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Ask HN: How did you cope with breaking a bone?

by mothsonasloth on 9/12/22, 4:19 PM with 3 comments

• by mindcrime on 9/12/22, 4:34 PM

  Not a broken bone, but I tore my right rotator cuff in a mountain biking accident a few years ago, and had to have surgery to repair that. I was in a sling with my arm mostly immobilized for about six weeks, and had several months after that where I was extremely limited in what I could do with my arm. Plus I had to go to physical therapy a couple of times a week. So probably not an altogether different experience mentally.

  Advice? Hmm... tough to say. I hated not being able to ride during my recovery period, but I didn't really do anything special to cope. But I've always had something of a stoic approach to things (going back to before Stoicism was a fad among the tech bro crowd, mind you). Anyway, though it might sound trite/cliched today, I guess I would recommend reading some of the works of the Stoics and consider their mindset. Or some Zen Buddhist material might also be beneficial to you. I'm not a Buddhist, but I find a lot of value in the Zen mindset at times.

  Otherwise, just fill your time reading, listening to music, watching movies, whatever you enjoy, and keep reminding yourself that you will be back to normal before you know it.

• by alhasaniq on 9/13/22, 1:28 AM

  Here is my story. The 10X Broken-Engineer. I broke 10 bones in a Road Traffic Accident Oct 2020. Broke: Femur, Tibia, fibula, Humerus, Ulna, Radius, and 4 ribs. And then, re-broke Tibia again.

  I don't claim that i handled it well, nor that i now know how, but i can surely tell you what i did right and what i did wrong.

  - Stay self-vigilant, especially on things related to your psyche. Staying bedridden or indoors for a long time will surely affect your hormone levels and mood. Remind yourself of this on your first tantrum. - Start physical therapy AS SOON AS your doctor clears you to. Best choice i made. I know people whose joints are "limited" in movement range permanently, just because they skipped physio. Pain is temporary, joint range limitation is permanent. - If you are getting a cast, it is so worth it to buy a "cast cover". This will make taking showers much easier. - STOP SMOKING (If you are). I took it as the usual "stop smoking" that felt like an obligatory advice doctors had to give. Bone healing was basically non-existent for MONTHS. Quit smoking, started seeing remarkable progress nearly immediately. - Ignore your pain. This is what i did best, and has probably contributed A TON to my recovery. I made sure to double check every "kind" of pain with my doc, to make sure nothing was worrying. As soon as the doc told me that it was normal, I started ignoring it. Think of it as background noise. No need to stop it. Just ignore it. Keep pushing yourself to the limit that your doc allows. - Dont ignore too much pain. You may break a bone again. You are not bulletproof now. Even if you have Titanium plates and screws holding your bones together, you can still break them. Just take my word on this one . - If you think bone placement/length/angle/feeling isn't right, dont wait for the bone to heal (cast removed) to check it. Go get a second opinion RN! The last thing you want is to have them break the bone and fixate it again. - If you are going to have non-professional caretakers (friends/family), they need to know that your short temper and frustration is not towards them.

• by uberman on 9/12/22, 4:37 PM

  Mind what you eat if you regularly play sports and now are sidelined. I coach a competitive youth field sport and see athletes with leg injuries gain unwanted weight quickly.

  Continue to attend team practices and events if practical as it will keep you connected to your mates.

  With approval from your doctor, you might still be able to remain upper body active, but don't over do it and force recovery faster than your body needs.

  As a word of encouragement, one of the best players I have ever coached tore her ACL and came back stronger and had her best season 10 months later.

  Good luck with your recovery.