Would you ride with this injury?

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southerncomfort

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Its a beautiful day. The school has thawed. And I really want to ride. But!

Couple of weeks ago I got blown over on the yard during a gale. I did the usual thing of trying to fight gravity and wrenched my neck. Thought I might have whiplash but it felt better after a few days.

Few days later I moved several hay bales from one outbuilding to another and my neck started hurting again. Long story short, had several dizzy spells and ended up collapsing that evening.

Doc thinks I injured my neck when I fell over and exacerbated it by carrying hay bales and I'm booked in for a neck xray in a couple of weeks to check for a fracture.

Now he did not say to rest and definitely didn't say not ride (I definitely didn't ask him though!).

A small part of my brain is saying for the sake of a couple of weeks, don't ride and wait for xray results. But biggest part of my brain is shouting 'GO RIDING! ITS A LOVELY DAY'. ?

Would you ride? Hack? Ride in the school?

For info, pony is a 13.1hh Fell pony. 5 years old, backed this year. Generally sensible but has had a couple of weeks off and has the grumps.

P.s have also been referred for a 24 hr ECG just in case. But I'm absolutely certain the ticker is fine!
 
Tiddlypom

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The sensible advice would be not to ride just yet, especially as pony is only young.

If you must, only ride if there is someone there right with at all times. But I do advise against it.

You do risk making whatever it is that has caused your funny turns much worse if you have another fall. There are lots of us on here who regret some of the gung ho things we did years ago, and which are now biting us on the bum...
 
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southerncomfort

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Well that's an overwhelming no then! ?

Thank you for talking sense in to me.

To be clear it is is much more likely to be whiplash or a pinched nerve but doc is being super cautious.

But you're all right, if their is any chance, however tiny, I shouldn't ride and I'm certain that's the advice I'd give anyone else in my position.

I'm surprised I even considered it, not like me at all.
 
Sussexbythesea

Sussexbythesea

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southerncomfort said:
I think it's to rule it out. I suspect its more likely bad whiplash or a pinched nerve.
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I’ve a few friends who’ve fractured necks and backs but been sent home without x-rays or scans and it’s only when further issues have arisen that they’ve been diagnosed so I’d still be super cautious. Fingers crossed though it’s as you say nothing too serious.
 
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Annagain

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southerncomfort said:
Well that's an overwhelming no then! ?

Thank you for talking sense in to me.

To be clear it is is much more likely to be whiplash or a pinched nerve but doc is being super cautious.

But you're all right, if their is any chance, however tiny, I shouldn't ride and I'm certain that's the advice I'd give anyone else in my position.

I'm surprised I even considered it, not like me at all.
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Good decision - plus, if your boy is only 5 a bit of a holiday will do him the world of good.
 
Michen

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I still think it's wierd you haven't been sent for an emergency x ray etc- doing so later to "rule it out" means they suspect there's a chance. When I walked into A&E with a neck injury 2 days post it happening (falling off a horse), I was immediately strapped down and stabilised despite it being days later. My only symptoms were a sore neck!
 
milliepops

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Michen said:
I still think it's wierd you haven't been sent for an emergency x ray etc- doing so later to "rule it out" means they suspect there's a chance. When I walked into A&E with a neck injury 2 days post it happening (falling off a horse), I was immediately strapped down and stabilised despite it being days later. My only symptoms were a sore neck!
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whereas my friend got to A&E saying she knew she'd broken her neck but they proceeded to try and pull her clothes off her rather than cut them off etc and then everyone looked a bit embarrassed when she'd done several vertebrae :eek:
the following week a few more showed up on x ray. i get that it's hard to spot sometimes. luckily she had enough self preservation instinct to be very cautious.

hope you are just a bit battered and not actually broken OP but glad to hear you've decided to err on the side of caution :D
 
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I'm currently recovering from a neck fracture (C1) and I have been told to avoid riding (along with running, contact sports, yoga... it's quite a long list!). I'm also in a hard collar 24/7. I would err on the side of caution and avoid riding until you have confirmation that your neck is not fractured. FWIW my injury was not particularly painful - my neck felt a bit "crunchy" when I tried to move immediately afterwards and then I had a dizzy spell with blurred vision about 30 minutes later. I walked into A&E in a homemade neck brace slightly worried that I might be wasting their time - however, they took it v seriously and had me strapped to a backboard and into CT quickly.
 
ILuvCowparsely

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southerncomfort said:
Its a beautiful day. The school has thawed. And I really want to ride. But!

Couple of weeks ago I got blown over on the yard during a gale. I did the usual thing of trying to fight gravity and wrenched my neck. Thought I might have whiplash but it felt better after a few days.

Few days later I moved several hay bales from one outbuilding to another and my neck started hurting again. Long story short, had several dizzy spells and ended up collapsing that evening.

Doc thinks I injured my neck when I fell over and exacerbated it by carrying hay bales and I'm booked in for a neck xray in a couple of weeks to check for a fracture.

Now he did not say to rest and definitely didn't say not ride (I definitely didn't ask him though!).

A small part of my brain is saying for the sake of a couple of weeks, don't ride and wait for xray results. But biggest part of my brain is shouting 'GO RIDING! ITS A LOVELY DAY'. ?

Would you ride? Hack? Ride in the school?

For info, pony is a 13.1hh Fell pony. 5 years old, backed this year. Generally sensible but has had a couple of weeks off and has the grumps.

P.s have also been referred for a 24 hr ECG just in case. But I'm absolutely certain the ticker is fine!
Click to expand...
Not a chance

Could make matters worse, keep your feet firmly on the ground.
 
The Fuzzy Furry

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southerncomfort said:
Well that's an overwhelming no then! ?

Thank you for talking sense in to me.

To be clear it is is much more likely to be whiplash or a pinched nerve but doc is being super cautious.

But you're all right, if their is any chance, however tiny, I shouldn't ride and I'm certain that's the advice I'd give anyone else in my position.

I'm surprised I even considered it, not like me at all.
Click to expand...
Even if it is 'just' a pinched nerve, a sudden movement by your pony might make you involuntarily wince which in turn could give him an unwarranted indication of a weird aid back from you, to send him forwards smartly.
It's a no from me too x
 
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Velcrobum

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Jumoro said:
I'm currently recovering from a neck fracture (C1) and I have been told to avoid riding (along with running, contact sports, yoga... it's quite a long list!). I'm also in a hard collar 24/7. I would err on the side of caution and avoid riding until you have confirmation that your neck is not fractured. FWIW my injury was not particularly painful - my neck felt a bit "crunchy" when I tried to move immediately afterwards and then I had a dizzy spell with blurred vision about 30 minutes later. I walked into A&E in a homemade neck brace slightly worried that I might be wasting their time - however, they took it v seriously and had me strapped to a backboard and into CT quickly.
Click to expand...

I am not surprised at all that they had you strapped down pronto. C1 is an unusual one to fracture how did you do it??
 
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Jumoro

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Velcrobum said:
I am not surprised at all that they had you strapped down pronto. C1 is an unusual one to fracture how did you do it??
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Falling off a horse (no surprises there). We were coming down some steps on a xc course when he made a mistake a lost his footing. He managed to recover but I was pretty much catapulted straight into the ground & landed badly. It didn't feel or look like a particularly hard fall and initially I was just relieved that he hadn't landed on me. However, when I tried to get up my neck felt odd which set off alarm bells. We managed to fashion a pretty good brace with a rolled up jacket and belt before driving to A&E (there was no chance of getting an ambulance up to us and I really didn't think I warranted the air ambulance) so it came as quite a shock when they found a C1 fracture (single break, anterior arch) and a compression fracture of L2. No visible damage to my hat (although obs will replace) but my bp is completely trashed, so I must have hit the ground with some force.
 
ycbm

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You definitely shouldn't ride. If you absolutely can't stop yourself I would wear a whiplash collar and a P2 (not a HitAir, too high in the neck) air jacket. But you shouldn't!
.
 
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Follysmum

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Definitely not until you know for sure
I was discharged and told by an orthopaedic dr at hospital to have a month off then continue to ride after my accident, I wasn’t any better so went to another hospital was told under no circumstances to ride and had mri. I had a spinal cord injury and 4 slipped discs in neck.
 
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