Pelvic Fracture

[CrittersMom]

Hello,

On April 29th, I came off my horse after a jump and broke my pelvis across the left Pubis and Ischium - http://www.drugs.com/cg/pelvic-fracture.html. The bigger break was across the Ischium. Fortunately, the bones were not displaced, and the injury didn’t require any surgery.

Anyway, according to the Orthopedic Surgeon I cannot ride for 12 weeks. However, I am healing well and seem to be progressing quickly. I was up walking with a cane 4 days after the accident, and have since stopped taking pain medication, except 2 Aleve at night before bed. Today, I have spent the whole day walking without a cane.

Has anyone had this injury and gone back to riding sooner than 12 weeks? I’ve looked up the recovery times and it seems that most people spend 4 to 6 weeks on bed rest and then about 6 weeks before they start riding, but I have not needed the bed rest so I’m thinking the accident is not as severe as others. Any thoughts?

[TrueGrit]

I also had a pelvic fracture after I bailed off my horse a couple of years ago. It did not require surgery - thank goodness! - just bed rest. It was fractured in two places involving what was referred to as the ‘pelvic girdle’, so I assume it was different than yours.

In any event, my Orthopedic Surgeon prescribed bed rest of 6-8 weeks, then rehab for another 6-8 weeks. In total, I was not back to riding for 3 months, and then just at a walk for another month. So there went the summer, as I broke it in the beginning of April. But he insisted that I follow his protocol and take the bed rest seriously - no getting up unless going to the bathroom - so that the bones heal properly. YMMV, but I would double-check with your Orthopedic Surgeon and get his approval before ‘overdoing’ it. All fractures are different, so he may be OK with you walking around. Mine wasn’t, even though I could have pushed it and begun walkng much sooner ( in about 2 weeks ). He made it very clear to me that bed rest was mandatory for a successful healing.

As lousy as it was, the fear of jeapordizing the healing and making things worse, made me comply with his orders. Ultimately, it healed well, and I have no residual physical problems. I did have to put my horse on full training board so he could carry on without me for the season.

Good Luck - all the best for a healthy recovery!

[CrittersMom]

@ TrueGrit - Thanks for sharing your story. My Ortho is good with me walking around and said I can push it as far as I can tolerate. That’s why I stopped taking the pain medicine, so I don’t accidentally overdo it. He did say no riding for 12 weeks in case something happens that results in a much worse injury. I guess I will see how it goes. Man, the days crawl by without riding.

[Wayside]

This is an incredibly frustrating time to be laid up. Spring, just getting into the swing of things and planning events to attend and then… nope, scratch all those plans. It stinks. I’m also on “stall rest” but for different reasons, and it’s driving me nuts, too. So I get it.

But it’s not worth the potential serious and/or long-term probems to push it for a few short-term gains. Or so I keep telling myself.

[TrueGrit]

Well, at least you’re doing better than most - so that’s a good thing. And with your walking abround you won’t decondition nearly as much as full bed rest. I had to use a walker by the time I was allowed to get up I was so weak. In the meantime, try to do things that you usually don’t have time to do - I read a lot of horse magazines of every discipline, and watched equine DVD’s from schooling techniques to eventing competitions.

If you can get to the barn, perhaps you can groom, work your way up to lunging, or even help a beginner with their technique. Since you’re more mobile than most, time will go by fairly quickly if you can keep busy in other ways besides riding. What I missed most was even going to the barn to see my horse - especially as he was hurt from the same incident which caused me to bail and break. So I can sure understand the frustration of being separated from the sport we love.

Maybe your Ortho would agree to flatwork only at around the 8 week mark, if your horse is a sensible type. Unless your Ortho actually rides, he probably doesn’t really understand what it is we actually do ‘up there’, and that there are different risk levels to the sport. Since your injury resulted from jumping activities, perhaps you could persuade him that flatting would be a relatively safe option, and would also help you from getting too deconditioned until you can get back to riding without restrictions.

Good Luck with that! and glad your pain is minimal and you’re allowed to be mobile. It’s going to be so much easier when you do saddle up again.