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Broken Tibia and Fibula

post #1 of 9
8/17/09 at 4:39pm
Thread Starter 
 Hey All,

Broke both my Tibia and Fibula on July 24. Skiing at Thredbo.

Broke the Tibia in the middle and the Fibula in two places about two inches below my Knee and the some above the Ankle had the full rod operation on the Tibia leaving the Fibula as it was. I've never broken any bones before.

Can anyone give me any ideas on how long till I can ski again...
My family was devistated as we had just started to organize our January ski trip to Breckenridge.

Thanks

Mark
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post #2 of 9
8/18/09 at 11:03am
Mark,

Welcome to Epic Ski!
Unfortunately that question can only be answered by your Orthopedic surgeon. The one thing I can offer is that from my experience muscle atrophy rehabs fairly quickly.

Karl
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post #3 of 9
8/18/09 at 11:08am
do a search in fitness,  this has happened to at least 6 or more Epic members of varying ages and fitness levels. 
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post #4 of 9
8/18/09 at 1:07pm
 As both the posters said, it can vary depending on your general health, fitness and severity of injury.

My husband broke his Tib Fib dirtbiking, missed only one day of work and was riding his dirt bike 4 weeks later,(not aggressively) and lost very little muscle mass due to his general health and the fact that he had a clean break.

Others here have had nightmares with their tib fib fractures, like noodler, who took a couple years off, just getting back into skiing this past season.

My optimistic personality says, "You'll heal fine and be back at it in 2 months!"
 
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post #5 of 9
8/26/09 at 9:51am
I had a similar injury, but no surgery.  Tibia and Fibula broken all the way through skiing when I was 12.  Luckly the break was just below the bootline and it kept everything in relative order, so no surgery.

I was in a full leg cast for 6 weeks, knee high cast for 6 weeks and then a soft cast, so recovery time took forever.  I was skiing the next year.

Man, that was a terrible experience.  Yours sounds worse.
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post #6 of 9
2/5/10 at 1:55pm
my son just had a mid shaft tibia break with spiral fracture during a mogul race. he has a rod but no cast, just a boot.any idea on the recovery time and back on snow
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post #7 of 9
10/9/12 at 3:38pm

Bumping this thread instead of starting a new one. 

 

I had a spiral fracture of the Tib / fib a year ago in a dirt bike accident, got it plated and screwed, in a cast for 4wks and boot for 6wks. I was back on the moto in March. Now ski season is coming up but my orthopedic surgeon wants to remove the large (9in long) plate in my tibia, on account it's an infection risk and the bone should heal stronger without the metal "crutch". He says I'll be weight bearing in a boot for 4wks. ... I plan to be back on the snow asap. (Stats: male, 51yo, average build and athletic ability, pre-injury psia level 7/8 skier)

 

My dilemma from a skier's point of view, is should I choose my telemark gear or alpine gear when starting back up? Tele boots flex a bit easier and the relative speeds are slower, alpine gear is heavier but the bindings are releasable. I'm worried that a good fall might torque my leg too hard too soon. Tele gear and stick to the greens and blues? Or alpine gear and turn down the release settings on the bindings?

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post #8 of 9
10/15/12 at 2:08pm
Try releasable tele???

You don't want a release until you need it, so I wouldn't turn down your alpine bindings below the appropriate setting for your age/weight/skiing style.
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post #9 of 9
11/4/12 at 1:40am
My experience coming back from a tibial plateau fracture was that a stiff boot helped. I bought some new boots in stiffness 130 and for my weight (72kg) that's a pretty stiff boot. But I got on much better. That was contrary to what I expected. Of course you have a different injury, but don't automatically assume that more flex is better.

The speed you ski at is up to you....i don't think choice of equipment comes into it.
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