Cycling again after broken patella ?

Forum rules
The information / discussion in the Cycling Health Forum is not qualified medical advice. Please consult your doctor.
trimike
Posts: 26
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2008 12:19 pm

Cycling again after broken patella ?

Postby trimike » Tue Jan 10, 2012 11:49 pm

Hi

I had a fall of my bike 1st Novemeber and shattered my patella and elbow. I'm now 9 weeks post-op and slowly recovering ( i think ). My knee doesn't feel like mine and is still very painful and i hardly have any range of motion. The Doc tells me recovery is going to be a 12 month process and he believes i will be able to ride again. I was wondering if anyone in this forum has ever broken their patella and successfully returned to cycling ??

Mike

User avatar
twizzle
Posts: 6402
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 11:45 am
Location: Highlands of Wales.

Re: Cycling again after broken patella ?

Postby twizzle » Thu Jan 12, 2012 1:25 pm

jcjordan is missing about 1/3'rd of his. Motorcycle crash..
I ride, therefore I am. But don't ride into harm's way.
...real cyclists don't have squeaky chains...

User avatar
scotto
Posts: 2380
Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2009 9:38 am
Location: Baulkham Hills
Contact:

Re: Cycling again after broken patella ?

Postby scotto » Fri Jan 13, 2012 3:02 pm

with that injury there is nothing stopping you riding again. once the fracture is united you can go for it. its only pain after all by that stage.
once the fracture is solid, i would start gentle ex. bike work.
raise the seat a bit higher than normal to make bending easier and do not be worried about a full revolution. work on improving your range .

it may take a month or two to regain enough range to do a full revolution. other influencing factors not mentioned include type of repair (ie in a straight leg brace or surgery plus ROM brace, age etc etc

there are also other complications that may arise as you recover such as patello-femoral pain. worry about that if/when it happens...

trimike
Posts: 26
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2008 12:19 pm

Re: Cycling again after broken patella ?

Postby trimike » Sat Jan 14, 2012 4:38 pm

Thanks Scott, some great advice. Yesterday i was able to complete a full revolution on my indoor trainer bike, the seat was up really high but it was still nice to be able to turn the leg over.

Not sure what my range of motion is, the Doc measured it at 20% at the 6 week mark,and the bone had not healed yet.I have a physio appointment next Wednesday, i guess they will re-measure then.

It's encouraging to know i will be able to ride again, i guess i might have to change my back cluster to a 28 so i can get up the hills !

Mike

User avatar
scotto
Posts: 2380
Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2009 9:38 am
Location: Baulkham Hills
Contact:

Re: Cycling again after broken patella ?

Postby scotto » Mon Jan 16, 2012 1:34 pm

seeing how your knee doesn't bend as well, just stand up for those hills - ie you can keep your 12-23 cluster !!!

only joking...you'll be fine with either. you may be more susceptable to knee pain when cycling later though and bike fit / pedals etc may be more important then they are / were now....

User avatar
trailgumby
Posts: 15469
Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2009 5:30 pm
Location: Northern Beaches, Sydney
Contact:

Re: Cycling again after broken patella ?

Postby trailgumby » Mon Jan 16, 2012 1:45 pm

Sorry to hear about the crash, mike. Take your physio's advice and be diligent with the exercise regime.

trimike
Posts: 26
Joined: Sat Jun 14, 2008 12:19 pm

Re: Cycling again after broken patella ?

Postby trimike » Sat Mar 31, 2012 1:59 pm

Hi Guys

Just a quick update as to where i'm at with my recovery/rehab.

Firstly, thanks to you guys for the advice and encouragement.

It's roughly 5 months since the accident and i;m glad to say my recovery has been slow but positive. I've had no major setbacks and everything has been moving in the right direction which i so pleased about. I was signed off the physio last Wednesday and told to continue what i'm doing with my exercise regime.

Since the 3 month mark of my recovery i have been in the gym 5-6 x week working on regaining my leg strengh and have been cycling 2-3 x week. I have managed to regain about 50% of leg strengh to date but it continues to get stronger by the week. My muscle mass in my quads and glutes are also getting back to some normalised appearance.This morning i cycled 40km and even cycled up Hepburn hill (Hillarys) which i think is a 5% gradient...all quite slowly of course (still can't ride out of the saddle yet)I'm so happy just to be back out there and hopefully over the next weeks/months my strengh and endurance will improve enough where i can get back into some group riding.

I had the wires and pins removed from my elbow 3 weeks ago (fractured my elbow at the same time) but the pins and wires in my knee are not sceduled to be removed till 19 November. Once there gone i will have 2-3 weeks off, then hopefully i should be back to my old "normal" self.

User avatar
foo on patrol
Posts: 9008
Joined: Sat Dec 19, 2009 11:12 am
Location: Sanstone Point QLD

Re: Cycling again after broken patella ?

Postby foo on patrol » Sat Mar 31, 2012 2:50 pm

That's promising news for you Trimike! 8)

Foo
I don't suffer fools easily and so long as you have done your best,you should have no regrets.
Goal 6000km

User avatar
KonaCommuter
Posts: 978
Joined: Thu Dec 01, 2011 9:28 pm
Location: Brisbane Northside

Re: Cycling again after broken patella ?

Postby KonaCommuter » Sat Mar 31, 2012 7:17 pm

I hope the healing process goes very quick for you mate. I dislocated my patella and broke bits off it. So I can empathise with you.
2012 Oppy A4

User avatar
trailgumby
Posts: 15469
Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2009 5:30 pm
Location: Northern Beaches, Sydney
Contact:

Re: Cycling again after broken patella ?

Postby trailgumby » Sat Mar 31, 2012 8:03 pm

Thanks for the update. Glad to hear that progress has been steady.

It's coming up on 3 years since my shoulder dislocation and I thought I'd take some time off and see how it went, but I think I'm going to have to get back to the gym at least once a week to maintain and probably 2x a week minimum in the short term to get back to where I need to be.

malnar
Posts: 373
Joined: Tue May 18, 2010 2:46 pm
Location: Melb - Werribee - City

Re: Cycling again after broken patella ?

Postby malnar » Wed Apr 04, 2012 9:28 am

Good on you for doing the work required to get the strength and range back.

My patella was smashed to pieces 18 months ago. I couldn't do full spins on the exercise bike for months due to internal scar tissue setting like concrete around the patella. My quad became tiny. During my physio sessions I would sit on an exercise bike doing 1/4 turns. Every time I reached the limit of movement I had to push to try to break down the scar tissue. Man, that was miserable and painful.

When they were happy that the patella was set i had surgery to remove the wires that were circling and cris-crossing the patella. At the same time they did Manipulation Under Anesthesia to break down the scar tissue. As far as I know, this is using force to break it down. The surgery report said they forced it to the point where it was audibly breaking.

My knee was on a continuous movement machine for 2 days following that surgery, set at 125 degrees. Since then I've been able to do 120 degrees and am back riding again. My quad is still a few cm smaller than the other one. I can do 70kg single leg press reps so it's fairly strong.

So yeah, with work and patience you can get back to riding from a patella break.

User avatar
KonaCommuter
Posts: 978
Joined: Thu Dec 01, 2011 9:28 pm
Location: Brisbane Northside

Re: Cycling again after broken patella ?

Postby KonaCommuter » Fri Apr 06, 2012 11:26 am

malnar wrote:Good on you for doing the work required to get the strength and range back.

My patella was smashed to pieces 18 months ago. I couldn't do full spins on the exercise bike for months due to internal scar tissue setting like concrete around the patella. My quad became tiny. During my physio sessions I would sit on an exercise bike doing 1/4 turns. Every time I reached the limit of movement I had to push to try to break down the scar tissue. Man, that was miserable and painful.

When they were happy that the patella was set i had surgery to remove the wires that were circling and cris-crossing the patella. At the same time they did Manipulation Under Anesthesia to break down the scar tissue. As far as I know, this is using force to break it down. The surgery report said they forced it to the point where it was audibly breaking.

My knee was on a continuous movement machine for 2 days following that surgery, set at 125 degrees. Since then I've been able to do 120 degrees and am back riding again. My quad is still a few cm smaller than the other one. I can do 70kg single leg press reps so it's fairly strong.

So yeah, with work and patience you can get back to riding from a patella break.

Oh man, I cringed reading this :(
2012 Oppy A4

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users