitude = winner.

Im sure I meant to write something useful, or encouraging

You did that was both useful and encouraging.
Cheers for the reply.

Malvern.
I'll try to stop feeling sorry for myself after reading your post.
again thanks.

Forgot to say - if too painful to walk, you could (depending on how long to get fixed) think about a recumbent trike? Mrs Rider took a fall and exploded her collarbone into 5, was plated with special brittle-bone screws etc. Eventually I got her a KMX offroad trike for gentle rides on the level. Got her outdoors. You could also bodge the underseat steering to minimise shoulder-movement.

She’s a former triathlete but has had to quit all sports now owing to progressive disease.

The trike was a good break from the pain of walking while she could use it. She’s my ****ing complete hero because whenever I get bitter/annoyed/sad she is still there with a smile no matter. Even though she’ll never swim, run or bike again. It pretty much all stopped for her at 51 years old after a decade of decline, but still she pushes on every day with self-admin physio to try and save some function/hope for something.

We struggled 4.5 years with conflicting specialists/lost records, long waits between tests for her to be finally referred to a consultant/team at London Neurological Hospital. Finally admitted late March this year, finally was granted ‘comprehensive and aggressive physio programme (to try preserve some joint/limb function) but the Covid appeared and she’s been left to her own devices/pain meds again since April/‘lockdown’ She keeps her mind active. Even if it’s writing a paragraph a day or calling her mum or friends between meds/sleep. She smiles at my grumpy face every morning. If you could see that smile you’d just do whatever you can, and some.

*Edit - I figured it’s natural for us men to sometimes feel sorry for ourselves/go into our hermit-shell ... so go easy on yourself! 😎

I've spent the last 23 weeks with long haul covid-19 and have barely touched a bike or been able to exercise for most of that time. Riding, running, going up mountains has always been my coping mechanism / way of life, so it's been challenging in all sorts of ways as well as being incredibly unpleasant, frustrating and often quite boring. I can't work either.

Stuff that's helped me includes meditation - it took a global pandemic to make me actually use the Headspace app which has sat on my phone untouched for two years or so - which has helped with calmness generally and reframing my situation in particular. There's a good series of meditations on it dealing with recovery from injury.

Also, on the bigger picture side of things, acceptance has been a massive boon for me, though it took months to get to that point. It's really tiring worrying and obsessing and being frustrated and angry over something you have limited control over. I don't mean giving up, resignation if you like, but accepting that you are where you are.

You can't change what happened in the past and you have limited control over the future, but in the present you can focus on things that help you heal like diet, rehab, meditation rest - proper rest - etc. Focus, but try not obsess.

On specifics, try to remember that there's more to life than riding a bike / working. In the morning think of four or five things that give you pleasure or joy or, being less ****y, you just enjoy doing. Could be listening to a podcast, reading a book for an hour, cooking or baking, doing some gardening, writing poetry, machine-gunning starlings, whatever. Then schedule them into your day so it has some sort of structure and you're not just wandering aimlessly through it feeling sorry for yourself. Choose stuff you can actually do, so it's achievable. It doesn't have to be a big deal, just small things that make you happy.

Being miserable and bitter is tiring. I'm not saying don't feel sad, but don't let it define you. You are where you are. You can work hard, explore options and do everything you can to help your body heal, call it 'Project Recovery' and tackle it systematically if that's the way you're wired.

Oh, and while it sounds ****y, a gratitude diary where at the end of the day you jot down three or four things from the day that you're grateful for can help to emphasise than not everything in your life is dark clouds.

Good luck getting it sorted.

I’ll try to stop feeling sorry for myself after reading your post.

I don't think that works really. It's like the 'there are children starving in Africa, now feel grateful it's not you and eat your porridge' card. Just knowing others are having a rougher time than you, doesn't make your own reality different. You need to find ways of dealing with that on its own terms.

I found walking best if I take it as slow as I want, listen to the birds, watch the dragonflies,sit down for 5 minutes if it starts hurting, and have some painkillers
You need to forget about getting back to normal, just do what you have to and let things take care of themselves

Thanks for that post BWD.
Makes sense what you're saying I'll try and keep some of it in mind over the next few weeks.
I'm feeling a bit better today after a mate came round yesterday to see how I was doing/ keep me company for a while. This mate is the one I was with when I crashed. It did make me laugh to hear him say how slowly he's now going over the wooden plank bridges like the one i crashed on.

Going to try a small walk round the local park today instead of trying to do to much like the last time.
New frame should arrive tomorrow so at least I'll get some pleasure from that.
Just need to get out of the "should be able to do that, pissed off because I can't" frame of mind.
Might even give the headspace app a go.

No problema Stu. Yep, social contact is really good too. I've been trying to stay in touch with mates, do the occasional cafe meet-up etc.

I'm also about to build up a new frame ready for when I'm back riding, it's a kind of statement of intent. I've just about completed my parts pile and have everything I need, bar the brakes which I'm going to have to steal off my rarely ridden Blur 4x 'heritage' bike.

I found Headspace really good. I'm not someone who's ever thought of himself as particularly mindful, but I've found it really calming and surprisingly useful. It's hard to explain, but it sort of finds its way into the rest of your life by a sort osmotic process.

Off to have needles placed in random places now 🙂

Hi Stu,

That sounds exactly like my experience with a distal fracture of my collarbone (which I think is what you have, the fracture is at the shoulder end of the bone rather than the middle or the closer to the sternum?). It is apparently slow to heal as there is less blood flow at that end.

I felt I was getting properly jerked around by the consultant/registrars, at first he was all blase saying 'yeah you can have surgery now if you want it but let's see how it heals in the next 4-6 weeks?'. I agreed to this and of course 4-6 weeks later the x-rays showed no healing. They still suggested waiting another 4 weeks (it was a younger registrar this time instead of the original consultant). 4 weeks later, different (young) registrar, still no evidence of healing but still 'yeah it's fine, we don't think surgery is appropriate etc. etc.'.

By this stage I'm ashamed to admit I sent a snotty letter to the original consultant (or at least, c.o. his secretary) explaining my frustration, I had a heavy 2 year old to be carrying around and even a desk job was tricky with my right arm in a sling. Miraculously I got another appointment, another x-ray and THIS one finally showed some fusion between the bones.

It has only gotten better since and if I'm honest I *think* I prefer not having had the surgery. Ultimately it was just a longer timeframe for healing that I had hoped it would be. From the original break to getting back to commuting it was about 14 weeks.

The turbo helped keep me sane, but if at all possible try to do easy and often to begin with, I typically did 2 fairly hard sessions a week but strangely my fitness when I got back to CX racing was pretty poor, I guess due to lack of volume, 2hrs a week isn't much even if its high intensity on the turbo!

Good luck.

Random throwaway idea, take a camping/fishing chair with you on walks to regularly rest (presuming you can carry things without discomfort on your non-broken side), if you have nature on your doorstep then this could be quite pleasant.

OP, I kept my PS2 and a copy of Downhill Domination, if that could be a good distraction/any use then pm me and I’ll pop it in the post

That's a really kind offer Malvern but I'll be fine without it.
The kind words and reading about other peoples struggles with this problem has really helped me.
STW might seem to be full of argmentative, opinionated ****s at times but threads like this prove that there's also some brilliant and very helpful people on here too.
Thanks again all.😁

I hope youve been doing some physio. I got worse from not moving the arm at all. To me it felt very odd to have the 2 bone ends moving around separately.I wanted to give the fibrous matter/new bone to have the best chance, even though the doc said I could do what I want
Anyway,back to now,Ive just driven to the shops, and had a gentle bike ride
And saw 2 kingfishrs fly past in the setting sun, more brilliant than ever

If 1/2 a mile is too painful then do 1/4 mile.
I was 22 weeks off work in 2018 after a broken ankle, 6 weeks were non weight bearing.
Take every victory you can, no matter how small.

Sorry for posting this up again but I'm feeling pretty low at the moment and it might help me a little.
After 12 weeks with no signs of the bones healing I was operated on a a plate put in to bolt the two bits of bone together.
That was 8 weeks ago.
Just got back from the hospital and the xray didn't look good.
Still a gap between the two bits of bone and still in a fair bit of pain.
The doctor tried to tell me everything is normal until I told him that I'd already seen the xray and the gap...
He then went away to consult with someone.
When he came back he said he'd looked at the xray and there was a gap (i can only presume he'd not looked first time) but I shouldn't worry about it.
I asked what happened now and he said they'd not be able to do anything as they don't consider it to be a problem until it's 9 month without repair and to come back in 2 months.
I asked about the physio I'd been doing and was told to carry on with it but not lift my arm above my head. Most of the physio I've been give involves trying to do just this...
Also not to lift anything with that arm.
So it looks like I'm going to be unable to ride or work for another 2 to 7 months and I've already been off for 5.
How the **** can something as simple have caused so much trouble.
I'm really not sure how I'll be able to cope if I have another 7 months of this and It's still not fixed.
I just feel lost and totaly helpless with no end to it in sight.

Can you see your gp about it and get them to push the hospital or see someone else.understand gps might be overworked though.might be the hospital thinks its self inflicted from a silly sport.some are great though.support guy in a and e told me I'd done a great job when I had a serious shoulder break.surgeon told me not to mtb anymore as it's too dangerous as a sport.not because of my injury though.he did a great job though.got no advice as i went straight to the cigs when i couldn't ride.got a basic turbo which helped but i found it boring.good luck

Sometimes you have to step away from the NHS so would suggest that if you can afford to then investigate private consultants.

fwiw I had to stop riding nearly 5 years ago. Private diagnosis although I knew what it was.

The only one genuinely interested in your health is you so you need to put the work in to find the best and most suitable person to help you. Write down a list of questions and never be fobbed off.
Take control of your health.

Best of luck.

Hi Stu

That's really crap. Like trumpton says, you have to find someone who gets what you are going through - sympathetic GP or physio would be a good start.

Not healing v well 8 weeks after op doesn't sound great, even considering your wait. I had a plate a few years ago aged 59 after a double break in collar bone (yes, bike crash), but thanks to a great consultant (and no covid) I had the op 10 days later. I was driving after 8-9 weeks and back on the bike 3 weeks after that.

Soo...I'd keep pressing on whether they believe your healing process is within acceptable time or not - yes or no? And if "yes" what are the next milestones and timetable for that - anything but leaving it for a vague timetable to come back "if it's not right".

Hope you get some postive progress

Not an expert, but the fact you had a plate in 2 months ago and the fracture has shown no signs of progressing the union between the two parts would make me thing that it has to be something regarding the blood flow in that area, but i'd seriously doubt a consultant/registrar/etc would not have thought that within a second of seeing the gap having not improved!

Guessing you've just been fobbed off down the road, you need to see you GP and really push that this is affecting your mental health and your day to day life, including work, at this time the NHS is pushed, but you need to point out that this virus and lockdown issue has caused even more issues for you, and having the lack of mobility and ability to go and do things is a huge issue, push for a second, third or whatever opinion, ask about who to complain too, don't take it on the chin and wait another two months!

Cheers for the replys.
I've been in touch with my GP and at first they just tried to refer me back to the same hospital.
I stressed how this was affecting my life and then they took the time to actually look at my case.
After this they have agreed that it needs a second opinion and have referred me to a different hospital but they can't say how quickly this will happen.
Hopefully soon as I've now been in pain from this for 5 months and I still can't see a light at the end of the tunnel.

I just can't believe that all this pain and stress has been going on for so long over the most broken bone in the body.

How the **** can something as simple have caused so much trouble.

It is really sh*t. I do find the NHS is good for the real 'oh crap' moments but ongoing routine care for non emergency stuff can and does drag woefully.

I also broke my collarbone (3.5 years ago now). They misdiagnosed at first, then decided to leave it to heal and not plate, then misdiagnosed again as it was super slow to heal, as it broke down the sternum end & they totally missed I had a SCJ dislocation.

I went for nearly 18 months of x-rays, MRI's, consultant appointments, etc - threats of surgery & all sorts, but literally having to endlessly chase them.

After a few months I just started riding again anyway - I really struggled at first as I had no stability & strength, but I then started rehabbing properly (not sorted by the NHS, but privately) & have ever since. I had to change my position on the bike to improve my strength & stability, which was really hard, as when racing I just default to what I knew best, but now despite looking (and feeling) a bit weird it 95% of the time doesn't affect me, and certainly sounded preferable to the surgery options they were considering.

Just keep pushing them relentlessly.

Ironically I had a massive off after a snapped chain last week & folded myself up into a big tree, somehow I didn't do another collarbone but I did bust a few ribs & a bone in my hand, so well & truely back on the pain train for the next few weeks 🙁

Good to hear, honestly as i said, don't be afraid to show your feelings to the doctor/surgeon/registrar/etc, just accepting the 'come back in 3 months' is what we're programmed to accept, but it just means you are being triaged down the list, and then having even more regret that you didn't say something earlier.

It's not 'moaning', it's just wanting to be able to live your life at an acceptable level, what you have isn't a disability, it's fixable and should be sorted out ASAP.

Just had a phone call from a private physio I've been seeing
I emailed him yesterday after seeing my xrays to check if he thought it was ok to carry on treatment.
Great of him to ring me and take the time to answer all my questions after the lack of answers from the doctor kind of gave me the fear.

Hes not seen the latest xray yet but hopefully I'll be able to show him on saturday.
He thinks that telling me not to try to lift my arm above my head is an arse covering exercise and counter productive.
He also thinks that the plate and screws they've put in are capable of taking a fair bit of stress and it's only sudden shocks like crashing that would cause any problems.
Hes even told me that the plate looks like its to firm and not allowing the small amounts of movement that encourage new bone growth.
He gave me an example of another patient that had a similar problem with a leg break.
He took her in his own time to see a specialist who diagnosed the same thing and suggested they removed a couple of the screws.
After this the bone started to repair again.

Hes suggested that easy riding without the chance of crashing my even help by moving things around and putting a small amount of stress on it to get the bone stimulated a bit more.
That in my mind ties in with what Hob-Nob has just said.
Thanks again for the replys it's all helping me try to sort my head out instead of going into a spiral of no hope of ever being able to ride/work again.
Hob-Nob
Hope your latest injurys heal soon mate.

@BadlyWiredDog I'm going up the wall after 14 days with no bike riding and a further 6 weeks before I can attempt another ride. Well done for coping with your lay-off.

At least on Friday I can go for a walk outside (post surgery recuperation here).

I've had 2 or 3 injuries that have involved hospitals, X-rays, MRI etc. and I've been able to get rapid treatment. It might just be good luck or co-incidence but I've gone out of my way to understand the various "pathways" that there are and I've done everything to expedite my treatment. Only once have I paid for a private consultation, making sure that the consultant also did NHS work at my local NHS hospital.
In the last instance I found that my local NHS area has a separate team for muscular and skeletal issues that all local GPs refer patients into. I found that with a bit of research and begging and "please help me in my miserable state" I was able to see the route through the system and get people looking out for my referral and get it moved up the queue.
If you have a pleasant and persuasive phone manner it's worth an hour or two calling around and trying to recruit some inside help.
In my recent case I was able to convince the right person that I needed an MRI scan, even though my 1st triage appointment was (and still is) 21st December. I had the scan on 18th October, called and chased and cajoled it through the system and then on 27th October got a call from a Spinal surgeon (on his mobile while he was looking at the scan) telling me to get in straight away to the Major Trauma Ward where the surgical team would be waiting for me! Do not pass go, do not collect £200 do not have anything by mouth! Operated on next day and now fully mended. Probably not going to go to the triage appointment!

Good for you John
At my local hospital it seems stuff like that is impossible.
Mrsstu works for the NHS and even after her boss had spoken to the surgeon (who he knows) he was never able to see me for one reason or another.
Was told he wasn't there on one occasion only to see him walk past at the other end of the corridor...

Hopefully my referral to a different hospital will see some better results.

@BadlyWiredDog I’m going up the wall after 14 days with no bike riding and a further 6 weeks before I can attempt another ride. Well done for coping with your lay-off.

At least on Friday I can go for a walk outside (post surgery recuperation here).

I don't really have much choice tbh. All I can do is rest, eat well and focus on recovery. On the plus side, I seem able to do gentle resistance training using a TRX without kickback and I'm about to stick the cross bike on Kickr to start some very gentle pedalling.

Good luck with the recovery and enjoy your walk 🙂

Ssstu - you've hit one dead end. Keep going and don't even think of stopping until you've hit 20. I'm not saying people are deliberately obstructive, it's just easier and "normal" in a lot of circumstances. But I've found (and I'm an avid "thank you" email writer) that when you do land on somebody who can make a real difference to your life it makes them really happy.
And that thing about"he's not here". If the consultant is there for private clinics, they're not there for NHS that day, and vice versa.

Sorry to hear your struggles Stu.

I broke my back in 4 places in March so I'm over 8 months in now - recovery has been slow and steady & thankfully I'm back riding and walking (I've got a thread going elsewhere on here about my new bike - arriving next week - decided to treat myself!)

Anyway, I've spent a lot of time thinking about what "kind" of cyclist I want to be, once recovered. This involved watching loads of youtube videos, which got me watching/reading/investigating more "adventure" and touring riding, which sounded really appealing knowing full well I was unlikely to get back to where I was previously (I have high expectations of myself - I was a nat squad level rider as a youngster on road and track).

All that re-evaluation, and the first few rides when I got to thepoint I could tolerate riding, led me to conclude that pootling around, cafe stops and just being ut in the fresh air and countryside is all I need. And I've been loving it!

So, whilst trying to get treatment and trying to get fixed, spend a bit of time thinking about yourself, the things you enjoy, the things you can look forward to doing post-recovery.

Good luck and Stay Positive.

Yep, this year's been pretty rubbish even discounting covid, I've had two very hefty operations this year (de-rotational tibial osteotomies). Basically my feet were severely rotated outwards (approx 45 degrees) resulting in knee pain for years and pretty much guarrentied arthritis in later life without treatment (I'm 25).

So I had to have my tibia and fibula in each leg broken and realigned before being pinned back together. Not fun.

The first time was 5 months until I could road cycle then another couple of months until I could go hard on the mountain bike. I then got a couple of months in before the second operation. I should be good to ride around march after having the second operation last month.

I found not riding really tough, especially the social aspect. The main things that helped me were planning trips for when I could ride again to give something to look forward to, and building a gaming pc to give me something to whittle away the hours. Managing to have both operations both a covid lockdown also helped a lot as I don't feel like I'm missing out hugely.

Finally when I could walk but not ride, I spent a lot of time in the woods digging to get outdoors and make a new trail to look forward to.

Slight hijack, but my issue isn’t as severe...

I fell off one of them hover board things at Christmas 2018 and slammed my wrist hard and bent it right back. I never went to A&E or anything, I just rested it and strapped it up... nearly two years later I’m still struggling. It’s not constantly painful, but it aches. its uncomfortable riding and is in pain afterwards. Likewise I can’t put much force through it, tried to push a heavy door the other day and it just gave way. Press-ups are impossible and just picking up the kids or dogs gives we shooting pains...

I’m not sure what I should do about it? I don’t wanna trouble A&E; do I see my gp, call 111 or pay to see a physio??

I was certain it wasn’t broken at the time but now I think it probably was and that it’s knitted itself together badly ??

@singlespeedstu That sounds bloody miserable. Best of luck with the second opinion.

I often wonder about why sports injuries like these take so long to fix for the general public when you see them regularly occurring in MotoGP riders who get plated up and back on the bike within days or weeks.

OK there's big money involved, the guys are young and superfit, and probably some super pain relieving drugs, but you have to wonder if there are some lessons to be learned from the techniques of their medical care that could spill over into civilian life.

Had the appontment letter turn up today for the second opinion.
It's at the start of December so hopefully they can give me some more answers.
Think I've got a two fold problem of the bone not healing and then the pain and lack of movement being caused by frozen shoulder.
Also been given the name of a consultant that's also an elite XC racer by another member on here so thats another avenue I can look at.
Off for more physio tomorrow so see what he has to say.

It's standard to leave it a while to see how it settles.

In the meantime you want physio right now.

Get a NHS referral but in the meantime get some private recommended sports physio immediately.

They will hopefully give you micro exercises that you gradually build up. This for me worked wonders. When I went back to the surgeon for review he was gobsmacked at my recovery. I put it all down to the physio, with maybe a bit down to determination to get it sorted.

By the way, Good luck.

I've been doing physio for 4 weeks already.
Seemed to make good progress on ROM for the first 2 weeks then nothing since.
The finding out the bone hasn't healed yet was just another kick in the teeth.
Off for more hands on physio and shockwave treatment shortly.

before surgery,the nhs physio told me too not to raise the arm above shoulder level, whereas the consultant said I could do anything I want to, so definitely crossed wires there.Initially the physio exercise was raising my arms straight above my head, trying to increase ROM, but she told me to stop that
I told the surgeon that, he disagreed iirc,and havent heard of that physio since
After surgery I had very little pain, a bit of discomfort and the occasional sharp pain there.
I had ROM issues,especially with the arm out (lying down) and elbow bent,I'd only get 90 degres ROM, now its up to 150deg, thanks to physio
Initially I felt I could only comfortably use my arm in some positions and it could really hurt in other positions,but thats much better now
Ive been riding most days since 2weeks after surgery, but only simple stuff,15 miles of straight track,and not carrying much weight on my back, no issues there

The doc stopped the NSaids,(because they interfere with calcium absorption(??)),which was a bummer, but I read that Ibuprofen does not create this problem