Disobeying doctors orders

If a doctor said 2 weeks off, I'd follow it for at least 8 days and then decide how I felt. The person's spent years and years training, so I think ignoring him/ her would be an astonishingly stupid and rude idea... Why bother wasting precious time and NHS money on seeing them if you then totally ignore them, lol!
 
Depends on the injury...some injuries really need the time to heal otherwise can end up causing problems further down the line.

I deliberately didn't ask about riding after I had an op - I knew I was going to get on when I felt like I wanted to :rolleyes: However, I was told not to drive for at least 10 days as I had to be capable of an emergency stop - I was also told at the time that if I had any problems/accidents and was going against doctor's orders, then insurance could be invalid...
 
Being a nurse I would say follow the medical advice :)
However if they don't mention horse riding then you ok.
I did a hunter trial the day after having a minor op and just prayed the stitches would hold oops :)
 
I asked the doctor if I could ride and his response was "If I tell you not to you're going to do it anyway"... I wouldn't have, actually, if he had told me point blank not to, but I took it that I had his permission!
 
I learnt the hard way and will never disobey doctors orders again ... now I think what a bloody idiot I was. 5 years down the line my knee is still buggered when if I had let it heal properly it could have taken just 4-6 weeks, and 2 years down the line from another accident my back/pelvis still have major issues. The amount of days riding ive missed in the longterm from these issues Id have been better off just listening in the first place! .. and yes, riding bareback still counts .. i tried to get around it this way :p
 
Was told not to ride for 2 weeks when I did my knee in last year, got on the next day but I was drugged up to my eyeballs and couldn't feel a thing anyway.
 
If you are going to ignore the doctors orders then personally I wouldn't waste the tax payers money in going to seek professional help. If your doctor gave you orders then take note or don't bother the doctor in the first place.
 
EllenJay said:
If you are going to ignore the doctors orders then personally I wouldn't waste the tax payers money in going to seek professional help. If your doctor gave you orders then take note or don't bother the doctor in the first place.
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Very much agree with that!
If you are told NOT to ride....there must be a jolly good reason for it.
I ride no matter what....so I just don't bother with a doctor unless it broken or hanging off :D
 
EllenJay said:
If you are going to ignore the doctors orders then personally I wouldn't waste the tax payers money in going to seek professional help. If your doctor gave you orders then take note or don't bother the doctor in the first place.
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I've got to admit, I pretty much agree with this. Doctor's tell you not to do things for a very good reason, not on a whim or to ruin your fun! And potentially ignoring them could cause you major problems either now or in the future (and potentially cost the NHS/tax payer more money!)
Plus if anything happened (assuming you have horse insurance covering 3rd party, personal injury etc), then you wouldn't be covered.
 
I second Ellenjay, but it also depends on the type of injury.

Some will be fine to ride soon after, however you could also be jeopardizing your health and ability to ride further along the line if you do not allow the injury to properly heal in the first place. I have a very dodgy knee after having a bad fall (whilst walking home from school....) took a huge chunk out and you could see bone. I had a few stitches and tried to ride with a straight leg, obviously very hard and I ended up stretching the wound slightly, took longer to heal and infection started to set in. This was 10 years ago and I get a very sore, clicky knee when I use it too much ie. rising trot, running etc not to mention a very ugly scar.
 
I rode 10days after splitting and de-gloving my knee a couple of years back (Dr said at least 10 days) and it was too soon and put the healing back a couple of weeks.
I had a complete hysterectomy in Feb and have only recently got back on, and Im taking it steady.
Dont see the point in going against the Drs, they know best!
 
That said both doctor and physio admitted they know nothing about riding and assumed i'd need my 'pedals' I rode without them and only my own horses lol
 
My "injury" is a hand wound. I had an opperation friday and went back today. No stitches as they disolve, and hand just bandaged. I can still hold the reins so i hopped on.

If it was something like knee/back/neck i wouldnt. But i hate not riding!
 
i had a total compression of the spinal cord which is quite serious:eek: and asked when can i ride as soon as i came around from the GA ! he said 3 months but i did sit on a very quiet horse about 6 weeks after (couldnt have done it sooner if id wanted to-legs didnt work):D other surgeries ive had i usually have managed around 2 weeks before the need to sit on a horse overtook me!
 
archiepoo said:
i had a total compression of the spinal cord which is quite serious:eek: and asked when can i ride as soon as i came around from the GA ! he said 3 months but i did sit on a very quiet horse about 6 weeks after (couldnt have done it sooner if id wanted to-legs didnt work):D other surgeries ive had i usually have managed around 2 weeks before the need to sit on a horse overtook me!
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how the heck did you manage to get on a horse 6 weeks after a spinal compression??????? :eek:
My mum had that op and it was horrendous :(
 
lol it actually took 4 people to get me on and off! stupidly determined i think:rolleyes: or maybe just stupid it was agony!!
 
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After a concussion, I was told no contact sports for 2 weeks. I played horseball three days later.

I rode the following day, proclaiming that riding is only a contact sport if I fall off :o
 
I'm currently one handed due to broken collar bone. Forgot to ask how long it'd take. Am So bored and was seriously thinking of asking my RI to do some lessons on the lunge. Might have some trouble getting in and off though. :rolleyes:
Past experience has taught me that rushing healing often results in just more problems so suppose I will stay earthbound until I can at least do a press up. :(
 
I think it depends on the injury and whether there could be long term effects from rushing back to riding and risking messing things up further. The issue for me would be whether I would be in full control of my horse with the said injury...I have a firey Welsh that you need to be on top of...I would not risk myself or loosing control through being weak in an area.
When I messed my back up I listened to my accupunturist and held off heavy work and riding until he felt things were right and that riding might help the work already done to correct things. Each to our own I guess.
 
When i fractured my scaphoid I was in plaster for 6 weeks. 2 weeks in i was having lunge lessons twice a week to keep me sane. The horse was 22 and i had had her for 18 years, so i felt pretty safe!
 
I know someone who broke their leg in a fall, ignored doctors advice and rode with it, even after the doctor told them it was doing further damage, she even took her horse jumping while it was broken, fell off and rebroke the leg.

The doctor warned her then that if she didnt listen to their advice and wait, she would lose the leg and even now she walks with a limp.
 
I rode 3 days after slipping a disc, and have ridden every day since (17months on now). Im pretty sure doctor would have said that wasn't a good plan but i've found they don't really understand much about riding so didn't mention it. To be honest the pain was excruciating whether lying, sitting, standing or walking, so sitting on a horse wasn't a million miles worse.

Don't misunderstand, I didn't think it was big or clever or that I was trying to prove anything, I just felt I had to ride. I didn't trust anyone else to ride mine as he was so panicy and sensitive. Riding has been the thing that gives me the most pain relief.
 
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Depends what it is. I've ridden with concussion plenty of times (jumping's not a good idea though, or anything spooky as balance is compromised a tad!). I've also ridden while pregnant (until 8 months). I simply didn't mention it to my midwife, only rode a very safe horse, and was sensible with what I did. Wouldn't ride if it could cause further damage simply by doing so, and after I have baby won't be riding until it is safe to do so for that reason. It'll kill me (still getting on for 5 min sits in walk even at 39 weeks now!), but I'll do it.
 
I had my 8th knee op 2 weeks ago. They said no riding for 6 weeks, I managed 10 days. Still got the stitches in. After that many ops, I know my own limits and my physio/surgeon know bugger all about riding.

Oh and I go private, so no 'wasting NHS resources' - the NHS actually told me I was fine. Hmm.
 
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