Hamstring Avulsion (complete tear from pelvis)

[Spig]

Glad to hear you are back on track again. I just seen my surgeon today for a 12 week follow up, and I have now been given the green light for strength training and muscle building. It is a long road, but worth the end result. Stay on the positive side coach, and post when you feel down and out, someone will come to your aid.

Janemarie,
Glad to hearyou are doing well. Good luck throughthe rest of your healing.

I Fell,
Always glad to see you posting, you have given a lot of people good advice and good information.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone, and may everybody have a blessed holiday.
Spig

[Kelly]

Hi Everyone,
Things continue to go well for me in my recovery. I started PT this week and it was great to actually use the leg a bit.
BallCoach, it was good to hear from you. I struggled with the pain meds as well and was glad when I didn't need them anymore. Although I was certainly glad to have them that first week. As many have said already, it is slow going while you are in it but when I look back I can't believe it has already been almost 3 weeks since the surgery.
I wish everyone a great holiday season, be safe. I am most greatful to have found this website.
Kelly

[Kelly]

Oops. I can't spell grateful.

[jls1123]

hi everyone. i was injured 8 months ago playing baseball, im 17. i have a 5cm avulsion. i have a meeting with dr. lee kaplan at university of miami this upcoming tuesday. what i would like to know is what to expect from surgery? how long is the surgery? how long do my stitches or staples stay in? what is recovery like? and any other information you can share. thanks in advance!

[DaveE]

I am a 58 year old male who completed tore his hamstring playing basketball. The ER doctor misdiagnosed. I live in Canada so I eventually went to Buffal for a quick MRI which showed the problem and further that it had retracted approximately 5 cm. I am approximately 4 weeks post-accident.

I have read all of the posts and see that there is a clear difference in the way doctors proceed; some require lengthy periods of wearing braces and others don't require any brace at all.

Does anyone know of a doctor in Toronto Ontario who would be an expert in this process and if so, whether he/she is a brace advocate or not.

I am a self employed professional and I can't be off work for 4 to 6 weeks. The people who don't have braces appear to be able to get back to a desk job after 2 or 3 weeks---at least part time. If 6 weeks is the only alternative, I may not be able to have the surgery.

thanks in advance for any suggestions

Dave

[janemarie]

DEAR JLS1123.

So sorry to hear that you have become one of the members of this site..We are a small group but none the less caring...I had my surgery the end of august in philly. The surgery was about an hour. My avulsion was about 2.5 cm. The surgery I did not find to be terrible. The brace was the issue. If your doc makes you wear a brace it stays on about 6 weeks. It is very limiting in movement and makes life just plain difficult..However I do believe that with out it one would tend to do more then one should. It reminds you not to put pressure on the hamstring until it is is somewhat fully secured back into the bone.You are non wt bearing for about 2 weeks then only 25 percent for another couple and then finally up to full wt bearing.. My brace came off at 6 weeks.....I found that just doing what the md told me to do was the best. I just finished shoveling the 24 inches of snow we got this weekend with no issue at all...Four months since surgery and I am steady on my feet and no pain at all.. I will say that the incision site location is a bit of a problem. It is nicely placed in the gluteal fold however it makes sitting a challenge.My incision site was about 3 inches and for the most part had sutures that dissolved. At my 2 week check up he did take out 2 anchor sutures that secured the sutures that were under the skin.. Drgs had to be changed daily if it got wet... something you will not be able to do so your mom will have to do it for you..I will say that it just hurts to sit on the incision.. But within a couple of days you figure out how to manage it. Given your age I think you will heal faster then most of us.. Just listen to what the md has to day and follow it!!!! Good luck on your md appointment..Given your age and the fact that you want to have the most active lifestyle that you can..If surgery is an option. have the surgery and get on with life..You are to young to have to tolerate the pain and the uncertainty of will it or wont it heal on its own..

good luck at the mds office
janemarie

[Jay M]

Jls1123,
Janemarie's right on all accounts. However, each doctor has their own specific preferences and timetables. So, don't be surprised if its a little different for yourself. Definitly, get the surgery because you are way to young to be inactive.

Good luck,

Jay

[Kelly]

jls1123,
As already mentioned, every doctor is different as is every injury. I am almost 3 weeks post op. I had the surgery about 3 months post injury. I only had to wear the brace for 2 weeks. I will be on crutches for one more week, making it a total of 4 weeks post op. My incision is 4-5 inches long with no external stitches to be removed. As for pain, the worst part was the first week and it really wasn't that bad. The pain meds helped alot and I only took them for a few days. I have started physical therapy but that will consist of passive range of motion until after the first of the year.
You are young and should heal really fast. If you have read much on this site you know that everyone is glad that they had the surgery. I wish all the good luck and please let us know how things are going.

BallCoach,
How are you?

[I Fell]

JLS1123

Sorry to hear about your accicent. There are a lot worse things that could happen. I am probablly one of the oldest ones here to have had the surgery at 61. I had my surgery a little over a year ago and results were fantastic. I just couldn't imagine not getting it repaired and have my mobility limited. Certainly at your age you it is probablly best to get it fixed. My opertion lasted about 2- 2 1/2 hours but that's no big deal because your out and don't know what is going on. 8 months post injury it my take a little longer because scar tissue tends to form. Your surgeon will have a better estimate based on your MRI results. I had no external stitches, just some butterfly closures. Ended up with a nice flat scar of about 3 inches. Things worked out well for me. I was lucky I had no pain afterwards and I never even needed pain meds. There is a lot of good information on the site as to things to make post op recovery tolerable. There is a link I posted a little while back to a paper written by Dr. Cohen and Dr. Bradley that has a lot of good information. They are the doctors that operated on several of us on the froum. Different doctors use different braces and as janemarie said the brace helps protect you from overdoing it. I felt so good that I know it would have been easy to reinjure myself if I didn't have the darn brace. Read the forum and get back with any questions and the good people on here will try to answer them.

Heal well.

[Spig]

JLS1123
I too am sorry to hear about your injury. Dr. Bedi at the University of Michigan operated on my leg, and I agree with I Fell and Janemarie the surgey is the right option. My MRI revealed a 11cm complete avulsion of the hamstring with glute damage and tendon damage to the knee. During the surgery, (like I Fell stated you are out and you don't know or feel anything) it was found that the tear was 13cm. I'm 52 years old and very active and did not hesitate to have the surgery. I was in a leg brace along with the hip brace. The leg brace was removed after 1 week and the hip brace was locked at 15 degrees for 5 1/2 weeks. I will be starting strength training on wednesday. The surgeon, fitness trainer and myself are very happy with the progress so far. It is a journey after surgery, but one that is worth it. A lot of people are here to help.

DaveE
Sitting down after the surgery may be difficult. If you have the brace, it will depend on what position it is set at. the surgery is worth the quality of life it will give you.

Spig