45 replies to this topic

[thewakeboarder]

Took a hard fall about 7 weeks ago doing a 360. I got off axis and hit the water pretty hard. I my whole body was in pain, but it didn't seem any worse than any other hard fall I've taken.

Woke up the next morning and my shoulder was really sore, and it didn't get much better for about 5 weeks when I finally decided to see a doctor. We both thought that I probably tore a rotator cuff. So I got an MRI and the results came up inconclusive. We now think that its a torn labrum. I'm in the process of scheduling Arthroscopic Surgery.


Here is what they're doing

Labral Surgery

So to get to my question... has anyone else done this wakeboarding?

What other injuries are common in wakeboarding?

UPDATE:

I'm about 4 and 1/2 months out of Surgery and slowly recovering. Everything seemed to go well. After opening me up they found 2 tears, called a SLAP TEAR. The bigger one required 3 anchors, and the little one required 1 anchor. I've wake surfed a few times, but its not quite ready for wakeboarding. It hurts the most when I extend it above my head, like I'm going up to block in volleyball. I just hope the pain goes away soon, so I get strap my board back on.

Edited by thewakeboarder, April 23, 2009 - 01:07 PM.

[DIE2SURF]

I have something similar/the same called a SLAP tear from wakeboarding about 2 years ago. I chose to hold off on the surgery, and I'm glad I did. Here is some Q/A from my doctor (Surgeon for Sacramento Kings). I also atached some other actual surgery videos of the procedure. Good luck to you!

------------------------
My main physical activities/exercises include surfing, waterskiing/wakeboarding, weightlifting, and ranch work/physical labor. With that said:

1) I’ve been able to do all of the above activities since the injury first occurred in Feb of 2006 (with medium to significant pain, 4-9 on a 10 scale). If I have the surgery done, what is the ballpark % chance that I will continue to be able to do these activities after the surgery? 100%

2) Recover times:
-First 3 weeks: Arm in sling and no movement: Brace and a bolster/pillow. Literally be without an arm for 3 weeks.

-Week 3: Remove from sling and begin basic movement.

-1-3 months: Physical Therapy for motion and light resistance. No bicep exercises

-4-6 months: Swimming and fully recovered

Weight lifting?: YES!

What is the likelihood that I will be worse off after surgery/recovery?: < 1%

3) If I postpone the surgery until next year (Oct 2007) or have the surgery at all, what are the chances that I can do additional damage to other areas of the shoulder due to instability (not including an acute injury) by continuing with my current activities? What is the likelihood of dislocation if the labrum is not repaired? Okay to wait or not have done.


http://www.youtube.c...feature=related

http://www.youtube.c...feature=related

[Tedro]

Took a hard fall about 7 weeks ago doing a 360. I got off axis and hit the water pretty hard. I my whole body was in pain, but it didn't seem any worse than any other hard fall I've taken.

Woke up the next morning and my shoulder was really sore, and it didn't get much better for about 5 weeks when I finally decided to see a doctor. We both thought that I probably tore a rotator cuff. So I got an MRI and the results came up inconclusive. We now think that its a torn labrum. I'm in the process of scheduling Arthroscopic Surgery.


Here is what they're doing

Labral Surgery

So to get to my question... has anyone else done this wakeboarding?

What other injuries are common in wakeboarding?

Did you have a contrast-enhanced MRI with gadolinium? If so the radiologist would have injected contrast into your shoulder joint at the time of the MRI.
That is most sensitive in diagnosing SLAP tears and yes they can happen from wakeboarding.

[johnsvt]

What other injuries are common in wakeboarding?

1) Knees and ankles get beat up
2) I have heard of my share of bruised/broken ribs
3) Had a friend get a concussion on a backroll this year
4) I generally have a sore back when trying something new

Wakeboarding can absolutely beat the body up and isn't shy about hurting any or all body parts.

[Simo]

I tore my bicep tendon wakeboarding. I just had surgery two weeks ago. I thought it was a rotator cuff injury until about a week later when I could lift my arm. That is when I noticed a huge depression where the bicep meets the shoulder. Like other injuries, surgery was an option and not needed. After waiting about a month without any improvement, I decided it was time to go under the knife.

On the bright side, it couldn't have happened at a better time. Now I have the winter to recover and I didn't miss much water time.

When this fist happened I looked around the forum and was surprised that there was no mention of anyone else doing this.

Good luck

[Tedro]

What other injuries are common in wakeboarding?

1) Knees and ankles get beat up
2) I have heard of my share of bruised/broken ribs
3) Had a friend get a concussion on a backroll this year
4) I generally have a sore back when trying something new

Wakeboarding can absolutely beat the body up and isn't shy about hurting any or all body parts.

Skin lacerations are the most common wakeboarding injury.
ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) ruptures are quite common unfortunately, followed by other knee injuries (meniscus tears), ankle sprains, shoulder injuries (including dislocations) and even fractures of other bones are seen from time to time.
It is a sport with a high injury ratio especially as the difficulty of the maneuver increases.

[greenworks]

I seperated 2 ribs in a fall this august just getting back to 100% now....

[ronny]

tore acl oct 6.feeling good to bad no snowboarding

[Kingfish]

I tore my rotator cuff skiing a few years back; it took along time to heal. I know of several people who have broken ear drums and or had concussions wakeboarding. I had my noodle knocked pretty good a couple years ago wearing a helmet, glad I was wearing my bean bucket. Wearing a helmet is mandatory for anyone riding behind my boat. A helmet with ear protection is what my son and I wear; his wakeboard coach makes a helmet mandatory for camps.

All the best in your recovery.

Edited by Kingfish, November 22, 2008 - 08:11 AM.

[auto]

Caught a front edge a few years ago, held on longer than I should of, that was in May. Went in late December and the Bicep tedon was just hanging, the labrum was so screwed it up the Bicep Tendon had to be attached to humerus, which is a stronger attach. Rehabbed like crazy was back on the board in March.

Bew sure to go to a sports med guy, not a general ortho.

Edited by auto, November 24, 2008 - 05:25 PM.

[wakeup]

What other injuries are common in wakeboarding?

1) Knees and ankles get beat up
2) I have heard of my share of bruised/broken ribs
3) Had a friend get a concussion on a backroll this year
4) I generally have a sore back when trying something new

Wakeboarding can absolutely beat the body up and isn't shy about hurting any or all body parts.

I ride with pretty advanced guys with one being on the pro tour. I've seen several broken bones, busted ear drums, blown out knees, etc. Not many lacerations though.

A friend of mine broke his tibia and fibula about 5 months ago doing a 500. It was a freak thing, but pretty bad. Of course you also hear about people like Dallas Friday.

If you are doing inverts or spins, it's rare not to get some injuries especially the knees.

But my wife and I just had a baby 4 months ago and I decided to cut way back on wakeboarding and consider myself lucky. Never a major injury (knock on wood). Just not worth it to me any longer. My buddy who broke his leg is a self employed marine mechanic and it put him out of work for a good while, plus has to live with a leg with nuts and bolts.

[thewakeboarder]

Thanks for all the input everybody.

I took a cortisone (steroid) shot in my shoulder last week, and it didn't improve it at all. The doctor (who is a sports orthopedic surgeon) said that if the shot helped it was probably a rotator cuff. If the shot didn't help, odds are it is probably a torn labrum.

So anyway, I have arthroscopic surgery scheduled for Dec. 4th. Need to do it now so I can be back on the water in the spring. Living in AZ spring comes early so I don't want to miss out. Too bad though... I really wanted to go snowboarding this Christmas.

Hopefully everything goes smoothly, and I recover quickly, I'll let you know how it goes.

[kent]

I have had several crashes this year and my back started to hurt... anyway long story short.. I had an mri done and found out i have a slipped disk. Sucks, not positive it was boarding crash but not sure what else it could be. Guess its going to be surfing only now

[ADDICTED2WAKE]

I've had plenty....and finally got most of them fixed during last september and october. I had two old knee injuries (from football and wrestling back in high school and college) that were aggravated worse during wakeboarding. I wakeboarded for a few years on a torn ACL, but just got it replaced Aug 29, had the other knee scoped Aug 7 (menisectomy) and my shoulder was torn (I think from weightlifting) but further aggravated from hard leaning while slaloming. It was weird, the MRI showed a 180deg labral tear (2 opinions yielded the same diagnosis). Sounded like fairly painful surgery and recovery (depending on how many anchors were required), but had it scoped (Oct 8) and turned out to be a small tear of the rotator cuff.

I just finished PT on all three a week ago. Shoulder is still a little tender (for another month I'm told) but the knees are great.

2 summers ago I herniated a disc between the L4 and L5 from an extended wakeboarding session. I was very very tired but kept going big and finally landed and something popped and hurt for months later....starting losing feeling in my left leg and finally went to the doc....no surgery on the one, just some minor rehab and haven't had a prob since.

I think I might have tennis elbow or some ligament/tendon damage in the elbow also from wakeboarding, but only hurts after doing 2+ sessions for 2 or more days in a row...nothing a 6 pack won't take care of though...

[mfhcdh]

Thanks for all the input everybody.

I took a cortisone (steroid) shot in my shoulder last week, and it didn't improve it at all. The doctor (who is a sports orthopedic surgeon) said that if the shot helped it was probably a rotator cuff. If the shot didn't help, odds are it is probably a torn labrum.

So anyway, I have arthroscopic surgery scheduled for Dec. 4th. Need to do it now so I can be back on the water in the spring. Living in AZ spring comes early so I don't want to miss out. Too bad though... I really wanted to go snowboarding this Christmas.

Hopefully everything goes smoothly, and I recover quickly, I'll let you know how it goes.

I haven't been on the site for a few months, but wanted to reply to your posts. I have had the same injury, and had arthroscopic surgery to repair it. I went through the same course of treatment. P.T. MRI with arthrogram, which was read as normal. More P.T., still had significant pain. Dr. did cortisone injection which didn't help. He told me even though MRI was negative, he could almost guarantee that I had a SLAP lesion. Sure enough, he was right. He cleaned it up and tacked the edge of the labrum back down to the bone, and also roughed up the bone underneath the part of the labrum that had come off the bone. This helped the likelihood of the labrum adhering to the bone. The first couple weeks were much worse than I had imagined. It took 4 - 6 months to feel pretty good, and probably a year before I was pain free. However, I would have the surgery again knowing what I know now. It is nice not having a chronic pain problem that you feel every day. I hope your surgery was successful. By the way, I can now do everything I did prior to the surgery. Also, I think I tore my labrum lifting weights, specifically doing military presses for the shoulders on a machine.

[medicdiver]

I have also been diagnosed with a SLAP tear and cortisone shots and therapy has helps a ton, but not 100%. I am hoping to put surgery off until next winter and make it through this summer. I was told 14 weeks off of work, so I would like to hear what others had to take from a job. I am a paramedic and am required to lift 150lbs. I tore mine swimming competetively for many years. Swiming and baseball are the worse sports on your shoulders.

[Malibuman]

Labor Day 2007 took a nasty fall (I was 51 @ the time). Lots of pain in the shoulder from not letting go of rope quick enough. 4 weeks later still hurting, so went to Dr. got X ray with no conclusion. Finally went to sports med Doc and had MRI, results was not good, torn rotater cuff and shoulder had seperated and popped back in (which I did by getting back in water and taking off holding sore shoulder to stretch it back in place, not to smart I guess), so pains meds were prescribed and surgery scheduled for Dec. 21 2007. Surgery showed four tears with Labrum being torn badly. Eight weeks of being in a sling. Had to wait six weeks post op to start physical therapy. Got on wakeboard April 28, not a good idea, shoulder couldn't take the pumping action, so had to quit. Didn't get back out til June and felt quite a bit better after much continued exercise. Not a surgery I would recomend, but glad I had it. Highly recomend a good sports med doc. Good Luck

[68Slalom]

Just got out of surgery, still pretty loopy. Apparently it went pretty well. Recovery starts today. The goal will be 1st sets in March when the ice rolls off the lake

Carpe Diem!!

I wouldn't push too much, I'm still suffering from lower back pains that I've had since last Sept. that I know are from wakeboarding accidents. Plus it sucks getting older

[07vrideblue]

Ok where to start!!! I have been doing alot of reading on shoulder pain,and injuries.
This is my problem at 45 yrs of age I have been learning to wake board,swimming,martial arts,and learning to ride a skyski.(stupid I know)
My left shoulder has mild pain in it all the time.(scale of 1 to 10 maybe 3 to 8)I can't sleep good any more.Never have like to go to doctors,but I guess I will have to.
I can lift my arm up in any direction,and most of the time it does not hurt.no popping or grinding noise at all.does this sound like the pain yall were having or do I have a different injury.
I need your help on this matter!!!! Thanks in advance.

[ed obermeier]

Go get the arthrogram or MRI and remove all doubt. It never commits you to anything, just lets you know where you stand. My orthopod, even after we looked at the images together, was not going to do anything until I said "I wnat to be 100%, let's do it."

Both times my shoulder had a lot of conflict, constant swelling if I tried to do anything big with it. It just really sucks for the first week post-op.

Ditto what GT said, at least go get evaluated and see what they say. I had my right shoulder pretty much rebuilt at age 41 (I'm 53 now), 2/3 of the rotor cuff torn away from the bone. On a clock face the tear was from 8 o'clock around to 4 o'clock, heinous slalom crash. At first they didn't catch it, just sent me to PT which for the first 3 - 4 weeks was actually helping. However there were some things I just couldn't do and the PT started testing me to see what the deal was. She was the one who caught how serious my problem was. Went back to the orthopod, sent me for a dye enhanced MRI which showed the damage. Surgeon said when he got into the shoulder it was way worse than he expected. Did 8 months of PT which TOTALLY SUCKED; however I would do it all again in a heartbeat if I had to. The end result hs been well worth it (really easy to say that once you're past it).

To this day I still work hard on my shoulders trying to improve their strength and flexibility. My right shoulder creaks and pops but it works great, for which I'm eternally grateful. If you need it fixed don't screw around, get it done and put it behind you. It sucks to go through but you'll be extremely glad you did. If it's keeping you awake at night it's time to get it checked out.

On another note. You guys whining about getting old is killing me. What are you now Bill, 35?? I'm a better skier now than when I was younger, even considering the bad shoulder, the advancing age, screwed up knees, etc etc. Age has some advantages, learning patience being one of them. Of course patience IS a relative term... Besides, that's what God made ibuprophen for. I can still do pretty much everything I could do at age 35. Just takes a LOT longer to heal up in between. And lots of anti-inflamatories.

Sorry guys, couldn't resist the cheap shot. Us old guys don't get to gloat too much.

Ed