*grumble* *grumble* Fell off green bean, injured SI on one side

:sigh: So, I fell off my sweet green OTTB in a moment of baby horse panic. Landed on my right lower back hard enough that I couldn’t get up and thought I might have broken something. (Xrays said no, Hooray) Went to ER, thoroughly checked, follow up with doctor scheduled etc.

But this still hurts like :eek: getting up/down or if I twitch the wrong way even through the good drugs. :dead: Looks like muscle and SI joint. Anyone else go through this? Healing timeline?

I got bucked off big time about 35 years ago, highest ever I flew, landed on my left side.
I too could not move for a bit, the other rider with me, also on a colt, kept telling me to get up, I was scaring that colt by laying there.:rolleyes:

It took a few minutes before I could feel my leg again and got up and seemed that all was still kind of functioning, just not very good.

Had a huge bruise on that side, very impressive.
Could not sleep for two days, just hurt too bad.
Walked with very short steps for a while.
After a week, finally went to the Dr, that looked at the bruise, really wild looking about then, took x-rays and laughed, then said I broke my tail bone and he, sorry, could not cast it, I was going to have to just grin and bear it.
Ok, it was funny, but not quite then.

All slowly did get better, the bruise took months to go away.
I was doing all I wanted again after about three weeks, no more pain after a couple months.

Now, 30 years later, that hip hurts, there is some damage on my back from that accident, that probably was not taken care of properly when it did happen.
Should have gone to the dr right then and taken some pain killers, etc.

My advice, be sure they follow thru with whatever is going on in there, let it heal properly, it should be ok shortly, just don’t push it until it heals.
Life can wait for a bit until you heal, so you won’t have problems later.

My SI pain that wouldn’t go away turned out to be a torn labrum in my hip. Hope you feel better soon.

Go on line and do a search for “anterior pelvic tilt.” There are exercises to correct that and other issues that you can do yourself and they really work!

So that’s pretty much the course of events that started me on my awful hip journey :lol: Came off hard (in the mid 2000s?), presented as SI, managed with PT successfully for awhile until it wasn’t, SI injections did nothing (I was so bummed!), MRI showed trashed labrum in the hip, had labrum reconstruction in 2013 and still have problems now.

This is the angle we’re currently pursuing…these articles might be interesting to you!

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5193530/

https://academic.oup.com/jhps/article/2/2/99/2188858

@Simkie Thanks for those! I loooooove research. I’m being pretty careful right now to do too much besides mentally climbing the walls

The woman I ride with all the time went flying and cracked her sacroiliac. She was off for a while but had pain when she was mounted up again. She got a Cashel seat saver which she still uses. I’m glad she does, however, because she rides in jeans and would have worn the seat seams on the nice Albion she bought from me.

Add me to the funky SI group. About 15 years ago I was foxhunting and my horse spooked (at a check!) and I came off and landed on my lower back on frozen ground.

I’ve been told I essentially have a hyper-mobile SI. Mine will switch sides–sometimes it’s the left, sometimes the right.

What is worst for me is lying in bed and turning over–when I’m having a flare it can be excruciating. I also used to be a stomach sleeper (which I know isn’t great for your back) but haven’t been able to do that without essentially doubling-over in pain when getting up.

I started with physical therapy, but it didn’t seem to do a lot of good. Granted I wasn’t in the best shape at the time, which didn’t help. I then started to work out, and it got a little better when my core strength improved.

I tried prolotherapy which helped it a little bit more.

The biggest help was when I did acupuncture, which stopped the severe flares. I went regularly for a couple of years but really don’t have to go anymore.

Also a good massage therapist who knows how to work on the glutes and psoas helps.

Recently my CrossFit gym brought in a yoga instructor who focuses on yoga for athletes. We do a ton of work on our lower backs, which has gotten me back to the most normal I’ve been.

IMO tincture of time is most important. I came off 8 weeks ago today. I landed on my left back - that flat area between your bum and the small of your back. I saw my foot in the stirrup as I fell - didn’t hang, but definitely twisted my leg. Mind you, this is the leg whose femur I broke 2x,and it has been opened up for surgeries 3x - so lots of scar tissue. I couldn’t get up. I used a cane for a good week before I just started hobbling around. The bruises across my SI were impressive, and the bruise on my thigh took a week to show up.
Really twisted my sartorius muscle, and then the scar tissue in outside thigh (vastus lateralis?) started in. Took 4 weeks until I could ride - but not posting, just a slow walk and jog.
My recovery methodology includes wrapping thigh in Back on Track saddle pad (that’s where I started), some sort of low-voltage microcurrent treatments on acupuncture points from a body worker, a PEMF treatment (not sure that did anything…), a heating pad, and tincture of time. I got back to yoga and pilates as soon as I could but had to adapt quite a bit. I stayed away from NSAIDS because some evidence they may get you back to feeling OK but in fact the healing is not as secure as without.
8 weeks today, and I still feel it.

I also have a hypermobile SI joint on my right side and came off along with the saddle when the tie strap gave way (I was trying it out and trusted the seller… serve me right for not double-checking more closely!).

Anyway, I landed on my right lower back really awkwardly since I was still straddling the saddle. I was so swollen you couldn’t see my back dimple on that side for about 3 months and had some decent bruising, although relatively little pain. I was able to get up and hop back on the horse, although I was limping around for about a week. Had pain with certain bending/twisting movements for a couple of months… so I avoided those for a few weeks and did gentle stretching/core strengthening exercises/NSAIDs. Seemed to do the trick.

Can you get in for some physical therapy? They can suggest exercises can work for your specific problem and also they can make sure that you are doing them correctly.

Doesn’t getting old suck!

I came off March 4, landed against wall (back of compost bins) in a tucked position but since wall prevented rolling, I took impact on my right knee, which pushed my hip back. Hip subluxation and sprained lower back. Nothing broken but horrific pain, so first step was ER, nothing broken, then ice/rest/ibuprofen, then acupuncture, and now myofascial release. I have tried lots of things for various injuries/illnesses in life, and love acupuncture for pain management and myofascial for any body issues. I describe it as chiropractic for muscles. I have had way better results with myofascial release than chiro, so highly recommend it for healing properly!!! I’m off at least two more weeks as I need to limit pelvis movement while hip and back heal, but should return to full function long term with perhaps occasional treatment to manage any recurrent issues.

Well, at least you all confirm that I’m not being a wimp about this one. I have a good friend that is an excellent massage therapist, so I’m taken care of on that front.

I just want the muscle spasms to stop. Those are driving me nuts when I try to bend/turn through the waist

My remedies for horse related injuries whether broken bones or twisted, injured muscles-

  • Get whatever Back on Track product will cover the injury. It will help with pain. I have knee brace, back brace and
    small pad to sleep on. They all help.

  • Salonpas Deep Relieving Gel- gives immense relief and helps relieve pain from inflamed areas.

  • Baby your body/injury while healing. Go easy on exercise while healing. Some movement does help.

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Highly recommend dry needling for this sort of thing :slight_smile:

A lady at my barn was just diagnosed with a torn labrum after a similar sounding fall.

@Laurierace Here’s hoping my amply padded posterior has saved me from that particular problem!

i’m trying to save myself from my tendency to overdo it by taking as little medication as possible and adding gentle stretching

Yes, dry needling and also maybe some Flexeril for night time.

I have chronic SI issues. Not from anything traumatic most likely, although I did fall off a fair amount as a kid, but I usually did the superman dive.

Anyway, the SI stuff really got out of hand when I moved from horses to road cycling. And then was not helped by my return to horses.

I get dry needling, found a good chiropractor and massage therapist. My chiropractor also had me do some of these exercises, and they probably helped the most with me really turning the corner long term.

https://www.foundationtraining.com/

@IPEsq Ahh Flexeril has been my constant companion until today.

No Flexeril or painkillers since yesterday and I managed to bend all the way over from the waist without a spasm WOOT Now to schedule in with my massage therapist.

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