Drumming and broken leg recovery

[cabasner]

Hey all,

It's been months since I've been here on DrumChat. I've been recovering from a broken left tibia, and surgery to fix it. I had what is called an intramedullary nail (pin) inserted and secured with screws. While I've been told my recovery is faster than most, it's still been awfully slow and frustrating. I'm about 7 weeks since the surgery. I can walk on the leg now, using a walker, but the top of the left foot, oddly, is completely numb and the tissue on the top of the ankle has thickened quite a bit. I haven't asked my doctor, but I'm thinking that if I got back into drumming, and perhaps started using that foot and ankle on the high hat, that this may assist in a faster recovery. Has anyone experienced this before? Any thoughts?

[SpazApproved]

Not with a leg but when I snapped my arm in half they encouraged me to do light drumming during my recovery. Don't over work it but give it a shot.

[MDK]

Damn sorry to hear that bud, was wondering where you been. I would ask the doctor about it but I imagine it should be ok as long as you dont force it.

[cabasner]

Agreed that you can't overdo it!

Hey Rob, yes, that's been my main reason for not being here. Hope your holidays were great! I fell in my house...one of my Corgi's piddled on the floor (they NEVER have accidents in the house), and the accident was in a dark corridor. Our entire first floor is tile, and given my prior medical issues, my gait had gotten pretty awful, and I have essentially no balance. So, anything to upset the limited balance I do have, and I have a hard time staying upright. I slipped and fell. It took over 3 weeks before the break was identified. It didn't even hurt for the first several days afterwards, then it hurt like hell. The first X-rays didn't show any break at all, taken 4 days later. I eventually got to an orthopedic surgeon, and by then the break was obvious on the images. He did the surgery the next day (mid-November). So my holidays were pretty miserable. However, I got clearance to go back to work, which I am going to do tomorrow; hopefully, that goes well. I've been on disability since before the surgery. Can't wait to start slowly restoring my life to normal again. Thanks for your thoughts. My drums are in an upstairs bedroom, and I haven't even seen them for 2 months. I'm thinking of trying to make it up the stairs for the first time today. We'll see how that goes!

[late8]

Oh Curt! I'm so sorry to read what had happened to you. I'm hoping for a quick recovery for you. Hang in there and please keep us updated!!

Rich

[funkyruss]

Sorry to hear of this...light exercise is usually a good thing, no heavy metal drumming! No Keith Moon imitations either!

[DrumWhipper]

I didn't break anything, but I tore 90% of my quad and blew my knee out. I had two surgeries in a months time, and they had to do an anchor to reattach my quad. I still don't have as much strength in my injured leg as my other, so sometimes I struggle to hold the hi hat down after I've been playing for a while, but drumming certainly helped me with the rehab process. If anything, it kept me loose and I didn't tighten up like I was doing before I started playing again.

One other thing: An ice pack is your friend afterwards. I also took hot baths with 100% peppermint oil mixed in the the water. You can pick some up at Walmart or GNC. I use 4-6 drops per bath depending on how I feel. I noticed a difference in how much pain I feel when I do and don't use it. I've got grade 3 arthritis set up in my knee as well, so it helps to do the extra things.