return to riding after pneumothorax?

[jimcav]

pretty frustrating that my chest xray and rib xray was read as normal the day after my crash, but CT yesterday showed anterior pneumothorax and 3 broken ribs (left anterior 4-6). Now that I know why, it hurts more :mad: I won't get echo result for a day or 2. I don't see any guidelines for non-contact sport as far as resuming activity after traumatic pneumothorax, my PCM is sending me to a pulmonologist next week, but thinks it is too small to require a chest tube or any specific treatment. I have decent pain tolerance so believe i can ride long before my ribs heal (assuming my heart echo is ok), but anyone have any experience riding after pneumothorax?

[abr5]

I had a spontaneous pneumothorax where one lung was almost entirely collapsed. Ended up stuck in a hospital bed with a chest tube for 4-5 days. Once it was out, I was back on the trainer within 2 days and racing 6 days later without any pain or issues. The worst (most painful) part was getting the tube removed, so if you can avoid getting one, consider yourself lucky!

Hope the ribs and hole in the lung heal up!

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[Black Dog]

I don't think riding is the real issue, crashing again while still injured is. Do you really want to go down with some weekend ribs and a existing pneumothorax? Get most of the recovery behind you before you get the road in front of you. Trainer time or just do some other activities that are lower risk. This would be my approach, and I learned the hard way on this.

[HenryA]

I don't think riding is the real issue, crashing again while still injured is. Do you really want to go down with some weekend ribs and a existing pneumothorax? Get most of the recovery behind you before you get the road in front of you. Trainer time or just do some other activities that are lower risk. This would be my approach, and I learned the hard way on this.

I’ll second this.

What you don’t want to do is fall on your current injury and injure yourself even worse. Figure out something to do that minimizes the risk and give your body a chance to heal.

You really don’t want a bad pneumothorax, chest tubes are no fun. No fun when they put them in or pull them out. No fun shuffling around the hospital with a roller stand and your little box hanging from it with the tube to your chest.

I started riding about 3 weeks after getting out of the hospital. It was probably too soon, but I was super careful about where I rode. The pain kept me pretty limited too. Nothing fast, nothing hard. Stay way away from traffic, dogs, etc.

Ride the trainer or just take some nice walks for a while. Then start back slow and careful.

[jimcav]

i will look forward to some lifecyle time in the gym I guess--right now the ribs hurt enough I probably couldn't ride hard and certainly not outside on my bike
jim

[R3awak3n]

get a kickr, do some zwift time while you heal man.

[fmradio516]

Id take it easy for as long as possible. I dont wish the discomfort of being in a hospital bed with a chest tube for a week on anyone. Seriously the worst.

[etu]

The hole in your lung has already healed. Your body just needs to reabsorb the air, but i would second the other's advice on waiting until you're healed.
Chest tubes are no fun - half inch stiff plastic tubes.
I've put plenty of them in patients back in the day, and that was probably one of the most violent things I've done in my life. Fortunately, you can use small catheters these days for a simple pneumothorax.
Good luck and you're lucky that it was small one.

[shovelhd]

It was three weeks for me as well. On the trainer, going very, very easy. Pneumothorax is a serious injury. Forget about your fitness, it will come back. Heal first.

[uber]

I would check out the advice of your pulmonologist. There are rib fractures of varying types. More than one rib fracture per rib can set up for some breathing instability especially if it involve several ribs. With an injury that involves several ribs and a pneumo, you could possibly have a lung confusion too. Sleeping becomes an issue with rib fractures as does the ability to take a deep breath because of the pain. 6 weeks seems to be the usual coarse. Heal up and get better soon.

[etu]

no disrespect to pulmonologists, but you probably want to follow up with a trauma surgeon. they deal with traumatic ptx all the time. they would be more appropriate experts in this matter. pulmonologist are better when the event is related to underlying lung issues like emphysema.