injuries

my shoulder is killin me. when i raise my right arm i get this dull pain in my shoulder. Its not soar...not sure whats going on. i just put some tiger balm on it... helps a little bit.

I think when i was tryin those 360's i got a little too squirley... at least I can still ride though.
anyone else rollin with battle wounds?

Crashed on my left shoulder yesterday, when I crashed it wouldn't move for about a minute then got all numb, then tingled along the entire length of it, finally now today it hurts like crazy.

Dislocated right shoulder on 4th of July weekend...No wakeboarding for me...only wakesurfing until next month...

yeah this happend like two weeks ago and its still bugging me. sucks cause i cant workout at all. i know someones probably gonna rip on me for sayin that but o well.

Wish I could still be wakeboarding but I broke my ankle on the last day of July and my season came to an end. Now 6 weeks after surgery I'm just ready to walk again.

This thread is going to get huge.

Dislocated shoulder mid-April.. Richard - did you have to have it put back in or did it go it on its own?

dude...you guys will never guess what happend to my buddy. he was a first timer and i was teachin him how to get up. He almost had it but, then like his 5th try trying to get up something snap... guess what we broke his FEMUR! I couldn't believe it. I saw the xrays and everything. dude it was so sketchy. the boat ride back to the dock was loud. i was sittin inthe back holding his thigh as tight as i could while he was screamin. o man, everytime a boat drove by us it would rock our boat and his bones would shift inside his leg. it was so gnarly.

I still dont know what in the heck he did to break his femur. This is the worst wreck i've seen so far.

That's insane, I have never heard of anything like that ever happening, I guess he didn't drink enough milk, hope he gets back out soon.

jeremy. how did you break your ankle?

It seems like every time I ride I hurt something. Been riding with a torn AC tendon and Labrum in my right shoulder (get surgury on that in Nov.) I blew my eardrum about 2 months ago and it won't grow back. (Surgery for that in Nov. or Dec.) and last week I Dislocated my left shoulder. Dan it sounds like you might of seperated your shoulder. That's kind of how mine felt atleast.

David-

I had to go to the Emergency Room and have it set...It wouldn't go back in...the hour car ride down a windy bumpy mountain road was real fun though. And then the hour wait in the emergency room felt great. Once I started to pass out they brought me back and set it.

Sounds pretty much like my story almost exactly..

When I did mine I couldnt get my lifejacket off. I've got an oneill vapor - the one that zips in the back that you put on over your head, no way it was coming off. 35 minute back to the boat ramp. 45 minute drive to the ghetto hospital. Half an hour till they actually got me back there. They had to inject me with 3 doses of morphine and muscle relaxer to get my muscles to quit spasming. Needless to say I was on cloud 9.

Definitely not a fun experience. Did they tell you at the ortho there's a 90% chance of it happening again? Kind of disheartening...

dislocated my shoulder 1.5 yrs ago, a bad concussion, ruptured eardrum twice, a few sprained ancles. I'm actually getting shoulder surgery this friday cuz my shoulders really been holding back my riding.

Ruptured eardrum 3 years ago and cracked rib last year. The ear drum was some of the worst pain ever I experienced. This fall we ride.

I've been riding for a month, coming off ACL recon.

Jason- Same thing happened to us a few weeks ago. Dude had never boarded before and trying to get up for the first time. 5-6 tries into it he broke his leg. Spiral fracture of his femur and was in surgery 2 hrs later. I thought it was a freak deal but maybe not.

Holy snikies. Two stories of broken femurs. That's F'n crazy. Hope dudes recover OK.

Shoulder dislocations are a drag. Like David said, one you do it once there is a very good chance it will happen again. I was lucky in that I could always get it back in myself. Mine got so loose it dislocated in my sleep one night. That pushed me to get surgery which helped for a few years. The problem then was that after it dislocated again, it was so tight I could not get it in myself. So its docking the boat with my wife, 100 steps up to the house and then sit and sit in the emergency room waiting for your turn. Fortunately both my wife and I paid attention to how they got it back in. The next time it happened I was able to lay down and let my arm hang off the side so the weight of my arm slowly pulls it back into place as you relax and the muscles loosen up. Fun stuff.

Severe chestwall contusion or might as well say bruised ribs. Lots of fun let me tell ya.

ha, i feel freakin LUCKY after reading this! I was out last weekend and went for a huge 360 behind an X-Star (basically the first wakeboardin boat i'd ever ridden behind) - I had just landed one before it outside the wake on a random wake i hit (not a double up) but when I launched and went for it, I overspun and came down inbetween a 360 and 540 and somehow screwed my knee up. I have the fall on video and it doesnt look bad at all, somehow though, I must have straightened it out at the last second or something because it hurt like HELL in the water. It swelled up real bad and got real stiff. It sucks because i run cross country so it kinda hurts after u run (gets real sore) but I guess its gettin better, I'm pretty sure just the joint is bruised or somethin - cant be TOO serious.

I tore cartlidge in my sternum my first day of wakeboarding and cracked a rib. I realized at that moment that 30mph was too fast for a beginner... or an expert. LOL. Now, I have a torn MCL, but I did that playing soccer with college kids. Ughhh.

I think wakesurfing is my fate....

BRAD- It's worth a initial visit to the Orthopod to get an exam to see if you did do anything bad.

Broke my ankle in 3 places first day on vacation at Don Pedro in July. Took off too soon on a tantrum, board stuck to the water, one foot came out, the other stayed in and twisted around. 3 vertical breaks up the tibia at the ankle joint. Dr. said no impact on it for 4-6 months. I just started walking on it with a walking boot.

Rib broken in 2 places trying w2w on my first pull behind a wakeboard boat.

oh where to begin...torn acl, stretched rotator cuff to the point it was fracturing shoulder bones, blown ankle (still needs to be scoped) tweaked and strained both knees sever times, separated muscle from bone in my leg...yeah wakeboarding isnt a body friendly sport, i have to say the shoulder surgery was the worst though

Harris, I broke my ankle skim boarding on vacation. I jumped on the board and the board shot out from under me backwards taking my right foot with it. I ended up breaking my ankle in 4 places. After a plate and 11 screws and 6 weeks of recovery I finally can get off of my crutches on Saturday. I just hope I can get back to work soon, I need a pay check.

Wow this is going to be painfully interesting..... Oh and currently im recovering from breaking both of my legs.

I have broken my right leg 3 times, my left leg 2, my left talus, my toes numerous times, MCL on both knees, my right femur, fx 4 ribs, broke my right hand, my right arm/wrist 2 times, I broke my left arm once, my left wrist once, dislocated my left shoulder, and have had two concussions in one week....yep that was a rought week, my family sold my dirt bikes after that, but i eventually got back down to business when i got another 5 months later. Ha ha Gosh is that why i feel like im fifty at the ripe age of 24.

my injuries luckily havent been TOO bad.

knocked out twice
bruised ribs
hurt back
cracked sternum
many sac taps if you know what i mean
and my most recent, i cut my chin on my knee off the double up and now i have 7 stitches in my chin

My buddy John cracked his rib trying to learn backrolls.

I did a search on here about broken femurs... and I guess its not a freak accident. Happens quiet a bit. After reading all that I drank a big glass of milk

(Message edited by Mahmoudi on September 13, 2006)

fractured my T12 vertebrae after catching an edge on a slider flipping over and bouncing off my back (on slider). thank god for impact vests!

(Message edited by plooky on September 14, 2006)

Hey Jason,

I've had some odd shoulder injuries from wakeboarding. I say odd because they displayed them self like you described. "I get a pain when I raise my arm." or "I get numbness" or "I can't raise my arm past here." I found on the last one, and I expect it was the same on the previous three that it was a miss-alignment issue. I was able to remedy the last one by hitting the gym and focusing on bench press. My theory is that I over use my back muscles during wakeboarding. I don't stretch properly afterwards (or at all.) So the muscles in my upper torso were out of balance, my back was too strong for my chest. Spent about a month working on bench and day-by-day it got better (after living with it for 4 months.) It seems like if you get numbness you're getting a pinched nerve. Or the nerve is in the wrong place, or the tendon is riding over that nerve...something like that.

Anyway, may or may not work for you. But It can't hurt to spend some time focusing on Bench press.

craig-

I saw the same...well opposite situation. I was hitting the gym a lot...and I was in pretty good shape. Apparently from benching and then riding my road bike 100-150 miles a week (like being in an isolated press for 8-10 hours a week) my chest was too tight and had pulled my shoulder too far forward. This made it really easy for my dislocation...according to my physical therapist. So if anyone hits the gym...remember BALANCE. Thank God for wakesurfing or I wouldn't be on the water at all with my shoulder.

Learn from other's mistakes...HIT THE GYM and KEEP IT IN BALANCE!!!

Chris, I think so far you take the prize for most fractures. I see your username is "crracer", but I can't help thinking "cracker" might be more appropriate.
I myself just sustained my first significant wakeboarding injury this past Sunday. I was just beginning my set with an intended w2w jump, but landed short and instead cased the wake. My board bounced into the flats, and I lost my balance and hit the water on my left chest while twisted. It hurt pretty badly, and the first thought in my head was, "Hopefully I'll be able to just take a short break and get right back on my board". Well, the pain quickly changed to excruciating. My wife and son were the only others on my boat, and they were unable to pull me out of the water, so I had no choice but to lift myself up onto the swim platform. Remember what I said before about the pain being excruciating? Ignore that, because I didn't really know what I was talking about then. The pain of pulling myself up out of the water was *truly* excruciating! I've never before voluntarily caused myself such pain. I happen to be a radiologist, so at my earliest convenience I had x-rays of my left ribs and a CT of my spleen done. No visible rib fracture (but nondisplaced fractures are easily missed), no rupture or laceration of the spleen. My own diagnosis is either I've got an occult rib fracture, a fractured costochondral cartilage, or just an intercostal muscle tear. In any case, I'm afraid that I'm out for the rest of the season, as the pain is only very slowly remitting. Bummer.

Shepherd, I tore cartlidge in my sternum where my ribs come together. I had a hard time getting in and out of bed, getting out of chair, or anything where I had to use my stomach. I was 90% ready to go in 3 weeks and could still feel it a couple weeks after.

My lesson from that accident was more core strength. Then, your muscles would have been able to deal with the forces better. This is all from a guy who is now in a brace with an MCL tear.

Thanks, Ben. My symptoms are identical to what yours were, except my pain is along the rib margin just below their junction with the sternum. I'm most suspicious that I, too, have a fracture/tear of the cartilage there. When you suggest "more core strength" as a means of lessening the likelihood of sustaining a similar injury, what precisely do you mean? What muscles are you suggesting that I strengthen? (And trust me, *all* of my muscles could be stronger.)

You guys are making me want to take up sewing.

Hey, man. Sewing can be quite dangerous, too. I occasionally see x-rays of sewing machine needles protruding through peoples' fingers.

(Message edited by shepherd1000 on September 14, 2006)

Shep- I mean abs, obliques, lower back, hip flexors. These are your stabilizing muscles for twisting/torquing/etc. When these muscles are strong, they keep that rib cage, connective tissues, etc. in tact. Muscle strength is the first and foremost defense for our injury. Next is proper warm-up and stretching. Then, luck and karma... LOL.

Good luck. Rest is the only thing you can do for a rib bruise, fracture, dislocation, cartlidge tear, etc. You won't hurt yourself doing regular activities; it's only as bad as the pain. Then, hit the gym and tighten up a bit!!

Hey, thanks for the advice, Ben. Yeah, I was already planning on doing some lifting over the winter to try to keep in shape while not wakeboarding. This injury has just strengthened my resolve to do just that.

wow, didn't think i would be posting in here. just today i tried a few 3's, a few 1's, nothing spectacular to report. then i am messing around and just hit a normal wake to wake but end up rotating like i would for a backroll(still fuzzy as to why this happened, wasn't trying) and landed tail first. my left binding let loose but the right one didn't and the board got to thrashin. i don't think there is any structural damage but it hurt like hell in the water. i'm walkin around on it now, bit of a limp and tight, but otherwise fine. worst part, i have no health insurance... lost it for going part time as a student back in may. might want to look into getting some insurance.

Uhhhh, yeah, Ryan. I would say that health insurance is a must, especially if you are going to continue enjoying fairly risky sports such as wakeboarding. It doesn't take much of an injury before the medical bills begin to mount exponentially. And trust me, wakeboarding can result in some seriously expensive-to-treat injuries. Do yourself a favor and get some insurance.

yeah, i'm workin on it. broke college student here. it's kinda the running joke that i lose insurance and take up an extreme sport. damn it is really tightening up now. hurting like a bitch.

Yep... Insurance is a must if it's at your availability.

I had an MRI done on my knee today. I'm sure that will be $3-4k. Had one done on my head a few years back after a Tantrum gone bad. That one would have been $5700 with out insurance. Plus the preliminary CT Scan at $1400. If I had to guess, I'd say my insurance company has spent over $12k on my wakeboarding injuries. (chiropractors, MRIs/CTscans, Phiscal Therapy, General Doctors, medication)

Craig,
If I had to guess, I'd say that you probably haven't even required any surgery for your injuries. If you had, depending on the surgery, your final bills could easily have been three to five times that amount.

Ryan,
Was it your knee or ankle that was injured?

my knee, soory should have been clearer on that. i got the 3ds bindings that come up so far, i wasn't worried about the ankle, but my knee(thinkin mcl) it not feelin so hot on the 2nd day. i'm thinkin it is just a sprain though. i'll have the health center check it out though.

Yep, definitely worth getting it checked out with symptoms like you're describing, Ryan. Good luck.

Forget the clinic. They will charge you just as much for a preliminary visit with an Orthopaedic specialist. I saw one for $150 and he diagnosed my MCL tear without an MRI. THey will usually get an x-ray though to make sure no bone is damaged.

If you are worried about the stability of your knee, get it checked because there is one part of your knee that doesn't heal and cannot be replaced--meniscus. If you have an instable knee, you will shred your meniscus (cartlidge) apart.

Major medical insurance costs around $55/month and can save your arse when dealing with big bills.

Is it really that little? I suppose if it's only major medical... all I really need at my age right now anyways (23). It is actually feeling much better as the day goes on. I think it was just really tight when I woke up... The way these things tighten up overnight. Not really worried about the stability, seems to be solid, just hurts when it twists. I will see if it gets better within the next couple days before I go hit up a doc but obviously no boardin or trampoline practice. heh Thanks guys for the advice.

Tweaked my back trying a 360 a few weeks back, was slowly getting better until last sunday, when I went riding again and was in agony from just wakejumps. I then fell just doing a 180 and could barely climb out of the water.
The 45min drive home was fun what with not being able to turn my head and all...

Anyway, found out from the doc that apparently i've managed to compress my spine, forcing a disc into a nerve. No more wakeboarding for a while

Ouch Leo. Bust of luck.

Thanks. Got physiotherapy starting on monday, hopefully that will help things along, but it looks like my season is over

At least its getting towards the end of the season anyway.

Leo, did your doctor make this diagnosis on the basis of any imaging studies of your spine (e.g. X-ray, CT, MRI)?

It was an Osteopath that made the diagnosis. She gave me an ultrasound scan, and as I said, "apparently i've managed to..." so it's not a definite.

She says if it hasn't been sorted out after a few more sessions, then i'll probably have an MRI scan.

Leo, I don't like dissing other health practitioners. That having been said, you should be aware that ultrasound is not recognized as diagnostically efficacious for imaging of the spine and adjacent tissues. Ultrasound relies on differing densities (and thus echogenicity) of adjacent structures. The soft tissues about the spine do not sufficiently differ in their densities to provide any useful diagnostic information using ultrasound. If you are still having difficulty turning your head or are having any significant neurologic symptoms (e.g. weakness, numbness, tingling, sensory loss), I strongly recommend that you see a health practitioner willing to order recognized methods of imaging the spine for diagnostic purposes (i.e. x-rays, CT, or MRI).

Ok, thanks for the input. I'm not still having difficulty turning my head, that was only for the day or so immediatly following my fall.
One of the first things she asked me was whether I had any numbness, sensory loss etc... And I haven't experienced that at all.


Just out of interest, what profession are you in?

I'm a physician specializing in radiology. If ultrasound of the spine was useful, believe me, we'd be doing it. Truth be told (and I'm sure I'll be angering some people out there), ultrasound of the spine is a means by which certain health professionals can perform another exam in their offices and charge for it.

Shepard

while we have your attention can you fill me in on your oppinion on an effective plan for a grade 4 Meniscus and lateral meniscus injury to my left knee??

I injured it on july 4th of this year and after about 6 weeks i was riding pretty normally on it by taping it up and wearing a compression brace 90% pain free while riding and very little stiffness the following day..

I was told that minor surgery to reapir is almost useless as this will most likely be major surgery and in my situation i should maybe just continue to ride and surgery should be last option since it may cause me more issues trying to recover from the surgery ..

what's your thoughts??

thanks in advance

OH and also how much more damage am i gonna cause it by ridng it and tearing it all the way,meaning what more pain and loss of function will a full tear cause my knee??

worse case scenario??

Bill, I wish I could offer you some additional advice regarding your meniscal tear, but that's a bit outside my area of expertise. Knee surgery is the province of an orthopedic surgeon, and it sounds like you've already seen one. Do you have any reason to doubt what he/she told you?

no just looking for some real life experience from those who have seen this injury before and what happened with it ....

so if anybody has had this injury what did you all do??