# Snowboarding with a broken arm?



## slyder

I believe Dr's have a place. With that said they often judge on the side of caution. 

Maybe at your next visit or before you go ask him to put you in a waterproof cast if he feels that you truly shouldn't ride with it protected. This is kinda the best of both worlds. It may limit your riding to greens and blues but better than not riding. 

Just a thought


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## alaric

I once broke my hand and decided I would still risk boarding with my hand in a cast. All was fine and dandy until I took a stupid spill, which normally wouldn't bother me. But since my hand was still broken that stupid spill hurt like hell.

If you do decide to board, take it extremely easy.


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## killclimbz

By February if things are going well, you are probably going to be ok. Then again, I am not a doctor. For sure take precautions. You might want to put stuff off until mid to late March if you can. It's the best month for big trips anyway. 

I know it sucks, but if you are that big trip guy I can say without reservation that there will be snow the following season. If you are not tied to a place then you can find a great area to go no problem. 

I also know guys who have refused to take the time to heal on various injuries that were fractures. One is a perma gimp now, the other has constant pain. Others have seemed to get away with it I suppose. Let that shit heal. 

It's up to you. In the scheme of things missing a season is not that big of a deal if that is what it comes down to.


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## sheepstealer

You want to ride? Easy.

Don't fall.


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## mixie

Get a second opinion and find a sports medecine doc or a doc who skis. 


Last season I broke my finger. I went to my Doctor who happens to ski  He sent me to the orthpod to put me in a cast and told me to be careful since he knew Id ride anyway. Then he went over the risks I was taking if I crashed again. Serious pain and the potential to injure myself badly enough to need surgery etc...


of course the orhtopod was like "oh hell no you can't go snowboarding with a cast!" they thought my Doc was nuts. lol. Also, it felt kinda badass to ride with a cast on, I won't lie. 




now I had a minor fracture not plates and pins and stuff but I also was boarding less then 10 days from the break. You'll have a bit more recovery.


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## Hidde

Aight, thanks for the input guys... So unless the doc will say it'll be OK to go, no snowboarding for me that is...


killclimbz said:


> You might want to put stuff off until mid to late March if you can. It's the best month for big trips anyway.


Well, I'm 17, in the last year of high school and obviously still live with my parrents. With my parrents we always go in december, but they are not going to book unless they know for sure that I'll be allowed to go, wich basically means I can scrap that trip I think. In february I'm going with school and I HAVE to go(I'm organizing that trip, it's my final assignment...) but I guess by then it'll be fine. Can't go in march, since I don't have any holidays then until late april/early may, wich is slightly too late...

I know it's better, but it sucks so much... I'm addicted.


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## mixie

Hidde said:


> With my parrents we always go in december, but they are not going to book unless they know for sure that I'll be allowed to go, wich basically means I can scrap that trip I think.




maybe they can use that money on some new gear for you to use in Feb! You're young! You should be healed by Feb


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## Hidde

mixie said:


> maybe they can use that money on some new gear for you to use in Feb! You're young! You should be healed by Feb


Heh, that's not a bad idea at all since I BADLY need a wideboard(I'm nearly 2m and have pretty huge feet. Toedrag all the way!). But I think they said a while ago that if we didn't go to Austria, we'd go somewhere far away in the summer(thought they wanted to go to Africa or smth) but I didn't want to sacrifice my snowboardtrip.:laugh:

Well I'll just see. I'll talk to the physiotherapist aswell and who knows what happens, but I'm not counting on it...

EDIT:

Oh by the way, you're all talking about a cast, but has anyone tried boarding with a brace? I think that IF I would go, that would be a bit easier. I'm not quite sure too if I can just go to the doctor to tell him I want a cast... I live in the Netherlands, and we have all this awesome health care and stuff, but that also means they are not just going to burn money by giving anyone who wants a cast a cast I assume...


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## slyder

You can always order the supplies online and have a buddy put it on. Making a cast isn't rocket science especialy if its just an added precaution


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## kpd2003

opinions from the internet dont mean shit when it comes to your body

ask yourself these questions:

1. why am i asking for medical advice on a forum
2. can i imagine dealing with 3/4 of that original pain each time i fall on it
3. when will my balls drop
4. am i going to fuck up hanging out with my friends so i can go on a trip with my parents

was going to keep going but its no longer fun


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## Hidde

slyder said:


> You can always order the supplies online and have a buddy put it on. Making a cast isn't rocket science especialy if its just an added precaution


Hehe, could do that too, but knowing my parrents they would literally laugh their ass of if I suggest doing that. And IF anything happens with such a homemade cast I doubt insurance is going to pay for your surgery haha. Thanks for the input though.

EDIT:



kpd2003 said:


> opinions from the internet dont mean shit when it comes to your body
> 
> ask yourself these questions:
> 
> 1. why am i asking for medical advice on a forum
> 2. can i imagine dealing with 3/4 of that original pain each time i fall on it
> 3. when will my balls drop
> 4. am i going to fuck up hanging out with my friends so i can go on a trip with my parents
> 
> was going to keep going but its no longer fun


As stated, I was not asking for medical advice, I have a doctor and physiotherapist for that stuff. I was asking if there were people that had similar things going on and how those things ended. I was mainly asking this to find out what my chances would be to be at the slopes in three months...


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## mixie

slyder said:


> You can always order the supplies online and have a buddy put it on. Making a cast isn't rocket science especialy if its just an added precaution


seriously. My orthopod tried to talk me out of a cast and into a splint. I told him my Dr ordered the cast so I could snowboard. He looked at me like  and said "No way am I approving that!" Probably worried I sue him or something. When he put the cast on I swear I've done more advanced paper mache in school. 

also, I sawed the cast off myself, as I only needed it for closing weekend at Mammoth. I bought a drug store splint which I wore for a week or two after the saw job. I went back to my orthopod for my follow up and brought the cut off cast with me! He was not amused.


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## mixie

kpd2003 said:


> opinions from the internet dont mean shit when it comes to your body
> 
> ask yourself these questions:
> 
> 2. can i imagine dealing with 3/4 of that original pain each time i fall on it[/B]





this is really the only pertinent question to ask. I doubt any one really thinks internet advice is the be all end all to their medical woes. 

however, yes it will hurt a lot if you crash again. Alcohol helps with this. 

Whats the drinking age in the Netherlands anyway?


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## Hidde

What do you mean with alcohol helps? Like, if I fall and have pain I should hit a pub and get wasted?  

Alcohol age is(brace yourselves!) 16 years old for alcoholic drinks that have an alcoholic percentage of 14,9 or lower, and 18 for drinks that have a higher percentage of alcohol. But since the Netherlands is flatter than your average pancake and has like 3 snowy days a year, I'd rather go to Austria to board. Dunno about the drinking age there, not that anyone cares about it haha.

Oh and by the way, original pain? You mean the pain I had when it had just happen? Well, there was none, guess that's adrenaline... The pain while taking x-rays was unbearable though...


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## kpd2003

not sure how the sarcasm could've possibly been missed 

fine i'll write a semi-serious response:

The cast wont save you - the extra protection wont save you - meditation and prayer wont save you. Falling on a broken arm is not fun. If you do go, are you going to be protecting your arm, or will you be snowboarding? Trying to do both will just ruin the fun of snowboarding. (Personal Opinion)

Also, if you do go, i hope you have a high pain tolerance. Every little thing you do will hurt - tying boot laces, scratching your ass, adjusting your goggles. (Personal Experience)

It takes a special and mostly fucked up person to go into a situation where you know you are doing permanent damage to your body but do it anyways. I fall into that category (Personal Problem). 


Your chances of being there in 3 months are up to you. My first post was the fun way around typing this shitty response


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## killclimbz

The longer you can wait to let the arm heal the better. 5 months is obviously going to be better than three months.


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## Hidde

Sorry for not having English as my native language... First 2 questions did not seem that sarcastic too. Or if you were referring to the drinking stuff, I was not serious at all.  

And I'm not in the phase that everything I do hurts, not that it matters, cos' a fall would potentially fuck up my arm anyway...


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## mixie

Hidde said:


> What do you mean with alcohol helps? Like, if I fall and have pain I should hit a pub and get wasted?



well, kinda. When I busted my finger I was snowboarding. So i just got drunk at the bar while my hand swelled up and turned purple then got back on the gondola. Let me tell you the bartender was pouring some serious sympathy drinks too, I think he just gave me a glass of vodka.....I hope I remembered to tip him well....


but yes, a little buzz takes the edge off the pain. Hopefully you will have none by Feb!


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## TheMan

I'm addicted too, but you should wait till it's well healed. I know it's hard. Here's why. I'm old. I have beat up my body. The PAIN of every injury you will ever have, over the course of your lifetime, will return. Read that line again. That is not the last time you'll feel that injury. Couch potatoes die of Heart Attack. Active people die of agony.


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## timmytard

You should be able to, no problem.

This is what you need to do.

Go to physiotherapy as much as you can, never miss it.
If you can find a good sports specific physiotherapist, go to that guy/girl.
There is a big difference between a sports physiotherapist & the 60 year old guy that treats your grandma for her broken hip. It's about 2 months.

Tell him you need to get back out there & to put you through the wringer.
It's gonna hurt & it ain't much fun but the more you can endure the faster you'll be back out there. 

TT


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## Hidde

Hmm, I doubt a physiotherapist is able to make my arm heal faster. He will be able to help me gain strength etc again with my arm(wich I'm allowed to, since that puts pressure on the other bone and is not a short, high impact) but that doesn't speed up the process of a bone healing, does it?

I do go to a sports physiotherapist btw, been there way too much already last 2 years...


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## Deviant

I did it with a broken hand, when I was 16, I broke part of the cast in a crash and re-injured my hand so don't do what I did. It hurt like a sonofabitch. If you're going to ride, take it easy, that's about all anyone can say.

Another thing to remember is the sweating in the cast when you ride. All casts pretty much stink but after a couple months in one while snowboarding, mine was *rank.*


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## alaric

Deviant said:


> I did it with a broken hand, when I was 16, I broke part of the cast in a crash and re-injured my hand so don't do what I did. It hurt like a sonofabitch. If you're going to ride, take it easy, that's about all anyone can say.
> 
> Another thing to remember is the sweating in the cast when you ride. All casts pretty much stink but after a couple months in one while snowboarding, mine was *rank.*


this.
i forgot about the smell. ugh.


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