Hey all,

Has anyone returned to windsurfing after a hip fracture / surgery?

I stacked my mountain bike 9 weeks ago and suffered an inter-trochanteric fracture of my right hip. Airlifted out of the Helena Valley bush by the RAC helicopter and operated on the next day with a titanium nail down the middle of my femur and 2x screws across the fracture. Big shout out to the fantastic WA emergency services.

I'm feeling pretty good now - walking well with one crutch (and short distances without), lots of physio and riding a static indoor bike. As long as I can get the muscles whipped into shape I am pretty confident for the summer season starting around November. The unknown for me is how the hip and metalwork will react to impacts from chop / jumps. The metalwork can stay in for life but I have the option to have it all removed in a year, which I intend to do.

There's a few forum posts about hip replacements but I couldn't find any about fractures. In some ways my case is better than a hip replacement as there was no damage to the joint area and I already have very good mobility - about 90% I'd say. But my metalwork is more scary than a hip replacement!

51 yrs old, btw. No underlying issues - the fracture was all down to trauma from falling at speed. Amusingly, the hospital staff kept saying I was too young to have a hip fracture

There might be some info out there about Robbie Naish's recovery. I can't remember whether he had metalwork put in but I think it was a pretty nasty break

Check out the Windtech board range - flex tail plus overall design make a massive difference, I call them chop-eaters, way less pounding and fatigue even in extreme conditions, so may be ideal for you getting back into the sport and up to full fitness

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Nelle said..
There might be some info out there about Robbie Naish's recovery. I can't remember whether he had metalwork put in but I think it was a pretty nasty break

Ouch just checked that one out - thanks. Nasty break to his pelvis and he did need metalwork, so although it's a different area the concerns are similar. He was competing again within 6 months. Not that I am Robby Naish... but good to know.

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Peter Hands said..
Check out the Windtech board range - flex tail plus overall design make a massive difference, I call them chop-eaters, way less pounding and fatigue even in extreme conditions, so may be ideal for you getting back into the sport and up to full fitness

After my hip surgery - just a cartilage cleanout- it took quite a bit of physio and it was even hard to SUP in a very basic way initially, as the joint had to kinda learn how to work again.

So how the hell is a different board going to help? Nice pimp but rather unhelpful to his recovery. Maybe relevant if he is sailign well but has impact pain (doubt he will)


Get a good physio, lots of movement especially abduction whilst lying on your back. Tons of walking, lots of bike. Wobble board is essential and you will feel it :)

Though I only had a hip replacement (4 months ago now) & not a fracture, I was told by the surgeon the limitations on what I do will be on the mussels & tendons that support the hip/keep the socket & pelvis stable & in place.

I was told to avoid hard impacts (ie judo throws etc while sparring), but this was mostly due to the risk of shattering the ceramic hip lining, which is reduced the more I work on strengthening the hip/pelvis & core.

As a few mentioned above, a good phisio to get the mobility & strength back then practice to relearn (I do studio pilates as well.) One thing that really helped me was walking up steep stairs or maybe 2 stairs.

I have gone for a 2 windsurfing sessions since the op & to be honest I would have gone out a lot more if I wasn't tied up with other stuff atm

Hope the recovery is in time for spring / summer Geoff.

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Mark _australia said..

Peter Hands said..
Check out the Windtech board range - flex tail plus overall design make a massive difference, I call them chop-eaters, way less pounding and fatigue even in extreme conditions, so may be ideal for you getting back into the sport and up to full fitness

After my hip surgery - just a cartilage cleanout- it took quite a bit of physio and it was even hard to SUP in a very basic way initially, as the joint had to kinda learn how to work again.

So how the hell is a different board going to help? Nice pimp but rather unhelpful to his recovery. Maybe relevant if he is sailign well but has impact pain (doubt he will)


Get a good physio, lots of movement especially abduction whilst lying on your back. Tons of walking, lots of bike. Wobble board is essential and you will feel it :)

Wobble board - that's a great idea thanks - I will get one.
My physio said SUP before windsurfing, but I reckon Wobble board -> SUP -> windsurf sounds the go.
My physio has got me doing a good range of exercises on the adductors (damaged during fall), quads and lateralis (collateral damage from the surgery - they have to mess them up to get the metalwork in).
Cheers.

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G30ff0 said..
Though I only had a hip replacement (4 months ago now) & not a fracture, I was told by the surgeon the limitations on what I do will be on the mussels & tendons that support the hip/keep the socket & pelvis stable & in place.

I was told to avoid hard impacts (ie judo throws etc while sparring), but this was mostly due to the risk of shattering the ceramic hip lining, which is reduced the more I work on strengthening the hip/pelvis & core.

As a few mentioned above, a good phisio to get the mobility & strength back then practice to relearn (I do studio pilates as well.) One thing that really helped me was walking up steep stairs or maybe 2 stairs.

I have gone for a 2 windsurfing sessions since the op & to be honest I would have gone out a lot more if I wasn't tied up with other stuff atm

Thanks. Hip stability is the big mission for me now too. Mobility is great, stability is poor but improving.

Hi t2wheeler,

What a bummer. What did you do on the MTB to break your hip? Sounds really nasty. I'm curious because I'm also a keen rider, and ride those Kalamunda trails a fair bit.

Cheers, Jens

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Jens said..
Hi t2wheeler,

What a bummer. What did you do on the MTB to break your hip? Sounds really nasty. I'm curious because I'm also a keen rider, and ride those Kalamunda trails a fair bit.

Cheers, Jens

I was riding the pipeline access trail in the Helena Valley, not a particularly technical trail. I was going reasonably fast but not a stupid speed (30 kph, which I have since learned is "trauma speed") when I saw a bush blocking the left hand side of the trail ahead, tried to steer to the right to avoid it but couldn't get any grip on the gravel and went straight through the bush, launched sideways onto my right side. My mate who was following me couldn't stop either and he rolled over me a couple of seconds later! Luckily he wasn't hurt so could help guide the emergency services in.

I have a friend in the UK that does hip trauma surgery and he said that clip-in pedals almost certainly contributed to the fracture - says he's seeing it more and more with cyclists. I've been riding MTB with SPDs for nearly 30 years so usually can disengage as second nature, but there was just no time on this occasion. I do sometimes ride flats but this was a long (70km+) firetrail ride so SPDs were the go.

Funny thing is, I had been moving away from technical trails recently towards longer rides on firetrails etc. Just one of those things, I took an unfortunate line. It sucks, but could have been much worse.

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Tony Wills said..
Hope the recovery is in time for spring / summer Geoff.

It should Tony, will be in Callala Bay permanently by the end of October so looking forward to Summer & the end of Spring!

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t2wheeler said..

Jens said..
Hi t2wheeler,

What a bummer. What did you do on the MTB to break your hip? Sounds really nasty. I'm curious because I'm also a keen rider, and ride those Kalamunda trails a fair bit.

Cheers, Jens

I was riding the pipeline access trail in the Helena Valley, not a particularly technical trail. I was going reasonably fast but not a stupid speed (30 kph, which I have since learned is "trauma speed") when I saw a bush blocking the left hand side of the trail ahead, tried to steer to the right to avoid it but couldn't get any grip on the gravel and went straight through the bush, launched sideways onto my right side. My mate who was following me couldn't stop either and he rolled over me a couple of seconds later! Luckily he wasn't hurt so could help guide the emergency services in.

I have a friend in the UK that does hip trauma surgery and he said that clip-in pedals almost certainly contributed to the fracture - says he's seeing it more and more with cyclists. I've been riding MTB with SPDs for nearly 30 years so usually can disengage as second nature, but there was just no time on this occasion. I do sometimes ride flats but this was a long (70km+) firetrail ride so SPDs were the go.

Funny thing is, I had been moving away from technical trails recently towards longer rides on firetrails etc. Just one of those things, I took an unfortunate line. It sucks, but could have been much worse.

That is really unlucky. I know that track well, having ridden it many times to finish off with a refreshing brew at the Mundaring Weir Hotel afterwards. It's just a pretty standard gravel road really isn't it? Just goes to show it can happen anytime. I also use clip ins all the time: the Shimano type that are really quick to disengage, and like you would have thought that unclipping was 2nd nature...

What can you do? You can't live your life in bubble wrap. Hope your recovery works well and that you'll be back on the trails and on the water again.

Cheers, Jens

Another low impact, cheap tool to consider for getting balance and strength:

Sorry to hear. Broke mine in half from skate half pipe. I keep my metal for life. Took 3 months to walk on it, another 6 to build up flex and strength. I swam a lot. 2 years felt normal again and back to all day sessions. Still hurts everyday 14 years on. Now my other hip is starting to get sore. Lol

I'm posting an update on this mainly for anyone who googles this in future after suffering a similar fate...

Had a very short session on the river 2 weeks ago on a 6.2m wave sail and 109L freewave board, nicely powered-up - felt fine. That was 4 1/2 months post fracture / operation.

Again today on a 6.5m freeride sail and 109L freewave board - a decent session this time, strength was good and flexibility pretty good. Feel knackered now!

There's a bit of progress needed before I will venture into the waves again, but I feel I'll get there this season as long as I can stay out of trouble.

I should note - I have done A LOT of rehab - cycling, walking, gym, stretching, balance work, foam roller all to get strength, flexibility, endurance back.

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t2wheeler said..
Hey all,

Has anyone returned to windsurfing after a hip fracture / surgery?

I stacked my mountain bike 9 weeks ago and suffered an inter-trochanteric fracture of my right hip. Airlifted out of the Helena Valley bush by the RAC helicopter and operated on the next day with a titanium nail down the middle of my femur and 2x screws across the fracture. Big shout out to the fantastic WA emergency services.

I'm feeling pretty good now - walking well with one crutch (and short distances without), lots of physio and riding a static indoor bike. As long as I can get the muscles whipped into shape I am pretty confident for the summer season starting around November. The unknown for me is how the hip and metalwork will react to impacts from chop / jumps. The metalwork can stay in for life but I have the option to have it all removed in a year, which I intend to do.

There's a few forum posts about hip replacements but I couldn't find any about fractures. In some ways my case is better than a hip replacement as there was no damage to the joint area and I already have very good mobility - about 90% I'd say. But my metalwork is more scary than a hip replacement! vpnauth.vip/torrent-sites/ downloader.vip/turbotax/ downloader.vip/gogoanime/

51 yrs old, btw. No underlying issues - the fracture was all down to trauma from falling at speed. Amusingly, the hospital staff kept saying I was too young to have a hip fracture

I can't remember whether he had metalwork put in but I think it was a pretty nasty break