Injury Question

txgoon
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txgoon
Edited Date/Time 12/15/2013 11:45am
My son recently crashed and broke his femur/collarbone/wrist and I had a question. He broke his femur where his knee brace stopped but he flew over the bars hitting his femur on the bars as well. What do you think broke his femur? Bars? Or knee brace?
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slipdog
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slipdog 12/13/2013 5:02am
12/13/2013 5:02am
I'm not a Doctor and I haven't seen the X Rays, but in this situation with the break being where it is, I can say for sure that it was definitely was caused by his neck brace.

Hope he gets well soon!
Aron213
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Aron213 12/13/2013 5:16am
12/13/2013 5:16am
Because of previous injury to my right leg, my Dr. warned me not to wear a knee brace on that leg for fear of it breaking my leg(lower)....since I cant wear just one knee brace, I have to go back to the old knee/shin guards. At first I was like WTF, but he joked around that my knee is already in bad shape and that I'll need a knee replacement in a few years anyways.

My Dr. is the University of Florida's head orthopedic surgeon, he joked around with me this year when I got an infection on some Ti hardware installed in my leg that the reason I came in in August was to beat the rush when the Mini o's come to town!
Crisp BRAAAP! 12/13/2013 5:25am
12/13/2013 5:25am
txgoon wrote:
My son recently crashed and broke his femur/collarbone/wrist and I had a question. He broke his femur where his knee brace stopped but he flew over...
My son recently crashed and broke his femur/collarbone/wrist and I had a question. He broke his femur where his knee brace stopped but he flew over the bars hitting his femur on the bars as well. What do you think broke his femur? Bars? Or knee brace?
I believe it was the bike. Not to be a smart ass, but my feeling is that some safety equipment might move the breakpoint to a different location, but that energy was going to go somewhere bad. And the net effect of the equipment is good.

I wish your son the best and hope he heals up quickly!
me_da_racer
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me_da_racer 12/13/2013 6:46am
12/13/2013 6:46am
Bones heal and are just as strong. Take it from me. I have two bad knees. Even had surgury and they will never be the same. Use knee braces and use good ones. There is a reason every Pro has them on.

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Beast666
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Beast666 12/13/2013 7:03am
12/13/2013 7:03am
me_da_racer wrote:
Bones heal and are just as strong. Take it from me. I have two bad knees. Even had surgury and they will never be the same...
Bones heal and are just as strong. Take it from me. I have two bad knees. Even had surgury and they will never be the same. Use knee braces and use good ones. There is a reason every Pro has them on.
+1

My knees have been shot for years and I can honestly say that my knee braces saved my knees many times over skiing, snowboarding, moto riding Etc. The first crash that they saved your knee from going under the knife or replacement they pay for them self many times over. Bones will heal and this sport is dangerous enough no matter how much protective gear you have on injuries will happen.

My daughter found this out the hard way snowboarding last weekend when she went down and broke her radius in her right wrist. She wants to go back out again with a cast on Cool
IWreckALot
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IWreckALot 12/13/2013 7:14am
12/13/2013 7:14am
Aron213 wrote:
Because of previous injury to my right leg, my Dr. warned me not to wear a knee brace on that leg for fear of it breaking...
Because of previous injury to my right leg, my Dr. warned me not to wear a knee brace on that leg for fear of it breaking my leg(lower)....since I cant wear just one knee brace, I have to go back to the old knee/shin guards. At first I was like WTF, but he joked around that my knee is already in bad shape and that I'll need a knee replacement in a few years anyways.

My Dr. is the University of Florida's head orthopedic surgeon, he joked around with me this year when I got an infection on some Ti hardware installed in my leg that the reason I came in in August was to beat the rush when the Mini o's come to town!
Sounds like a real LOL situation. Doctor just joshing you about your knee and all.
shiftmx_22 12/13/2013 9:43am
12/13/2013 9:43am
slipdog wrote:
I'm not a Doctor and I haven't seen the X Rays, but in this situation with the break being where it is, I can say for...
I'm not a Doctor and I haven't seen the X Rays, but in this situation with the break being where it is, I can say for sure that it was definitely was caused by his neck brace.

Hope he gets well soon!
I see what you did there... And I like it.
Hman144
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Hman144 12/13/2013 10:56am
12/13/2013 10:56am
Unless his lower leg was pinned up against something as his upper body rotated over the bars, it wasn't likely his knee brace. The brace limits extension, but would only transfer force and put additional stress on his femur if the lower part of his leg was pinned and acting like a lever against the bars.

From your description of the incident, I can't tell if this was the circumstance. Did the bars get bent? If so, are they bent in a direction that would indicate his leg was caught underneath somehow?
txgoon
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txgoon 12/13/2013 11:02am
12/13/2013 11:02am
Hman144 wrote:
Unless his lower leg was pinned up against something as his upper body rotated over the bars, it wasn't likely his knee brace. The brace limits...
Unless his lower leg was pinned up against something as his upper body rotated over the bars, it wasn't likely his knee brace. The brace limits extension, but would only transfer force and put additional stress on his femur if the lower part of his leg was pinned and acting like a lever against the bars.

From your description of the incident, I can't tell if this was the circumstance. Did the bars get bent? If so, are they bent in a direction that would indicate his leg was caught underneath somehow?
His bars snapped on the opposite side and bent a pretty good way on the side that his leg broke. That why I'm thinking it's the bars that broke his leg.
Moto Soul Mag
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Moto Soul Mag 12/13/2013 1:19pm
12/13/2013 1:19pm
I remember Pastrana saying he quit wearing knee braces because had the same experience.
StartedTooLate
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StartedTooLate 12/13/2013 2:17pm
12/13/2013 2:17pm Edited Date/Time 12/13/2013 2:22pm
txgoon wrote:
My son recently crashed and broke his femur/collarbone/wrist and I had a question. He broke his femur where his knee brace stopped but he flew over...
My son recently crashed and broke his femur/collarbone/wrist and I had a question. He broke his femur where his knee brace stopped but he flew over the bars hitting his femur on the bars as well. What do you think broke his femur? Bars? Or knee brace?
I have had multiple crashes where I hit the bars so hard with my thigh (no brace) that I developed MASSIVE hematomas. I am talking 1/2 the circumference of my leg..from the knee to my crotch. That is like a square FOOT + of nasty dark purple. I went to see the doc on one...and he was shocked I could get such a hematoma...and not snap my leg. I have very strong bones and have suffered very few bone breaks in my life. I have no doubt that some people would have suffered broken femurs from some of those hits. I don think there is any way you can conclude it was the brace...and not the impact on the bar.

I will say this about knee braces in MX. Unless you anchor them to your boot...they are worth very little. When you anchor a brace to the boot...it restrains tip/rib rotation...and makes the knee MUCH stronger.
mxjeff575
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mxjeff575 12/13/2013 4:53pm
12/13/2013 4:53pm
If you haven't yet, search on thumpertalk's health and fitness forum. Dr. Mark had some info on this. I wore CTI's for a long time, but finally went back to just pads. I can see how they can help prevent a hyper-extension, but I can't see how they can prevent twisting. The brace just rotates on your muscles. There is no way it can get enough grip to prevent a twisting force. I can definitely envision how the brace could break the tib/fib or femur in a big cartwheel type of crash.
Shawn142
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Shawn142 12/13/2013 4:58pm
12/13/2013 4:58pm
I've had a full ACL tear in knee braces just like people have broken their necks with neck braces. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it hurts. That's the nature of safety equipment. Use what you feel most comfortable with because in the end comfort on the bike is what's going to keep you off the ground. That's the real way to prevent hurting yourself.
TankSlapper
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TankSlapper 12/13/2013 6:45pm
12/13/2013 6:45pm
Both my knees have numerous issues and my ortho told me I will probably be needing knee replacements somewhere down the road. He said he would write a prescription for braces only if my MRI's showed specific ligament damage.

I wasn't sure if that was to just provide justification for the insurance company, but he did say that he advised against them as a preventative measure because they increase the risk of a femur break. He considered that a potentially life- threatening injury (due to possible artery damage), where a torn ligament is typically not.
James Gingerich 12/15/2013 11:45am
12/15/2013 11:45am
mxjeff575 wrote:
If you haven't yet, search on thumpertalk's health and fitness forum. Dr. Mark had some info on this. I wore CTI's for a long time, but...
If you haven't yet, search on thumpertalk's health and fitness forum. Dr. Mark had some info on this. I wore CTI's for a long time, but finally went back to just pads. I can see how they can help prevent a hyper-extension, but I can't see how they can prevent twisting. The brace just rotates on your muscles. There is no way it can get enough grip to prevent a twisting force. I can definitely envision how the brace could break the tib/fib or femur in a big cartwheel type of crash.
If I remember right Dr. Mark used to be anti knee brace until he did his own study, after which he became pro knee brace.

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