Does anyone who has suffered the above live in the UK ?
I have just returned to England having pulled all 3 hamstrings from the bone in a waterski accident .
I can't believe this has happened to me and am normally an optimist but feel really concerned over what this means. I saw an Orthapaedic consultant who didn't give me a lot of hope as he said it was very rare and not a lot of people can help with surgery. I had a scan today and have to go back for the prognosis on Tuesday. Following the scan I was due to go for physio but told not to by radiologist due to severity of injury ie all hamstrings are off the pelvis. They could nt give more detail but said the consultant would look at the scan and check on the gap. I don't know how best to support my injury in the interim.
I'm on crutches and resting at home with pain relief. Any suggestions what will help at this stage or recommendations of surgeons /sports medicine doctors /consultants..? I think I need a specialist in this injury. Feeling desperate and very worried how long this will take to recover if ever?
I am a very busy mum of 3 children and work full time and can't drive or walk right now
Any hope of realistic advice you can give?
Would love to hear from anyone that could help From tracey
Hello Tracey And the others in his thread.
I was nervous to have his surgery as some orthopedist as did not recommend it... But I followed the advice of one of Ruropen's experts in this surgery based in France - he has done nearly 250 of these in the last 12 years.
I had all 3 detached with 4 cm retraction. I was operated on 15 days after the injury.
I am now 7 weeks after the operation and am fine. I am a working mom of 3 and I was able to go to work with crutches a brace ( which needs to be worn at all times for 6 weeks) and amended seating after 10 days. Otherwise no driving, no standing for 6 weeks ( it does fly by).
It is important to
Confirm rupture early with Mri
Find a specialist who has done his type of operation ( rare injury)
Do it within 4 weeks of injury and chances of succes are much higher.
Be very prudent for the first 6 weeks until the tendons re- attach - scar tissue finalized and wear a brace - to avoid straightening leg.
Not take up sports for 3 months then slowly.
The pain is really manageable - more the scar than anything else.. I had a giant hematoma after injury but none after the surgery ( they actually removed all the hematoma blood from the injury during the survey.
For me it has worked - no complications so far
And I feel that I will have a more solid leg..
I am 50 and very active and also had knee surgery on the other leg and did not want to have 2 weak legs.
Hope this helps.
Hi Tracey, I am in the UK and have two hamstrings completely avulsed with a 4cm retration. I knew something was very wrong directly after my accident but have had one hell of a time getting it diagnosed. I fell out running October 2014.
I have done heaps of research on this injury and would say that you almost certainly should have surgery. The general guidelines for surgery are 2 or more hamstrings avulsed and 2cm or more retraction. I guess that yours are going to be fairly retracted if all 3 are detached.
The huge problem for us in the UK is the lack of surgeons with expereicne in this operation. I have found someone who has been trained in this operation but he has not actually done the op for a few years. His name is Mr James Carmichael and he is based in Peterborough. If you find anyone with experience I would be very grateful for the name.
My particular issue is that due to the length of time since the accident and the eventual diagnosis the operation will be more difficult and with a lower chance of success due to scarring and other factors. However, if I do not have the op-eration my leg will always be weak and sitting will be painful. Also I am a competitive cyclist, competing at world level so really need to get my leg back.
I found a thread on Runners World with people with experience of this injury. About half had had a repair and were mostly pleased and about half had not and although they were able to get back to running their speed had been impacted. Unfortunately most of these people seemed to be in America where it is easier to find someone to operate.
If we can pool our resources in hunting out a surgeon that would be good. I have just messaged a friend of mine who is a surgeon to ask if there is anyway of finding someone with experience. I will let you know if I hear anything useful.
Hi Adriana,
Can you tell us the name of the french surgeon?
Sorry Adriana also meant to ask, are you in the UK and if so who was your surgeon?
Nicholas Lefevre at the Clinique du sport
Hi I am in France
My surgeon does work with patients from other countries - then it is a question of reimbursement and health coverage.
Adriana
Thank you everyone who is following this thread.
I feel really shocked that there may not be a surgeon to help in the UK, my consultant indicated as much saying it was so rare but I didn't really understand. I feel I'm in a nightmare at the moment.it happened 8 days ago and I can't walk without crutches and even so that's only a few steps indoors.
I don't want to be written off because I'm nearly 50 and not an athlete. Apparently this is worse than breaking bones or having joint replacements?
I have Bupa but they are closed until Monday. No one seems to know a specialist that could help. I will be searching and searching and will keep in touch. Even if I have to travel overseas. I'm not an old lady yet and don't want to give up, but I'll never want to Waterski again. I'd be happy to be able to walk upstairs right now
Does anyone know what it costs in France or USA to operate on the Hamstrings?
You will be able to walk again without an operation but your leg will always be weaker and possibly unstable. I have two avulsed and the third damaged and I can walk. Never, had crutches or anything, just hobbled arouhd at home for a bit to start with. I think it was a couple of weeks before I could get one foot actually in front of the other to take proper steps but they were still very short ones! The worst thing at the start was sitting on the loo, very painful!!. I have seen on other threads advice to purchase a shewee for post surgery, wish I had thought of it when I got injured.
Tendon injuries are a much longer rehab than boken bones whether you have surgery or not. If I had broken my leg it would be all healed and I would be back in full training by now. I have recently had a rotator cuff repair, which is fixing tendons back to bone in your shoulder. The recovery and rehab from this was slow and it will be exactly the same for hamstring tendons. It takes 3 months for any tendon to heal back to the bone because of poor blood supply so you have to be very careful about putting stress on the tendon for at least 3 months. After 3 months you can start to work on strengthening. Generally they say to allow around 6 months for full recovery but for some people it can be a year.
I know how you are feeling, I have gone from being a fit athlete to walking around like other 60 year olds!
I would be interested to know that too. Unfortunately I do no have private health insurance though.
Did you go to Nicholas Lefevre for the surgery? If not who did your operation and does he speak English? My French is a bit dodgy!
Here is the link to the long thread on the Runner's World forum. It has been going fo a while and it would seem that most of the people on it are in the US but there is some useful information on there. Worth reading through when you have time Tracy.
http://community.runnersworld.com/topic/hamstring-avulsion-complete-rupture?page=1
I was googling surgeons and found one online in the UK calked Andrew Barnett in Shropshire
It's the weekend now so can't do a lot until Monday
So I'm just doing as much research as I can in the interiim and hope to find a specialist consultant to discuss the MRI with
I doubt Bupa will pay for surgery outside the UK
I will keep in touch
No I haven't had surgery yet.. I had my accident 8 days ago I'm just doing as much research as poss because I had no idea this was so rare in the UK
And am worried about my options
I have looked at the N lefevre in Paris but don't speak French either so I'm waiting for my French friend to check it out for me
I'm worried they will say no surgery because they don't know how to do it, even if I need it
Hello.
Yes I had my operation with Nicholas Lefevre .
I will ask if he knows anyone in UK - yes he does speak English.
Best Adriana
Just looked at Andrew Barnett's CV. I see that he did a fellowship at the Sydney Sports Injury Clinic which is the the same fellowship that James Carmichael in Peterborough did. It was whilst there that he got his experience of hamstring avulsion repair so they have had the same training. James Carmicahel has only done about 3 or 4 of these operations in the UK and none in the past ouple of years. I would be interested to know how many Barnett has done since training. If you are able to speak to him, please will you let me know, saves us both digging out the same information. Many thanks in advance.
I will let you know
I will be researching and looking for help all day today
I would really really appreciate you talking to Nicholas and finding out if he can recommend anyone in the UK Has he done many operations of this type? What was their success rate ?
My scan results are available tomorrow and I don't have to go back to my previous consultant who already indicated if it was a worse injury he didn't know who be able to help me.