playing again after breaking a leg

De Deraco

hey broke my leg in march ended up in plaster for 6 weeks and now have 4 pins in my ankle, really miss playing but am worried of breaking it again. doctor says im a ok to play again, but i think it will affect my game. anyone have any tips for getting back into it after an injury.

thinkin bout wearing shin pads cos its the area i broke my ankle not sureif it'll make a difference.

RuggieBear

JUST GO FOR IT.....

Honestly every time i've come back from an injury i've subconciously looked after it and eventually you even stop doin that after a while....wear the shin pads if you think it'll protect the area better....

MarVeL

due to my extensive non-medical background I've only anecdotal evidence to go on but I've always heard that the broken area would be stronger. From personal experience though there'll be a psychological weakness there for awhile but that will be gotten over with experience

Eoin

MarVeL wrote:

due to my extensive non-medical background I've only anecdotal evidence to go on but I've always heard that the broken area would be stronger. From personal experience though there'll be a psychological weakness there for awhile but that will be gotten over with experience

Sounds about right - AFAIK it can take much longer to recover from a soft tissue injury, and you are probably more likely to get a re-occurence of that injury (I tore ligaments in my shoulder a couple of years ago, and it hasn't been 100% since).

From a medical point of view, I would recommend speaking to a sports physio. S/He will be able to give you exercises (if even required at all) to build up the supporting soft tissue. I have absolutely NO medical knowledge, but I would imagine that after some time in cast some of the muscle may be under-strength at the moment. If you are based near the South side of Dublin, I can recommend my clubs physio who has a lot of experience with rugby players.

From a mental point of view, if you are not 100% comfortable, then ease yourself back into it. Maybe play some tag rugby to get used to the running, changes of direction (I would imagine - I personally have the turning circle of an oil tanker). When the season commences again, build up the contact side of things and see how you get on.

I think there is a general fitness forum that may help you in more detail.

gjim

Like Marvel, I have zero background in medicine but that never stopped me from offering an authoritative opinion. The fact that you had it in plaster for 6 weeks (and you'll probably use it quite gingerly initially) means that the chance of soft tissue injury is probably increased. If I were you I'd try to do some walking/slow jogging for a while to build up the supporting soft tissues.

andyman

I play Fly-Half and after recovering broken ankle my kicking was better than it was before