WooHoo no fracture of the spine!

[Britt]

hehe hey guys the site has been acting weird lately so havent been able to post about my crazy accident. You know....the kind where you are barefooting at 47 mph, face plant and then your feet hit you in the back of your head.....Well after numerous X-rays and MRI's I came out with just a hurniated disk. They said no skiing for 6 weeks, I think otherwise. BTW to any of the guys who barefoot out there on this site.....Even though the way to really fall is tuck the head into the chest, when going at a fairly fast speed how can you guys react that well to the proper fall. At 38-40 mph I have no problem recognizing the fall and tucking for cover but at 47-48 like we were doing it happens so fast I fear if I go that fast again the same thing will happen.

Britt

[André]

Glad to read that you're OK Britt!
But why do you barefoot so fast ?

[JDK]

But why do you barefoot so fast ?

Probably the same reason I do...... it takes this much speed to keep my 250 lbs. on top of the water comfortably (and as mentioned above, the falls suck)

[André]

JDK
How's your season so far ?

[jjsosnowski]

glad to here your ok. I did just about the same thing sat. morning. Was working on back toe holds when right heal caught at 40 mph.. Took a knee to the left eye. x-rays looked ok. thought I broke eye socket.Sure looks and feels like it.I guess you just have to get back on the horse.Good luck healing.

[MarkP]

Good to hear you guys will recover.:wavey: .

[Britt]

I will say one thing. This injury scared the crap out of me. By far the hardest hit I have even taken. Took 20 minutes to get into the boat. I think these are the worst type a falls a footer can take. The compression the spine takes on a fall like this is really amazing. Makes you respect the pro's out there competing and making a living or at least partial living doing it. Im only 20 and have a ways to go and as soon as the pain is gone Im going back.

Britt

[stevo137]

Britt, glad to hear you are ok.

[erkoehler]

No more footin at 45+! :eek:

[adkins1966]

If only you had a video camera!!

[JDK]

JDK
How's your season so far ?

So far, not great.
Water's cold...... finally cracked 60degrees this past weekend. Weather's been really unseasonably cool too. Put about 4 hrs. on my boat, just cruising, and I'm looking forward to finally getting wet this weekend.
We have not been having anywhere NEAR the weather you guys have been getting lately.

[sizzler]

I will say one thing. This injury scared the crap out of me. By far the hardest hit I have even taken. Took 20 minutes to get into the boat. I think these are the worst type a falls a footer can take. The compression the spine takes on a fall like this is really amazing. Makes you respect the pro's out there competing and making a living or at least partial living doing it. Im only 20 and have a ways to go and as soon as the pain is gone Im going back.

Britt
britt...ive been footin since i was about 17,,,the crashes were so easy to recover from then......had to avoid a duck last week whilst i was on the outside of a bend...boat at 42-43 ,me at a lot quicker....just clipped the little bu99er.....did not want to get out of bed the next day.......the smell of BBQ'd duck helped me get up :D

[jimmer2880]

britt...ive been footin since i was about 17,,,the crashes were so easy to recover from then......had to avoid a duck last week whilst i was on the outside of a bend...boat at 42-43 ,me at a lot quicker....just clipped the little bu99er.....did not want to get out of bed the next day.......the smell of BBQ'd duck helped me get up :D

That's just messed up! Hitting a duck footin.

I nailed a couple sticks footin a couple weekends ago. They left nice bruises. Of course, that's the same foot I ended up spraining 2 days later on a slalom ski.

I have to say, I've never footed faster than 45. Better you than me!

[sizzler]

hit just below 60 behind my barefoot 200 some years ago...hurt my feet like he11..tried it in trainers(sneakers) afterwards but did not feel right........... :D

[sizzler]

to all you duck lovers out there....i did not really BBQ it................................................ .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ........................i fried it

[ski_king]

I had a similar accident a few years ago. Was foootin at about 42 and caught a toe unexpectedly. I knew this fall was different from all the rest when all I saw was stars, and it was noon.
After a couple of months of PT, MRI's, etc, I had surgery to repair 2 herniated disks. I now have holes drilled thru 2 vertebras.
At that point, I reluctantly decided to give up barefootin.

Britt, I hope all turns out ok and you heal fine.

[sizzler]

that truly is a shame powerslot ,,,but at least there are other watersports to pursue

[ski_king]

That was 12 years ago. Since then I have limited myself to slalom for the most part with a little wakboard and trickin in between. I have been tempted more than once when out on the early morning glass to take a quick run, but have resisted.

This summer my 14 year old daughter want to learn to barefoot, that should be fun.

[gtink]

at 18, my twin and I would barefoot tandem for extreme long distances. To reduce pain on feet, we would sometimes wear sandals to allow for a slower speed, 38 (yea, narrow 13 foot).

One evening, while showing off in front of a large audience i tried to stick a tight turn (my twin was driving, I was wearing the sandals) as my speed increased dramatically in the turn, I did my best to hang on. At top speed I started to skip... Yep, they caught it on tape (but that was 10 years ago, can't find the tape now after moving several times) after about 6 skips, my right foot grabbed and both sandals (full strap on sandals) were ripped off my feet (strap broke clean into on front and rear of sandal). I got 3 full body flips in the air before landing on my right side rib cage.

Yea, that hurt.. So I stopped bare footing for the remainder of that year. :( My twin and I went off to college, and dad sold the mastercraft 87 or 88 351 Cleveland.

Now, 10 years later my wife and I own a prostar 205 LT1... I have the barefoot suit, now its time to get back on the horse... LOL Wish me luck. :toast:

[wiltok]

I was footin' off the boom two years ago - and my buddy driving made a broad right hand turn. As we came into the setting sun - I saw a school of ducks on the water right in my path. They saw me too - and tried to fly away but we were going too fast. I spread my legs and one (maybe two) went right through! We kept going - all ducks were accounted for afterward. I was scared sh**less for a moment....

[mitch]

Britt, A herniated disk is some serious shi%. I have one in my neck, and it's changed my riding completly. That and I wear a Ron Scarpa neck brace when I ride. You don't wanna be 45, with numb legs, ltd mobility and shooting pains, do you? Take the doc's advice (hopefully his advise incl. some PT as well), otherwise a ruptured disk is next on your agenda. I read a good analogy somewhere. A disk is like a jelly doughnut, you've pressed the crap our of one of your's, weakening it to the point where the jelly is just about to burst thru--> (i.e., ruptured). You're 21 dude, keep it up and your done before 30. What fun would that be? :twocents: Nuff said....Good luck!

[Footin]

I feel for you, I also foot at about 44 to 45 and when I take a good header it feels like my eye lids got peeled back over my head.

Highjack: I have been looking for a neckbrace and the only ones I see are the kind with the hard plastic down your back. What happened to the foam ones with the canvas cover the attached it the front with a clip of some kind?

[Tom023]

I second what Mitch said. I ruptured a disc when I was 25 and learned to live with it for 20 years until I had surgery two months ago. I had forgotten what it was like not to have constant shooting pain in my leg and a dull feeling in my right foot. While you living with a herniated disc is possible, listen to your doctors and try to recover before making the situation worse. If you take the time to properly recover, your chances of making it worse lessen considerably.

[mitch]

I feel for you, I also foot at about 44 to 45 and when I take a good header it feels like my eye lids got peeled back over my head.

Highjack: I have been looking for a neckbrace and the only ones I see are the kind with the hard plastic down your back. What happened to the foam ones with the canvas cover the attached it the front with a clip of some kind?

No hard plastic on this one. The new style Bull collar. Older style had the canvas, I think. It's very comfortable, but major dork factor. I take a lot of good natured ribbing from my kids, buds etc.. I also wear yellow prescription spex. They match the collar, but increase the dork factor 2x. :D I need some sort of a dorky hat to really complete the 'look' I'm going after
Tom, Which disk? I'm c-3 waaaaaay upstairs bruther :eek:
http://www.ronscarpa.com/rs/servlet/Handles2

[Leroy]

I was thinking I wanted to try barefooting again, thanks guys realized I don't need to do that anymore.


Hope everyone heals. Sounded especially bad Britt

[Tom023]

Tom, Which disk? I'm c-3 waaaaaay upstairs bruther :eek:


Mitch, other end of spine. They cut on L5/S1 and I have a herniation on L5/L4, just waiting to go bad. Getting it fixed was the best decision I've made in a while, but when it's time to, you know it.

[betsy&david Harrison]

I don't foot but did mine on my ski a few years back. Had to have to injections in the thoracic area. Had to have x-Rays to see if my lungs weren't punctured after each one. I went out the front and didn't come out of my bindings. Under water I Hyperextended my back and heard a big snap. Scarey moment. Glad nothing is broken but get the disc fixed dude! B

[sizzler]

from these horror stories it looks like ive been lucky with my crashes.....be careful chaps ..we dont wanna be designated drivers just yet.... ;)

[jraben8]

After hearing all of this, I too have been very lucky with my crashes. My worst one was when I was learning and stepped off. 2 seconds later I'm coming back up to the surface and the ski hits me just below the cheek bone.

Do what the Doc tells you and keep up with the PT. There have been many there before you so they know what works.

[mitch]

I don't foot but did mine on my ski a few years back. Had to have to injections in the thoracic area. Had to have x-Rays to see if my lungs weren't punctured after each one. I went out the front and didn't come out of my bindings. Under water I Hyperextended my back and heard a big snap. Scarey moment. Glad nothing is broken but get the disc fixed dude! B

If you mean the steroid injections, they really helped me. I had the series done 15 months ago. I feel 100% at the moment, but generally it's only a matter of time before the pain surfaces. :(

[mitch]

Mitch, other end of spine. They cut on L5/S1 and I have a herniation on L5/L4, just waiting to go bad. Getting it fixed was the best decision I've made in a while, but when it's time to, you know it.

Tom, What did they do to fix it. Fuse? I've heard some good things about trimming and cauterizing(sp) the protrusion. Suc%s getting old, eh?

[Tom023]

Mine was pretty straight forward, removal of the extruded disc material and removal of some additional disc "jelly" to reduce chances of reherniation, that's it. No fusing or cadaver discs for me, so I am pretty lucky. I was also fortunate that one of the best neurosurgeons is located here, which made the decision to have it done a bit easier, but I hear this is one of the most common surgeries. The worst part about it is no skiing, boarding, dare I say tubing, nothing for the entire summer.

[mitch]

Mine was pretty straight forward, removal of the extruded disc material and removal of some additional disc "jelly" to reduce chances of reherniation, that's it. No fusing or cadaver discs for me, so I am pretty lucky. I was also fortunate that one of the best neurosurgeons is located here, which made the decision to have it done a bit easier, but I hear this is one of the most common surgeries. The worst part about it is no skiing, boarding, dare I say tubing, nothing for the entire summer.


I'll need to make a decision when the pain returns. Another round of injections, which was painful in itself, or go w/ surgery. My surgery is probably not as straightforward as c-3 is pretty tight up there. Oh well...

[mitch]

Britt, You taking notes?

[Britt]

I dont know if I want to read any further. Sounds like a lot of you have been there before. When I talked to the doctor yesterday he says " well after reviewing your MRI results I found that the the L5 lumbar disk has a slight bulge to it and to just stay off the water for 6 weeks. I mean what the hell does slight bulge mean? Hurniated? Swollen? I assume thats what a hurniated disk is, when there is a bulge! Im just curious because he didnt use the specific work "hurniated" however I didnt ask him to clarify.

Britt

[ski_king]

Mine was C7-T1 and T1-T2. That low on the neck they go in thru the back instead of the front. I understand they go in thru the front on the higher cervical disks. I was glad to hear they weren’t cutting thru my neck to get to it, until they explained they had to drill holes thru the wings on the vertebras to get to the disk. For me, they just trimmed the area of the disks that were pushing against nerves.
I only gave into this after about 3 months of chiropractor and PT didn’t help. I got to the point where my left arm was about useless. Had the surgery in Oct. and was back up to speed by the next summer, it just took a while to build up the strength in my left arm.

By all means, try the PT first, it does work, just didn’t work for me.

It would be interesting to hear Bonedoc’s view on this.

[mitch]

I dont know if I want to read any further. Sounds like a lot of you have been there before. When I talked to the doctor yesterday he says " well after reviewing your MRI results I found that the the L5 lumbar disk has a slight bulge to it and to just stay off the water for 6 weeks. I mean what the hell does slight bulge mean? Hurniated? Swollen? I assume thats what a hurniated disk is, when there is a bulge! Im just curious because he didnt use the specific work "hurniated" however I didnt ask him to clarify.

Britt

I believe it's in this order
buldge-->herniated-->ruptured
I'll also add that's it's often difficult to distinguish between a buldge and herniated. That's what I was told
Either way, do yourself a favor and stay off the water for 6 weeks.

[jkski]

If you are looking for a neck brace still, try www.lakeelmosports.com, they had some rom the Barefoot Company late last year, and they are the canvass covered ones with the click at the adams apple.

[betsy&david Harrison]

If you mean the steroid injections, they really helped me. I had the series done 15 months ago. I feel 100% at the moment, but generally it's only a matter of time before the pain surfaces. :(
I did have the steroid injections and that was over 5 years ago. I'm lucky that they have lasted this long.B Oh yeah...those of you with pregnant wives/girlfriends...don't let them back on the water too soon. I jumped back on my ski 6 weeks post delivery...duh!

[tex]

It can happen at any speed. I was doing a show in Japan one summer and we had to foot in a swimming pool that looked like a go-kart track. You did not have alot of room and I did a flyer on one end and put the feet in too quick(about 28-30mph). The feet did hit me in the back of the head and I thought that I had broken the back for sure. They floated me to the side of the pool until I could get my breath. Nothing herniated or broken but scared to chit. I had always heard about people breaking a back footing and thought how???? I now knew. I was sore for weeks but a little sake and 19 year old hands fixed me up!

[Britt]

Tex thats a good story. I thought the same thing about people breaking their backs. THis happend to me once before when I was 13 first learing step offs. Ate chit but I weighed around 110 lbs probably and bounced back from it in about 1 week.

Britt

[tex]

Tex thats a good story. I thought the same thing about people breaking their backs. THis happend to me once before when I was 13 first learing step offs. Ate chit but I weighed around 110 lbs probably and bounced back from it in about 1 week.

Britt
Hey-I forgot-Sorry and heal fast!