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Starting this as a generic thread for reporting on MTB injuries along with related treatments and prognosis. 

My current injury resulted from a freakish type accident where after washing out on a slick turn at Spider Mtn, I gracefully managed to stay on my feet but then immediately slid into a split that 60yr old male should never attempt. Left knee went down but right leg stayed straight. Felt extreme pressure in the groin area, but the telltale "pop" seemed to come from behind, hamstring / buttocks area. Instantly I thought "I'm not going to be able to ride down from here". Then I got extremely light headed and felt like I was going to pass out. Of course there were plenty of other riders coming along and offering aid. I managed to limp back up to the jeep trail and get carted down but quickly realized I would not be able to operate my vehicle. Wife scooped me up a couple of hours later and took me to the ED, which was a complete waste of time. The only reason I even went was to expedite the MRI that I knew I needed, but the doc just discharged me with a muscle strain. Got evaluated today by a proper ortho, and was diagnosed with a tear of the proximal hamstring tendon(s). Groin muscle is strained as well, but that is apparently just incidental. MRI tomorrow for the complete story. 

Anybody had something like this? They are warning that if tendon is completely torn and / or separated from bone, surgery might be best option. I have a close friend who had a similar injury water skiing many years ago and has suffered from chronic pain ever since. 

Edit: Waist band is best option for transporting beer between fridge and couch when on crutches, either while wife is away or when you don't want wife to know you are drinking so early in the day. 

Edited by throet
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1 hour ago, throet said:

Edit: Waist band is best option for transporting beer between fridge and couch when on crutches, either while wife is away or when you don't want wife to know you are drinking so early in the day. 

Finally some useful advice on this site.

Hope you heal up fast. 

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Man, I've been wanting to shoot you a text and see what's up. Sorry to hear. My wife suffered a fractured leg in two places and also in the same incident her tendons tore off the bone. She did require surgery , because of the bone break but also because of the tendon. She rarely feels it anymore and suffers no pain. I can text you later the name of her doctor if you want. Anyways, good luck and if you anything dont be shy.


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I'll add my injury report from over the weekend. I did a steady roadie ride on my mtb on Saturday morning and ended it at Walnut where I joined a friend I hadn't seen in a while and who hadn't ridden Walnut. I was crossing the creek at the main crossing and didn't realize it was a slippery as it was. Bike started going out from under me so I stuck my right foot out which promptly also started sliding out, badda bing badda boom, I go down on this side with my knee and foot going in incompatible directions. Knee is swelling. Difficult to fully extend (even before the swelling). Self diagnosis sounds like a mild torn meniscus. 

How the heck do I start with real diagnosis??? Does one start with a general practitioner or skip straight to an ortho? I know this depends on my insurance but wondering what the generally advisable path is.

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My insurance doesn't require a referral so I go straight to Austin Sports Medicine.  I start with the soft-tissue expert Dr. Fernandez and he then refers me to the other in-house specialists if needed.  I'm kind of a regular there.  If you require a referral then start there.  Maybe you can call it in and they'll just refer you straight-up.

I didn't tear my hamstring but rather my proximal bicep tendon.  It wasn't at the bone, the ends were too frayed too re-attach, so I now have a unicep.  Every once in a while if I'm a bit low on electrolytes and I use my arms a lot, I may get a bit of cramping which I can't stretch out.  They did go in to try to re-join the tendons but after cleaning up the frayed ends, there wasn't enough length.  They just did some other clean-up (accromyon shaving and clean-up of cartilage in the socket). 

Is your hamstring balled-up?  If you completely tore the tendon, you'll noticeably see it balled up.  For me, when it happened, I had zero doubt about what just happened.  I hear an internal pop, see a flash of light, then noticed the balled up muscle.

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47 minutes ago, Cafeend said:

Man, I've been wanting to shoot you a text and see what's up. Sorry to hear. My wife suffered a fractured leg in two places and also in the same incident her tendons tore off the bone. She did require surgery , because of the bone break but also because of the tendon. She rarely feels it anymore and suffers no pain. I can text you later the name of her doctor if you want. Anyways, good luck and if you anything dont be shy.


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Damn dude that really sucks. Yes please do let me know the name of the doc who did her surgery. 

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34 minutes ago, AntonioGG said:

My insurance doesn't require a referral so I go straight to Austin Sports Medicine.  I start with the soft-tissue expert Dr. Fernandez and he then refers me to the other in-house specialists if needed.  I'm kind of a regular there.  If you require a referral then start there.  Maybe you can call it in and they'll just refer you straight-up.

I didn't tear my hamstring but rather my proximal bicep tendon.  It wasn't at the bone, the ends were too frayed too re-attach, so I now have a unicep.  Every once in a while if I'm a bit low on electrolytes and I use my arms a lot, I may get a bit of cramping which I can't stretch out.  They did go in to try to re-join the tendons but after cleaning up the frayed ends, there wasn't enough length.  They just did some other clean-up (accromyon shaving and clean-up of cartilage in the socket). 

Is your hamstring balled-up?  If you completely tore the tendon, you'll noticeably see it balled up.  For me, when it happened, I had zero doubt about what just happened.  I hear an internal pop, see a flash of light, then noticed the balled up muscle.

Oh wow did that happen mountain biking? My leg is so swollen that it's hard for me to tell if the muscle is bunched up but the doc definitely saw something right away that gave his some clues. Hopefully it is still attached and will heal without surgery.  

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52 minutes ago, Anita Handle said:

I'll add my injury report from over the weekend. I did a steady roadie ride on my mtb on Saturday morning and ended it at Walnut where I joined a friend I hadn't seen in a while and who hadn't ridden Walnut. I was crossing the creek at the main crossing and didn't realize it was a slippery as it was. Bike started going out from under me so I stuck my right foot out which promptly also started sliding out, badda bing badda boom, I go down on this side with my knee and foot going in incompatible directions. Knee is swelling. Difficult to fully extend (even before the swelling). Self diagnosis sounds like a mild torn meniscus. 

How the heck do I start with real diagnosis??? Does one start with a general practitioner or skip straight to an ortho? I know this depends on my insurance but wondering what the generally advisable path is.

Definitely start with an ortho if insurance allows it. 

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1 hour ago, throet said:

Oh wow did that happen mountain biking? My leg is so swollen that it's hard for me to tell if the muscle is bunched up but the doc definitely saw something right away that gave his some clues. Hopefully it is still attached and will heal without surgery.  

No, it happened while I was dismounting a racecar tire off the rim.  I just grabbed the tire iron and was about to place it when it popped.  Very little force and no external strain.  It was gonna pop.  IIRC doc said there are 3 types of acromions (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acromion) and I have the type that tends to do this.  He mentioned painters, basketball players and Porsche mechanics tend to find out on their own they have the wrong type (overhead work + wrong type of acromion = popped proximal bicep tendon).  I am none of those so I blame head sliding back into first during a softball game a few weeks prior and just treating it with ibuprofen until the pain went away.

I recommend going to sports doc and let him know you're active and you want to remain active so they go with the most aggressive treatment.  The first doc I went to was "meh, it was gonna happen" and left it at that (I was only about 35 back then, but I hear the older you are, the less aggressive non-sports orthos will treat the problem.)  I'm not afraid of pain or physical therapy so I like the aggressive treatment to get me back to 100% ASAP.

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4 hours ago, Anita Handle said:

I'll add my injury report from over the weekend. I did a steady roadie ride on my mtb on Saturday morning and ended it at Walnut where I joined a friend I hadn't seen in a while and who hadn't ridden Walnut. I was crossing the creek at the main crossing and didn't realize it was a slippery as it was. Bike started going out from under me so I stuck my right foot out which promptly also started sliding out, badda bing badda boom, I go down on this side with my knee and foot going in incompatible directions. Knee is swelling. Difficult to fully extend (even before the swelling). Self diagnosis sounds like a mild torn meniscus. 

How the heck do I start with real diagnosis??? Does one start with a general practitioner or skip straight to an ortho? I know this depends on my insurance but wondering what the generally advisable path is.

I'd check for an ortho/sports doc in your insurance network, then make appt with them. 

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Sounds like you're getting a lot of recommendations, but I'll throw mine in too. Dr Carolyn Hyde is who's done my last 4-5 surgeries, which included reattaching my bicep on both ends. She specializes in sports related injuries and put a lot of attention into getting you back in action again. All Star Orthopedics.

Get er fixed, brotha!

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14 hours ago, AntonioGG said:

My insurance doesn't require a referral so I go straight to Austin Sports Medicine.  I start with the soft-tissue expert Dr. Fernandez and he then refers me to the other in-house specialists if needed.  I'm kind of a regular there.  If you require a referral then start there.  Maybe you can call it in and they'll just refer you straight-up.

I didn't tear my hamstring but rather my proximal bicep tendon.  It wasn't at the bone, the ends were too frayed too re-attach, so I now have a unicep.  Every once in a while if I'm a bit low on electrolytes and I use my arms a lot, I may get a bit of cramping which I can't stretch out.  They did go in to try to re-join the tendons but after cleaning up the frayed ends, there wasn't enough length.  They just did some other clean-up (accromyon shaving and clean-up of cartilage in the socket). 

Is your hamstring balled-up?  If you completely tore the tendon, you'll noticeably see it balled up.  For me, when it happened, I had zero doubt about what just happened.  I hear an internal pop, see a flash of light, then noticed the balled up muscle.

Dr. Windler did reconstructive acl surgery on my left knee in '98. I need to go see him for a freshup. I've been having to ice my knee after rides(which haven't been many lately) and even after standing for long periods of time I'm starting to see swelling and tightness without any apparent reason.

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Kinda timely... episodic, affordable Buddy Insurance

 

This Adventure Insurance Is Good News for Risk-Takers

These days, a bad fall or hospital visit can cost you thousands of dollars. But new on-demand accident insurance for adventurers gives you backup.

 

bout two years ago, Charles Merritt and Jay Paul, both singletrack cyclists, river runners, skiers, snowboarders, and adventure racers who live in Richmond, Virginia, noticed a problem among their friends and other sports enthusiasts: high deductibles and limiting health-insurance policies meant that a broken bone often broke the bank.

“We have dozens of stories about ourselves, friends, and others who’ve been injured pursuing their outdoor passions,” says Paul, 58, who has worked in the insurance industry for more than 25 years. “I personally have been to the emergency room four times through the years for everything from broken ribs and a broken shoulder to lacerations.”

Then Paul and Merritt started seeing GoFundMe campaigns for injured active friends who couldn’t pay their medical bills. “After contributing to GoFundMe after GoFundMe for friends, we decided that we could do something about it,” says Merritt, 34, a financial technology marketing specialist who started his career at Kayak, helped launch Jetsetter, and later consulted for insurance giant Allianz Global Assistance. 

The last ten years of health care and health-insurance policies have opened up huge financial risk for outdoor enthusiasts. “In general, insurance is opaque,” Merritt says. “The cost of care is always increasing, and the 2010 Affordable Care Act has caused health insurers to shift more of it to the individual.”

So Paul and Merritt teamed up with computer-programming expert David Vogeleer, 39, to develop a radical new concept for people with an active life: on-demand accident insurance that is efficient, affordable, and user-friendly, rebooting the insurance process much the way Uber rebooted taxis. In October 2018, they launched their company and named it Buddy.

“Just as breakthroughs in materials science have enabled us to have faster, lighter gear, the revolution in insurance technology allows for us to create new types of coverage to better protect adventurous lives,” says Merritt, Buddy’s CEO. “We’re starting to see the first wave of how risk will be managed in the era of on-demand everything, and getting what you need when you need it will enable adventurers and active people to choose when and where they add a layer of protection.” 

 

Buddy’s coverage is episodic, and you can tailor it to your needs. You can buy it on your phone or laptop 24/7 at Buddy’s website in as little as 90 seconds, from virtually anywhere with cell service, including the base of the mountain you’re about to climb or the bank of a river you’re about to run. The policy, backed by Lloyd’s of London and others, is e-mailed to you instantaneously. It costs less than $10 for a day (slightly more if you need the competition rider). Or you can scale it up. A week costs $21, a month $50. You can also buy a family policy. Buddy covers most adventure sports—from climbing and skiing to road and mountain biking—and it doesn’t ask what sport you plan to do. (While Buddy hopes to expand what activities and adventures it covers, it does exclude a number of more extreme sports, which Merritt describes as activities where you are “not attached to the earth and falling from high heights,” like BASE jumping, big-wave surfing, parachuting, free soloing, wingsuit jumping, and a few others.)

Buddy covers you for the amount of time you sign up for, no matter how many activities you engage in during that time (as long as they aren’t on the excluded list), whether you’re taking part in the sport or heading home and slip on a patch of ice. And you don’t have to worry about being rejected: with Buddy, you are “guaranteed issue,” which in insurance lingo means there’s no underwriting and there are no tests, so you can’t be denied coverage.

Buddy’s benefit payouts include cash for ambulance rides—up to $5,000 for an airlift or $250 for the road—as well as $500 for an urgent-care visit and $1,000 for the ER (for injuries like sprains and minor broken bones), $1,000 a day for a hospital stay (for up to ten days), $5,000 for a break or an ACL tear requiring surgery, and $10,000 for serious burns or a dislocated or broken hip. A more gruesome list of injury awards ranges from $25,000 for the loss of a hand or foot or eyesight in one eye to $50,000 for quadriplegia, severe brain damage, or death. Physical therapy is compensated at $75 a day for up to ten visits. 

The company’s business model relies on frequent usage. The average person Buddy targets takes 77 outings a year.

Meanwhile, other companies with similar approaches are hitting the market. There’s Spot, which currently offers life insurance geared to the adventurous starting at $7 a day for a policy and is expanding to offer accident insurance in July, and Trov, which covers gear, like bikes and skis, on a sliding scale that starts at less than $1 a day. 

“If you engage in many outdoor pursuits, bad things can happen, and it can be expensive,” says Paul, Buddy’s head of business development, who in 2013 was named Insurance Marketing Innovator of the Year by National Underwriter Magazine for pioneering another bold accident insurance: Balance for Cyclists, which pays lump sums to cyclists injured while riding. “Balance was my first effort at creating new innovative insurance coverages,” he says. “After we built that, I knew we could design one for all outdoor enthusiasts, not just cyclists.”

Buddy’s coverage is not coordinated with health insurance, and you can do whatever you want with the money, which you receive regardless of other coverage you may have. That means your benefits can be used for any out-of-pocket expenses you’ve incurred, like replacing damaged gear, changing travel plans, covering missed work or your health-insurance deductible, or helping with childcare.

“I do a lot of solo bikepacking,” says Bill Ward, a retired financial professional who lives in Buena Vista, Colorado. “I like to have insurance. On my most recent use of Buddy, I was going on an all-day, 50-mile ride up into the mountains. My insurance isn’t that great. Buddy fills in the gaps and gives me peace of mind when I’m out in the middle of nowhere. When I was younger, I didn’t think of it, but now I wear a Road ID bracelet with emergency contact information and carry a Garmin inReach. Insurance like Buddy is the perfect complement to all that.”


From the start, Buddy has won insurance and tech-world kudos, incubator awards, and partnerships. It was accepted into the two most prestigious insurance-tech accelerator programs in the country. The only bump in the road has been how slow the insurance industry and its regulators can be.

Each of the 50 states has its own insurance standards, so Buddy has to apply separately to regulators in each one. Fortunately, Buddy’s paperwork is solid, with pricing and benefits based on sports-injury data from the CDC and reports from institutions like the Outdoor Foundation, and it’s crunched by actuaries in the U.S. and at Lloyd’s of London.

So far, Arizona, Colorado, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas have given the thumbs-up and are the only states in which you can currently purchase a Buddy policy if you’re a resident. Once purchased, the policy covers you wherever you plan to adventure, whether it’s your backyard, across the U.S., or internationally. Buddy expects to be available to purchase in at least 45 states by fall.

In the states where it’s approved, Buddy has partnered with regional and national outdoor associations, event promoters, and sports organizations. The American Canoe Association, the Mountain Bike Association of Arizona, Bicycle Colorado, the Colorado Mountain Bike Association, the Colorado Mountain Club, and Xterra adventure races are all early adopters.

 

“Our mission at Bicycle Colorado is to get more people riding bikes,” says Jack Todd, the organization’s communications and policy manager. “Buddy helps by making people feel safe while riding. Our missions are mutually beneficial. Buddy will help us get some more of those people who aren’t riding today, riding tomorrow.”

It seems to be catching on. Since launching, Buddy has covered more than 8,000 days of adventure.

“Our goal is to help outdoor enthusiasts live their lives more fearlessly,” says Paul.

“Our on-demand accident insurance does that by giving people a fast and light way to protect from the maybes,” adds Merritt. “We all know the feeling of maybe or what-if when we’re about to take on something big. Those doubts can cause us to second-guess the commitment to a jump or take our minds off our foot placement just long enough to cause a mishap.”

User testimonials on Buddy’s website validate this. “I definitely felt more free to send it!” Noah Moore, an Air Force master sergeant, wrote after a ride on the trails of Mingus Mountain, in the Black Hills of central Arizona. “I knew it was going to be gnarly; it was the next level of awesome I was looking for.” Worried about his carbon bike, Moore signed up for a day of Buddy coverage but still rode cautiously on the first run “to protect my investment.”

On the second run, his crew wanted to go faster. “I was, like, ‘Hell, yeah.’ There were features I avoided the first time that I really wanted to do. The second time I hit them. I don’t think I would have if I didn’t have the insurance. I don’t think I’ll ever ride a serious downhill again without it.”

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This is an interesting concept.  If you had to buy it every time you put on your helmet, it would feel like a 'hold my beer' type insurance.  I'd opt for the monthly or yearly version so I didn't feel obligated to go big just because I had just purchased some insurance.

Thanks for sharing.

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Eh, boutique specialty insurance is great, until you need it. What makes insurance affordable is tons of people who pay but don't need it. This type of specialty insurance would have a lot of people who are more likely to use the insurance, and when they do, there could be some pretty steep bills. Worse yet, if for some reason they say "not covered" you are really screwed. Insurance is a mess in this country and it needs to be scrapped and refreshed but this is the opposite direction. Think big pools minimize risk and minimize costs. Every time I am at the doctor I am surrounded by people who walk in, those are the cheapest ones to treat. You definitely don't want to be picking up the slack of the life flight folks.

That being said, "GAS UP THE CHOPPER"

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I'm kind of confused here . . . This type of insurance has been available for years.  I usually use it for going to Canada, just avoid any complications with the "awesome" healthcare system there (they will not treat you w/o a credit card up front - I've had more than one friend who's had to travel back to the US with broken bones to get treated - in one case, they wanted to run $30K up front and his card limit wasn't even that high).  Maybe just a new approach on marketing, but this stuff has been around for years. 

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How did the MRI go? Update us on your cooch!

Regarding that insurance, they say they've covered 8000 adventure days. At 10 bucks a day, that's only $80,000 to cover all that risk. Estimated, of course. That won't pay for very many broken arms, once you subtract operating costs and such.

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29 minutes ago, Anita Handle said:

Regarding that insurance, they say they've covered 8000 adventure days. At 10 bucks a day, that's only $80,000 to cover all that risk. Estimated, of course. That won't pay for very many broken arms, once you subtract operating costs and such.

They're not carrying any risk.  This is re-packaged accident insurance.  It covers any accident (falling off your roof, etc.):

"Buddy’s accident insurance is provided through National Specialty Insurance Company and State National Insurance Company, Inc., A.M. Best "A" Excellent Rated insurers, and is reinsured by Lloyd’s of London."

On an annual basis, they're at a 56% premium to a gold plan through United Health Care.  On a daily basis, they're at a 700% premium.  Not a bad idea, actually.

 

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28 minutes ago, Anita Handle said:

How did the MRI go? Update us on your cooch!

The MRI went well I guess but I won't know the results until tomorrow. I'm trying to be optimistic but it's really hard. The doc put me on crutches yesterday and told me I really should not be bearing any weight on the leg.  I did really heavy icing for the first 48 hours but there is still a massive amount of swelling 5 days post injury. Also turning purple now.       

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