UKC

I broke my fibula 10 weeks ago today, in a cast for 6 weeks and only had my first go out on rock this week.

I can't believe how much the inability to stand on the ball of my foot has got me down, especially coinciding with the "start" of the climbing season.

What bones have you broken and how long did it take to get back on rock?

In reply to Babika:

Not a break, but badly sprained my right ankle last November indoor bouldering (before I had a proper sprain of my own, I used to think they weren't much different to saying you had an ankle boo-boo...). Full flexibility is still not back, and it still hurts at extreme of motion (varies depending on how I've slept, and which stretches I've done). I was back on rock in February or so. From my viewpoint I wonder if I would've had less problems from a clean break of bone rather than a pesky ligament issue...

In reply to Babika:
Wuss

I broke my fib and tib at the same time during a father-and-son game of football. However that was when I was 14.

A few years ago I broke my my big right toe and it healed ok-ish. But today the feker really hurts when combined with my gout.

In total I have broken 6 bones.

Yay.


Got to admit that the worst pain was bruising my heel bone while bouldering at Bridestones. Trust me, bruising a bone hurts way more that breaking it.

In reply to Babika:
When I was 10-ish, I fractured my right wrist by running backwards to see a plane flying over and falling over a low wall, wasn't climbing then but it was about six weeks in the cast.

Right heal was fractured and passed off as bruised by the hospital as a 12 year old, and I hobbled on it until it heeled, and was later told they'd looked again at the xray and bruising had obscured the fracture, but if it wasn't hurting anymore to not worry about it. Not climbing much at the time, but it happened in The Foundry by me climbing above the (then) concrete floor and climbing up too high to be okay to jump off from - which I discovered by jumping off.

Aged 26-ish, pottering down an unknown field at about 5 miles an hour on my mountain bike, I suddenly came upon a hidden hollow and went over the bars and broke my right wrist, that was in plaster for about 2 months iirc. Only 5 miles an hours - too, it felt like the daftest injury ever.

In reply to Babika:
Good luck for a speedy recovery.

Bones I've broken

3 metatarsals in right foot from parachute jump
2 ribs and nose from snowboarding
1 cracked heel from climbing

Ribs were by far the worst and took months to recover from and the first month was agony to do anything.

The doc explained before the scan on my heel that it would be a simple thing that would recover quickly or I would be walking with a limp for the rest of my life. Was a worrying couple of hours waiting for the scan. As it happens, it turned out not too bad and I was able to second slabby routes the week after, but didn't risk bouldering or leading for about 2 months.

In reply to Babika:
Fingers and toes multiple times, but they don't really count. Tape them to the neighbour and continue.

CB

edit:, same for ribs, kinesiotape works wonders!

In reply to Babika:

Fortunately I have only ever broke wind

In reply to Babika:

Nose x2, ribs, collar bone x2, femur, foot, fingers, thumb!! And I've got big bones!

In reply to The Lemming:



Well I got double unlucky as I got both! The base of the heel is still so bruised that long walks require large doses of painkillers. Bah.

In reply to Babika:

scaphoid into 3 pieces & radial head after a nasty fall down Ogmore in South Wales which resulted in being in a plaster for 9 weeks. Then 8 days after being released from a cast I slipped up Pen-Y-Fan and had a separate scaphoid break so 6 more weeks in a cast.

This was 4 years ago and I still get pumped in the broken are more than the other, and have started to get arthritis

In reply to Babika:

Yes, bruised (and fractured) bones can be painful.

In reply to abr1966:


Femur?


You win

In reply to cb294:


Yep, I've been sporting some fetching blue stripey legs from a soft tissue therapist in a bid to reduce the pain,but apart from drawing interested looks it seems to have done bugger all good.

In reply to abr1966:

You definitely win.

In reply to Babika:
More interestingly is what bones I've broken on other people.

Age 5 broke a nose of another boy who was being horrible to me
Age about 14 broke my mates arm when he wouldn't give my bike back, so I dragged him off as he rode past.
Age 20 was giving my friend Laura a piggyback whilst drunk and tripped and broke her collar bone, it was either that or my face, she lost. 16 years later she still has a lump from it.
Age about 25 dropped an aircraft battery and broke some toes of a colleague

In reply to Babika:
Broke a few bones when younger

A kid at school lashed out with a hockey stick in a game and caught my hand against my stick... don't remember it being much of a pain or stopping me doing things despite being in a cast.

Once was kicked off my bike by a walker for "being on a footpath" (it was a bridleway) which broke my wrist, and on an isle of Wight mtb tour broke my arm and had to ride back to the ferry before getting it seen to.

Since starting to climb I've broken a rib and climbed (a bit sore and carefully) 7 weeks later in El Chorro (holiday booked)

None of these compared in terms of discomfort to my mother who slipped and landed on her chest on a bollard in a carpark in spain. result -
Rush to hospital, Broken Sternum (breast bone) split top to bottom, 2 week stay until able to fly followed by weeks of painful breathing and sleeping in an upright chair and trying not to sneeze

Funniest - when on a school ski trip (aged around 16) in the bedroom of one of the girls in a diff school just standing at the end of the bed, the girl in question ran into the room and jumped on the bed and the end panel of the bed fell on my toes breaking them kind of spoilt the moment.

In reply to Phil Payne:

Appropriate surname

In reply to Babika:

Surprisingly few climbing breakages....

In reply to Babika:

I broke my finger playing Football against the cons in Gartree prison a few years ago.

In reply to Babika:

My left arm in 13 places! It was touch and go whether it was going to be amputated. I'm a crap climber and the arm don't work right well but at least I've still got it.

In reply to arch:

Are you Nick Bullock?

In reply to Babika:

Once kicked myself in the nose, and broke it.

We were doing a martial arts display for a local carnival. I was attacking "Big Neil" with a knife and he was doing dramatic throw* on me, playing to the crowds obvs.

As he threw me, a kid run onto the tatami, so Neil pulled me up a bit short. Instead of rolling gracefully out of it, I landed on the back of my neck and my knee came down with a thump into my face. I looked like I'd gone 3 rounds with Mike Tyson.

Apart from that, both ankles twice, left knee, and I have a permanently displaced clavicle from a motorbike smash.




*Kotegaeshi for those in the know. youtube.com/watch?v=nS4UvdN_p40&

In reply to Babika:

Broken:

1. Right wrist
2. Left arm
3. Nose
4. Right foot
5. Fingers (3 separate occasions)
6. Ribs - several (5 separate occasions)
7. Small toes (numerous times)
8. Right heel (totally shattered)
9. Right Ankle
10. Crushed left hand, thumb and forefinger

1, 2, 8 & 9 = climbing accidents:
1 & 2 = bouldering groundfalls (pre-mats).
8 & 9 = leading groundfall. 9 pins, 5 plates. 2 operations so far. Sub talar fused. I now walk with a limp and am in constant pain.

3 & 4 = schoolboy rugby
5 & 6 = white water kayaking
10 = DIY car mechanics cluster f*ck (Land Rover Series 2)

I've also dislocated both shoulders more than once (white water kayaking/ mountain biking) and dislocated my left ankle after being blown over a small outcrop by a freak gust of wind.

I don't consider myself to be neither unlucky, nor accident prone. Others may, of course, disagree.

However, by way of mitigation:

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!” - Hunter S. Thompson

In reply to Dave Williams:

Blimey. That's raised the bar.

And I like the final quote.

In reply to Babika:

Left leg 10 pins 1 plate soloing
right leg same time as above
right leg skiing externally pinned
left leg hairline fracture paragliding
ribs motorbike and paragliding
left arm 20pins 2 plates paragliding

In reply to Big Ger:

Yes, forgot about the nose (doesn't count either in Judo). Too many falls on the mat face down, either when twisting out of a throw or, even worse, when failing to pull a throw all the way through and landing with the full weight of the other guy on the back.

I used to annoy my kids by making a cracking noise with my nose, they really could not stand this!

Anyway, you got away lucky. A teammate broke his nose in a similar way, and when the bleeding stopped and he tried to sneeze, his eyes started popping out: Broken back of the eye socket, off to surgery right away....

CB

In reply to Babika:

I have broken a few. Memory is going, but I think this is most of them:

numerous fingers
left thumb x3
right thumb
right hand
left wrist
dislocated left wrist
ligament in right wrist (mucho surgery ensued)
skull by left ear
nose 2x
an eye (rusty splinter)
dislocated collar bone
displaced 4 vertebrae (run over by an ambulance)
some ribs
tibia
both heel bones
some foot bones
some toes

And then many concussions, and a good collection of stitches for random things.

I thought a lifestyle that causes that level of injury was normal - turns out it's not! It's been fun though.

In reply to Albert Tatlock:


That's only fortunate for you!!!

In reply to Big Ger:


were you perhaps sticking your nose where it shouldn't have been?

In reply to Babika:

Various fingers
Various ribs
Wrist
Ankle
Arm

Playing rugby for 20 plus years has not helped

In reply to Babika:

a thousand hearts

In reply to cb294:



I feel their pain as I managed to break not only the socket, but all of the bones in the right side of my face falling some 1000ft a couple of winters back.
I had to poke my eye back in whilst waiting in a blizzard for MRT and a helicopter (thanks again to Glencoe MRT BTW - a top bunch of folks!)
Two 12 hr operations later I have titanium mesh for an eye socket and multiple plates and screws holding the rest of my face together.
Not my best day out in the mountains...

In reply to Babika:
Broke a shin bone (on the path leading to a climb at Stoney). Climbed in cast three days later, on very easy routes. The temptation to stand on the leg was huge.
Collar bone (walked into the edge of a door!). Climbed one handed on easy routes within a week.
Finger (trapped in a door on a windy day). Climbed for a week before I realised it really was broken!
Toe (trodden on by a stiletto heel worn by a substantial birthday girl). Made standing on slopers really awkward.
Hand (having a bad time and punched a reinforced door). Couldn't bend it properly so could only pull down with it, not press, so mantles were out for a few weeks.
Shoulder blade (hit by a mountain biker who then fell over the edge. I helped him back to the track, and he never even said sorry!) Couldn't do gastons for several weeks.
Foot (someone rolled a boulder down a path, by accident.) Had to limp in trainers, but was fine once the rock shoes were thoroughly tightened.
A lot of the recovery time is spent not knowing how hard you can try on something. Taking things easy, building up, and trying a little harder, and being prepared to stop (drop onto the rope!) if things feel wrong, seemed to be the way to go for me. I am lucky that none of my breaks were serious. I have taken the odd big fall and walked away with crag rash, and as you will notice, people have to be more worried for me when I am not actually on the rock. Footpaths are dangerous!!!
This list does not include bones of other people I have broken, twists, sprains, tears, bruises etc and is not a definitive list as at my age the memory tends to have gaps. The above have happened over a 67+ year lifespan, of a fairly clumsy oaf!

In reply to Babika:

Nose: 3 times. First a head butt, then a few years later, a punch, and around the same time, moshing at a gig.

Left big toe; 2/3 times. Bed post. Door frame. Small flats!

Left ankle: clean break. Mended well. No climbing for 4 weeks (and sprained a finger doing pull ups in the interim).

Been lucky I think

In reply to Flinticus:

I particularly like the run over by ambulance remark by gribble.

So far:-

Snapped ACL - on the Haute Route and had to ski out on it from way above Arolla.
Fibula
Radius - fell off school climbing frame which being the 70s was built on tarmac.
Dislocated a rib from my sternum, but pushed it back in again. Possible more painful pushing it back.
Two ribs fractured on a failed kitesurfing megaloop.
Jaw using my own knee. Had it wired shut. Turns out surfing with your mouth wired up is really stupid. (broke teeth in the same crash)
Dendex(dry slope skiing) thumbs - too many times to mention
Toes
Eyebrow from a groundfall off Motion Pictures at Shorncliff.
Scaphoid

In reply to More-On:

Sounds scary! Hope you are happy with your new, Terminator style endoskeleton!

CB

In reply to Babika:

Had a fall solo scrambling on the Cobbler last July, the walk out was a bit painful and I wasn't feeling much better in the morning so I went to A&E - fractured all ribs and collarbone on the left hand side, right humerus, 2 vertebrae, punctured lung and diaphragm. 4 weeks on my back in hospital while the vertebrae healed, watching helicopters land - that was my one chance of a ride in a helicopter and I blew it!

In reply to Babika:

Sheesh, this thread is making me feel a bit ill! I thought I was accident prone but you guys are making me feel like an amateur!

I've only broken both my ankles (separately) and dislocated my elbow. One ankle was from messing around pretending to do step aerobics on the kerb outside the gym and healed perfectly after 6 weeks in a cast. The elbow was a grappling accident - got turned and landed awkwardly with my partner on top of me. That healed up perfectly after 4 months in an arm brace.

The other ankle was from a bouldering fall - I slipped off the side of the mat and turned my ankle outwards. The break itself was minor but I did a high ankle sprain at the same time which meant I was totally non load bearing for 8 very long weeks and it took a few months after that before I was climbing and walking properly. Unfortunately they missed that I'd also chipped the base of my tibia and had small bone shards floating round the ankle - end result was bone spurs, an arthroscopic debridement and arthritis by the age of 33

In reply to Babika:

Neck. Undesirable rock-body interface after a rapid descent from a route on Stanage. C6 spinous process fracture so could have been much worse.

In reply to Babika:

Arm - about 6 weeks to heal. I was a kid and this was pre-climbing days

Little toe - initially I got straight back on rock as I didn't realise it was broken. Tight rock shoes helped to support it. Then 6 weeks to get better

Rib - It's now 7 weeks since I broke it and finally I think I shall be able to start climbing again, but I'm nervous of banging it

In reply to Babika:

Tib and Fib in left leg, Scaffoid in both wrists, pelvis in 2 places, right elbow and T12 and L2 vertebrae after a ground fall. First month in hospital was lying in bed, second working up to hobbling a few steps on crutches. Overall 10 months out before 1st moderate lead back. Strangely now I'm climbing better than I ever have before, which leads me to ask myself, what was I doing before my fall!

In reply to Babika:
L ankle when coming off bike down hill when 16.
R medial malleolus (ankle)fracture coming off motorbike about 14 years ago. Supposed to be off work 6-7wks,but became hopping champion so that I could work.
Multiple fractures on the L side of my skull(base of skull,small part of zygoma,sphenoid,lateral orbit(uncommon fracture), and a couple of others) also displaced a couple of cervical/neck vertebrae, so had titanium plate placed there to stabilise. This was 9 years ago.Latter surgery resulted in some degree of laryngeal dysfunction, so came round from GA gagging/struggling to breathe. Initially had VIth cranial n damage to L eye, so could not move eye laterally and had double vision for a while(worrying), but resolved. Off work 6 months, but managed to go climbing on Great Gable at VS standard before I went back to work. Still have issues with balance sometimes. It changed some of my emotional responses too!

Yet I do not think that I was as bad as More-on. I only fell 14m after supposedly testing the gear, which was not up to the test, not 300m. NHS nurses and doctors were brilliant at Frenchhay hospital-got me fixed earlier than I would have been in some hospitals.

In reply to Trangia:

Yesterday my training partner fell knee first on the rib I cracked in spring. Not recommended.

CB

In reply to Dave Williams:





















Dave Williams: climber. A man barely alive...

£Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to make the world£s first bionic man. Dave Williams will be that man. Better than he was before. Better. Stronger. Faster.£

youtube.com/watch?v=HoLs0V8T5AA&

In reply to Babika:

Tib and fib right leg. Rugby
Tib and fib left leg. Rugby
Right ankle. Rugby
Left kneecap, left wrist, right collarbone. Motorbike
Left elbow. Motorbike.
Tri malleolar left ankle. Rugby
Everything was the usual quick cast, cut off after a few days to let me ride motorbikes then taped back on after the ride. Few weeks later and back to training it up to strength.
The trimalleoar ankle fracture was a proper 180° break and the pins plates and screws were so painful I had them removed. I did climb in the period whilst they were in but never got up anything more than a scramble as the pins were working out. Once they were out it was only a couple of weeks till I was climbing again.
Plus the usual collection of fingers and noses.

In reply to Cú Chullain:

>Dave Williams: climber. A man barely alive...

Haha, very good.

However you may well have a point. Now, if I had a bionic ankle, I could skid in sideways even faster .....

In reply to Timmd:

Stupidest break ever? I broke my thumb trying on a pair of fires in Frank Davies - tried edging on the skirting board whilst balancing with my hand on a low shelf, boot rolled off (too big!), thumb went back and ouch!

In reply to Babika:

One's heart, never did quite heal properly....: (

In reply to Babika:

At various points:

Femur
Patella
Various metatarsi
Various fingers
Wrist
Scapula
Clavicle
At least 2 ribs
And a massive dent in my skull from being delivered by forceps...

I was/am a clumsy git

In reply to cb294:

It certainly was. Not some much due to the pain and wondering whether I'd lost the eye, rather the fact I was on a solo trip and I was on a 60 degree slope and rapidly getting buried by snow. After giving up on trying to climb out as I couldn't see, I had to resort to the phone and 'sit' it out until the good folks of MRT came to my aid.

The repair work was/is fantastic - you can hardly tell externally, barring the scars, and it only hurts occasionally...

In reply to veteye:

Although I shared the same fractures I haven't had any issues with double visions etc since I popped the eye back in myself, so I'm not sure I had the worst of it - I'm just glad you are on the mend.
I can also vouch for the brilliance of the NHS staff at Frenchay - they sorted out all the surgical issues that Glasgow didn't/couldn't and really helped me mentally as well.

In reply to Dave Williams:

Hi

Is that Dave "lucky" Williams that I used to know?

In reply to Timmd:


I can top that. I managed to break a wrist while failing to stand up straight. Out for a run on an icy winter day, I was mere yards from the start of the run when I had to negotiate a frozen puddle across the path. I slipped, put my hand out and broke the head of the ulna on impact. And in a cast for about 8 weeks. That came almost exactly 6 months after breaking the other wrist after falling when running down Ben Macdui.

The other significant break came when playing football up Caerketton Hill in the Pentlands. Apparently the sound of the cracking tibia could be heard for some distance. Getting back to the bottom of the hill was a painful experience. That put me in plaster for three months and I missed the end of the rugby season and all the athletics season.

In reply to Babika:

I haven't broken my ankle (clip sticking a route in Spain - couldn't reach the lower off from the 3rd bolt so had to clip adjacent route. Must have been on the nose of the karabiner as when I unclipped from 3rd bolt I fell ending up upside down with my face looking at my belayer's knees), just given it a good battering, yet 10 weeks later I still have issues. Walked for an hour yesterday, then went to a gig in the evening, can barely walk on it this morning.
Climbing mostly OK but not good at dynamic moves off that foot, carrying loads is not good. Suspect it is causing me to move weight onto my arms and get pumped though as grade has taken a hit.

In reply to Babika:

Broken ribs, twice (the same ribs). First time mountain biking, second time fell off the bouldering wall and managed to drive my knee into my chest. In both cases I was back climbing within a week.

Spraining my ankle, on the other hand, left me unable to walk for a week, and unable to run for a year.

In reply to Dave Williams:

You apparently are having every one else's share of the injuries. A very nice thing to do, to keep the averages right. Thanks.

In reply to Babika:
multiple broken ribs several times from being drunk and a t*t, left clavicle in 4 places in a motorcycle argument with a far larger, more solidly built vehicle, one knuckle from punching my brother (dunno who really won that one) and an ankle bouldering. Worst was the ribs easily but the clavicle was close - the NHS left it for 8 weeks roughly saying it would "sort itself out". A totally different consultant took one look at it before saying it should have been plated straightaway. I was in surgery the next day

None of them have stopped me climbing for long (much to the disgust of doctors). Ribs hurt whether I climbed or not, Knuckle was before I climbed. Clavicle was about 2 weeks before I started gently again. Was told at the time that the ankle was just a bad sprain so it was only about a week or so. The surgery to rectify that cost me 6 weeks earlier this year.

In reply to Dave Williams:

I'm suprised you didn't mention the fence post that you snapped in half the other day as you fell off the top of the dry stone wall.....

In reply to Doug Kerr:
Ha, yes. The joys of being the hapless and highly dubious participant in *someone else's* little expedition. The words: ''I'm not taking the longer way round on footpaths. I'm not using a footbridge to cross the raging torrent but I'm going for the direct approach through the forest instead as it'll be much quicker'' are irrevocably seared into memory.

Considering the sweaty, midge-eaten, tick-infested, multiple-river-crossing purgatory that had preceded it, with over an hour's worth of fighting through virtually impenetrable boggy pine forest, alder thicket, bramble, hawthorn, heather, birch and willow scrub, liberally littered with a multitude of hidden man-traps, by that stage I was more than ready to end it all. I would willingly have thrown myself off the wall had I not been so incredibly lucky to have fallen off it first. My extremely rapid descent, post in hand and barely alive, was a very blessed relief!


Indeed so.

In reply to Babika:



Sorry to hear that. I fractured my fibula about three months ago. It didn't need a cast. I couldn't climb well for a few weeks as twisting my foot led to a sudden weakness in ankle strength. My ankle still swells up after running and climbing - I guess it'll be six months or so before it's totally healed.

Other injuries include a broken arm (cycle crash on road) and fractured wrist (motorbike crash). I think I got a hairline fracture in my foot when I was looking after the Orange House for a few weeks and was running almost every day on dirt tracks wearing Walshes . That has never really healed up.

Peter

In reply to Babika:

Not a bone, but I have broken my ACL for the second time. No climbing since Christmas and no operation until August... this time it'll be patella tendon reconstruction. Not looking forward to the months of rehab, again. Last time I climbed some Diffs after 2 months but maybe that's why it failed again.
2016 what a chap year...

In reply to Removed UserDeleted bagger:

How do you go about breaking an arm in 13 places?

In reply to Babika:

Thanks for all the interesting stories and replies
Looks like we certainly keep the NHS* busy

I managed Crib Goch in a hailstorm and led 4 easy pitches on the Milestone this weekend so I'm feeling quite chipper about the leg rehab!



*or hospitals in every corner of the globe

In reply to Greasy Prusiks:

Once in LLanberis, once in Cwm Idwal, once at Tremadog................?

In reply to Babika:

Broke my radius in Feb (hit by block of ice) - operation to pin the 2 bits back together but there is an additional 'splinter/wedge' of bone that had broken off. It feels fine now and have full movement but cannot really climb or do heavy work on it as the 'spliter / wedge' bit is still not fused properly with rest of bone. Before I was told this I did start doing some easy / 1 handed seconding. Looking at September for next xray - check.
Apart from that have broken heel bone and ankle in separate climbing accidents some years ago. 8-10 weeks recovery
Steve