# avulsion fracture of knee patella...how to be back on the bike FAST!



## fran (Jan 24, 2004)

HI guys...
I´m a competitive MTB racer and recently (last saturday 21) I had a stupid accident that thorn the skin of my left knee to the point of making the patella totally visible to the eye (nice and white) and multiple polytraumatism in elbows and right knee. The trumatism at this parts are healing now with just the ocassional scar, nothing serious. But I have a splint at the back of my leg, that goes from the harmstring to my ankle. It´s there so I can not flex my knee and let the stitches heal, plus the little part that broke heal too.

The doctor told me that he will remove the stitches in 10 days (so, this tuesday) and he will remove the splint in two more weeks...for a total of 3 weeks. After that I will start PT...

So, what SHOULD I be doing now, apart from eating well, drinking tons of liquid, taking ALL my medicines to not loose too much muscle mass? I know that the endurace will be lost, obviusly not all, but a big part of it...but, for the experienced people in this area, what is your take?

Thanks a lot guys!

bye


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## herbn (Sep 17, 2005)

i think the rule of thumb is 6:1, for every week you're immobilized(nwb) you got 6 weeks recovery time.ie i had tibial plateau fracture (broken leg,knee area) that had me in a cast for 4 weeks and virtually zero weight for about another two weeks, after that 6x6=36 weeks+ the six weeks of no weight= 42 weeks.I broke my leg in july, by april or may i was pretty much "full strength" on my bike, there was a lot of fun riding in there that wasn't full strength,so it wasn't 10 months of svck .Sometime in jan or feb i ws doing ok on the bike again. It sounds like 18 weeks,but i'm not sure how serious of a fracture you really have,doesn't sound all that structural,you may just be looking at a couple weeks of loosening up the scaring and immobilized tendons, picking up strength quickly along the way.


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## 23mjm (Oct 22, 2005)

Well since it is winter--just enjoy the time off. If the total is 3 weeks then you will not lose much. In fact in the long run you might gain some, The body needs rest and so does the mind.


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## scottryana (Sep 7, 2008)

Heat

I recently did the exact same thing, and heat was my friend. I just took a heating pad and wrapped it around me knee with an ace bandage.

Ryan.


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## fran (Jan 24, 2004)

thanks a lot guys for the responses...it´s good for the mind to read them. Well, the doctor said that I have full movility, because there was no tendom damage at all, just the a little "trauma" because of being exposed and the impact itself, but when he was cleaning the wounds and I was locally sedated he told me to articulate the leg and knee trough some range of motions that made him conclude that there was no tendom or ligaments damage. So I think that the most lost will come from having the cast for two more weeks (tight muscle mass loss) and not being able to do an endurance activity...

what do you guys suggest to minimize this two losts?

thanks once again!


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## Dr.Preroll (Jun 2, 2009)

three years ago I shattered my patella into 4 pieces... I was lucky that I had a friend who was a national team doctor ( canada eh..) and had him review my x rays. That review stopped them from preforming the surgery that wanted to prep me for, I was in a fiberglass cast from hip to ankle for just over two months. A good friend who is also a former MTB Olympian told me I should me still riding with my good leg. I tried to do an hour a day on the wind trainer once the swelling was down. Apparently 15% of the work you do with one leg can be transfered over to your bad leg. It seemed to work well for me. After getting out of the cast I was riding light on the road as soon as physio allowed me to turn my leg over. I ended up wearing a knee brace for part of the winter but ditched it fully in late march or early april. I put 65 days on the lifts with my snowboard that winter and did lots of balance board work for strength...Knee injuries are lame. Mine seems fine, but my back is a bit screwy from being on crutches for so long after. I would highly recommend a good chiropractor and some quality Rolfing Structural Allingment massage after...


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## herbn (Sep 17, 2005)

what do you do on a balence board? i have one and it's just back and forth,kind of cool for maybe 5 minutes..


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## Dr.Preroll (Jun 2, 2009)

herbn said:


> what do you do on a balence board? i have one and it's just back and forth,kind of cool for maybe 5 minutes..


Lift weights. Keeping yourself balanced uses alot of core strength, but also you use your knee muscles. It was good to develop strength around the patella.


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## Blastard (Mar 27, 2008)

I did this to me knee last year. I was off the bike for 4 weeks. It's fine now. No pain whatsoever.


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## fran (Jan 24, 2004)

holly crap! I have to get the face out of the computer in a sudde move after seeing that, hahaha.
Yes, I´m a bit ***** when that time comes..
Well, my wound as you saw and felt, was almost the same, including the fact that I had all sort of nature elements inside, like dust, little rocks, sand, among others...
Anyway, it´s been 2 months aprox since my accident and 3.5 weeks since they let me ride at home until the skin of my knee and the little tendom damaged were almost all healed. I´m at the gym since 2 weeks ago, increasing the weight of the excersises more and more and right now, I´m lifting more pounds than being completly healthy...so, despite the fact the damaged leg is still smaller in diameter and visibly in muscular mass, I´m "coming back". My watts are still under the toillet, but they seem to be coming slowly, but coming...

How are you dealing with it, bro? Did they put a cast on that leg to keep it from moving or not?


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