During the 4th of July weekend I took a hard fall wakeboarding and fractured 3 ribs and dislocated another. As I lay in the water, all I could wonder was how long it would be before I could fly kites again. The doctor says 6 weeks! So disappointing. The day after my accident, the new 8M depower I bought showed up. And two days later, my buggy arrived. But I've decided to stay involved and still go out and sit on the ground as I watch my friends fly. I was becoming rather obsessed with this sport, so maybe this is just how it's supposed to be so I get a break.

Of course this got me thinking too about protecting my chest from falls while landboarding/buggying. Any thoughts there?

this is a sad story...i dont trust the doctor 6 weeks is too long you need to go try that bug right away....imo

and use that new 8Dp

years ago i broke 3 ribs and my thumb having a head on with another buggier.
it took me about a month to recover.
we were just about to pass each other when a gust came up and i slided into the other buggier.
back then i was all about how fast i can go. my best is 54mph. i`ll never see that again.
i was alot younger then. now i`m happy to cruise at 20mph and walk away from a good day bugging with only some
sore arms and legs. LOL

Bummer, but don't feel too bad. You'll be better by the time the fall winds come.

Hope the mend time goes quickly for you.

Reputable manufacturers include

661
AlpineStars
Dainese
Fox
Troy Lee
Knox
POC
Thor

Ribtect makes gear specifically for rib protection.

JensenUSA, XSportsprotective, and Atomic Moto have decent sales on a regular basis.

Revzilla has a low free shipping threshold ($39.99) and no restocking fees (although you are still on the hook for return shipping).


ATB,
Sam

What a bummer. I have been through it a few times but never 3 and a dislocate at once ! :o

I have an ongoing problem with the dislocated one. I can pop it out with my harness and have a couple of times. It isn't as bad as broken and I can force myself to keep going / kiting after I feel the now familiar Pop and Burn followed by about 6 weeks of pain.

They make kite specific impact vests but a local has still bust a rib when wearing one.

Good news is that the extreme pain diminishes after a couple of weeks.

Thanks for all the encouragement guys. I want to get back out there sooner than 6 weeks, but I'm petrified that if I go back out when I feel better at 2-3 weeks, that I'll just set myself back for another 6 weeks.

Ribs take 10 months to heal 100%, and dislocated ribs can be fixed. Not that I know anything about ribs.
There is a company that makes rib protection vests, I have the carbon fiber version. I would recommend letting the ribs heal completely, but the call of the kite is not easy to ignore.

3 cracked ribs? Poor baby. Heal soon and get back to the kite.

10 Months???? I can't wait that long! :eekdrull:

Quote: Originally posted by Bladerunner

Good news is that the extreme pain diminishes after a couple of weeks.

is that with or without the pain meds? After 4 years I am still waiting, might be why I get impatient with stupidity.
bb is right about the ongoing pain, you dont get younger but just the opposite. Enjoy the ability to bounce back, at some point you just dont bounce anymore.:evil:

I haven't broken more than one at a time so my experience may well be different. For me, the extreme pain diminished but the pain lasts for the full 6 weeks + now that I am getting older. I hope you aren't as bad off as poor Jeff. The injury was a real life changer for him.

Probably best to get clearance from you doctor before pushing it. As you suggested setting yourself back would be even more of a bummer.

Heal quick and don't laugh too much for a while.

tough on the breaks, you will heal, and you will know when to go back to it. and now imagine the same on land board.. ouch. be smart pad up hat and all. thoughts >>>>speed control, balance , timing and kite control mastery IS the best control of injury. but like CTB says, "if you ain't crashing, you ain't trying"

so if your are injury prone. practice practice practice and then you will be in a cycle of "between injuries", pray they are not frequent...then after a while "coddling the chronic pain".

kiting is a cool disease to have man! rock on!

Ahhh yes, the cracked or broken ribs. I remember a couple years ago I cracked a rib doing a hot launch with a 2.6m in about 30mph winds. I also sprained both my fore arms! not to mention broke both my brake bridles on the kite and both my Q power line brake lines! The fore arms were good to go in a couple days, the rib hurt for weeks, didn't stop me from going to WBB and riding the next weekend for 4 days

It's definitely a bummer, and go at your own speed, each of us have a different tolerance for pain and have done more or less damage to our bodies at some point in time.

Like everyone else always says, better to be safe and live to fly another day!

Heal soon and just watch a bunch of buggy videos, there are a ton of them out there so you wont lose interest any time soon.

Oh, sorry to hear this My theory is, if you fly long enough it's only a matter of time before you have a mishap. My separated shoulder from back in February still bugs me occassionally, so your not alone in the injury group. Hope your healing is quick and you can get back out there. Best regards.

Rob.

how did you break them wakeboarding?

Ouch! Heal up soon!

Like Cheddar said, it's not if it's when.

Not to be a downer but 6 weeks is pretty optimistic. Average recovery for broken bones sure but Big Kid is right, minimum 10 weeks depending on the severity of the break (broken vs. fracture). Ribs take so damn long because you can't immobilize them during the healing process. Imagine a broken arm trying to heal if you had to keep moving it. On the plus side after about 6 weeks you can be pretty mobile again as they heal, depending on your pain threshold.

Rib dislocations are an easy heal. If you get it diagnosed and reduced early then 4 weeks seems to do the job. The hard part is that once it's reduced it feels great and you want to get back at things but the tissue has to set up again otherwise its really easy to have it pop out again. I had a rib out last summer that dislocated and wedged against my spine. Didn't know it for almost 2 weeks, just thought it was a badly pulled muscle. Got it diagnosed, reduced, felt awesome. Got back on the bike 2 days later and dislocated it again because I got too aggressive. On the up side I now know how to get the rib back in so Molly put it back for me. Took 2 weeks easy and hasn't been an issue since.

Molly's ribs are just now starting to settle down. She can sneeze and hiccup without much pain. It's been 11 weeks for her I think.

It sux doing ribs for sure. Waiting is almost as bad as the pain.

Good luck and heal up.

Uh huh. After my heart surgery I was told 8 weeks to full strength but it turned out to be more like 10 weeks. And that's with wires and staples holding my sternum together from the start. Take it easy and feel better.

Quote: Originally posted by elnica

how did you break them wakeboarding?

I dunno. I had a shorty wetsuit on as well as a life vest. 18MPH and I hinged - hard. Guess that was enough. But I didn't know it was possible either.

Sounds like a lot of you guys all have similar stories to share. And I agree, waiting is definitely worse than the pain. Going through bad withdrawal...