Kitesurfer injured at Marlo

A kitesurfer was injured on 19 December at Marlo.  Reports indicate his leg was impaled on a large piece of wood that was in the water while he was travelling at speed and possibly jumping.

Stay safe while kitesurfing.

Kite surfer thought he would die after impaling leg in high-speed crash, 7 News

Recovering from hamstring tendon attachment rupture

Some more information on my hamstring injury.

When I came off the foil board I was lofted. While in the air I felt a "pop" and immediate pain. It felt like I had dislocated my left hip joint. 

I was able to body drag with the board back to the beach then hobble back to pack up my gear and walk back to my car.

My left buttock was very sore underneath - I put ice on it and took some anti-inflammatories.

Diagnosis
I saw a sports medicine doctor (GP) - he said I had most likely injured the ligament attachments of my leaf hamstring tendons - circled in red in the diagram below.

Source: https://www.yoganatomy.com/hamstrings-group-muscles-yoga-anatomy/

He said that the injury would most likely heal with surgery and suggested I get an ultrasound.

The ultrasound was inconclusive in the zone where the injury was.

A friend recommended I get an MRI so I did.  Showing the results and report to the doctor, he said the damage was worse than he thought.  The attachment of the "conjoined tendon" (semitendinosus & semimembranosus hamstring muscles) was completely detached and retraced 15mm.

The attachment of the other tendon (right next to it) was stressed but not fully ruptured.  He suggest I get specialist advice on whether surgery was required.

I made appointments with two surgeons who specialise in hamstring injuries.  I always get two opinions on something this serious.  If they don't agree I would  get a third.

However, both agreed that while surgery was possible, it would be best to rest and wait it to heal then get physio treatment.  This was a good option for me as 3 months recovery and 6 months rehab for the surgery option was not attractive.

The physio gave me a succession of progressive exercises to gradually strengthen the left hamstring.  It has improved to the point where I can now do some mountain biking (not to vigorous) and AT LAST some more kitesurfing (avoiding major crashes - no foil board!), and I can recommence yoga.

My sanity will be restored.

This was 51 days (1 month, 20 days) after the injury.

In hindsight, I think had a "grade 1" hamstring injury before the crash - the muscle and tendon was feeling quite tight.  This is apparently commonly overlooked.

The subsequent "grade 2.5" injury (with 3.0 being full detachment of both tendons) may have been partly due to the previous injury.

Some tips:

• Do yoga to keep your flexibility and stretch out muscles and tendons
• If you get a sore hamstring see a physio or a sports medicine doctor to get it checked - prevention is better than cure.
• Ice the injury and take anti inflammatories
• If you have an injured hamstring get an MRI done so that all soft tissue damage is visible
• Don't rush the recovery - if you tear both hamstring tendons right off then surgery will be the only option.

Now for some more kitesurfing, and mountain biking . . . 

Storms over Melbourne in late December - a rest day

December weather in Melbourne can be fickle.  We had a nice sunny day at Sandringham Beach yesterday (Sunday 28/10) with less than 10 knots of wind.  Today, storms came from the West, lashing Melbourne and Port Phillip Bay with wind gusting up to 45 knots.

I was happy to have a rest day as my left elbow/arm is sore from all the recent kiting.  Its tennis elbow again (overuse). Cesar recommended a couple of hand stretches - wrist up and wrist down - to assist recovery, along with icing and some anti inflammatories.  This has reduced the symptoms.

With variable wind like today its best to avoid kitesurfing.  We stopped at Williamstown beach and watched first the gusting wind then a thunderstorm come through.

Storm at Williamstown Beach

We stopped at The Zu Boardsports on the way home and had a nice coffee at the West Beach Bathers Pavilion.  There were about a dozen kiters out in the 20-25 knots, the wind having abated somewhat.

The wind chart at Fawkner Beacon showed the story - huge variability in the wind.  So be extremely careful if you are considering kitesurfing in a Westerly or North Westerly.  Its best to wait for more stable conditions.

Another bike crash, another broken bone

Its been a bad year for me so far regarding "accidents".  I was thinking that I had done well to get over two broken transverses process (back, January) then a fractured fibula (bike crash with car,  February).

But cycling to work on Tuesday 27/5, I was distracted while cycling along a short section of paved road in Ferndale Road approaching Glen Iris Road.  I hit the very nasty small speed hump there and came down hard on my right shoulder.

I have had some helpful suggestions about using trainer wheels, slowing down and stopping cycling.  I raced pushbikes on the road for over 10 years (one crash, wheel slipped on wet corner) and I have commuted for over 30 years with about 3 crashes and 2 serious injuries (both this year).

 I was travelling at 14km/h. The speed hump does not comply with Australian Design specifications and should be replaced as it is unsafe.

Broken shoulder - before

I was in pain and could feel a big lump on my shoulder, so I called Lena who picked me up and took me into Epworth emergency.  The x-ray showed a bad bread of my clavicle, requiring surgery to put in a plate. 

Not good, really not good . . .

I spend and uncomfortable night sleeping in the chair at home then want back to hospital on Wednesday for the operation.  It was a bit unnerving waiting all afternoon, but eventually they got to me.  I shuffled off the bed onto the operating table then awoke after the operation with the previous hour or so expunged from my consciousness.

Broken shoulder

I went home on Thursday after a night in hospital.  I have been carrying the arm in a sling and taking it out occasionally to keep it moving.  Regular strong pain killers are needed while it settles down and starts healing.

Shoulder - after operation

So once again I conclude that kitesurfing is safer than riding a bike around Melbourne.   I am counting down the days until I can get back on the water. Unfortunately, it could be a while.