chris_girard
Treehouser
I posted this over on TB yesterday, but thought that I'd share it with my friends and fellow tree workers over here on The TreeHouse as well. I won’t be climbing again for at least 6 months. Some of you will remember that last year at this time, I underwent tendon reconstruction surgery on the inside of my right elbow. I had ruptured the medial epicondal tendon and the only way to repair it was with surgery followed by a very long rehab. The tendon healed great and is doing fine.
The tendonitis condition that was in both elbows was from years of micro traumas sustained from years of heavy weightlifting and with the addition of the tree climbing work that I do, led to an over-use and repetitive strain condition in my elbows.
I knew that the left one was going to have to be done someday, but didn’t think that it was ready to give out so soon. Over the years I’ve had about 5 cortisone shots in the arm and the last one was early this spring. I climbed hard all year long with no issues in either elbow until a few weeks ago.
I was repelling out of the tree, holding on to my friction hitch with my left arm in a semi-bent position. My hitch started to grab pretty tight, so I pulled down harder on it and felt and heard this snap, followed by a HOT, BURNING pain on the inside of the elbow…. I knew right away that the tendon had torn and just prayed that it hadn’t ruptured completely off the bone.
Went to see my PCP the following Monday and was referred to the orthopedic surgeon who operated on my right arm last November. He gave me another cortisone shot (which I had asked for) and ordered an MRI. I got the MRI results last Friday, which showed a 30-50% rupture of the tendon off the bone…f*ck, this is not good I thought. I had to wait another week before I could see the doctor again.
Well, this morning I met with him and he informed me that if I didn’t have the surgery, then I could forget about ever climbing again without pain and constant re-injury. Needless to say, I said let’s schedule it.
I booked the surgery for 3 weeks from now (November 16), so that I can at least attend the TCIA Expo, as well as the upcoming crane workshop, even though climbing is out of the question for the workshop.
I just wanted to share this with you guys and let you know that if you are having over-use injuries, listen to your body and seek the proper medical care that you need. I am only 45 years old, but have beaten the sh*t out of my body when I was younger thinking that everything would be ok…well it’s not. Take care of the most important piece of equipment that you own, Your BODY
The tendonitis condition that was in both elbows was from years of micro traumas sustained from years of heavy weightlifting and with the addition of the tree climbing work that I do, led to an over-use and repetitive strain condition in my elbows.
I knew that the left one was going to have to be done someday, but didn’t think that it was ready to give out so soon. Over the years I’ve had about 5 cortisone shots in the arm and the last one was early this spring. I climbed hard all year long with no issues in either elbow until a few weeks ago.
I was repelling out of the tree, holding on to my friction hitch with my left arm in a semi-bent position. My hitch started to grab pretty tight, so I pulled down harder on it and felt and heard this snap, followed by a HOT, BURNING pain on the inside of the elbow…. I knew right away that the tendon had torn and just prayed that it hadn’t ruptured completely off the bone.
Went to see my PCP the following Monday and was referred to the orthopedic surgeon who operated on my right arm last November. He gave me another cortisone shot (which I had asked for) and ordered an MRI. I got the MRI results last Friday, which showed a 30-50% rupture of the tendon off the bone…f*ck, this is not good I thought. I had to wait another week before I could see the doctor again.
Well, this morning I met with him and he informed me that if I didn’t have the surgery, then I could forget about ever climbing again without pain and constant re-injury. Needless to say, I said let’s schedule it.
I booked the surgery for 3 weeks from now (November 16), so that I can at least attend the TCIA Expo, as well as the upcoming crane workshop, even though climbing is out of the question for the workshop.
I just wanted to share this with you guys and let you know that if you are having over-use injuries, listen to your body and seek the proper medical care that you need. I am only 45 years old, but have beaten the sh*t out of my body when I was younger thinking that everything would be ok…well it’s not. Take care of the most important piece of equipment that you own, Your BODY
