Anna asks about breastfeeding and healing a break.  Nina talked about difficulty training and ligaments in the post partum period.

Having just broken my radius in February while snowboarding, I'm very aware of how that has affected the rest of my body including my ligaments. So, in thinking about liegaments, it seems to me that the relaxin during pregnancy would put an athlete at a much higher risk for injuries in a sport such as soccer in the early postpartum period than breastfeeding.  I don't know how long it takes for relaxin to drop after delivery, but I'm wondering if it may have contributed to Anna's first break.  

For the bone, it does demineralize while breastfeeding and remineralizes to a greater extend after breastfeeding so that women who breastfeeeed have higher bone densities on average (after they finish) than women who do not.  So, over the long haul those bones should be stronger because of your breastfeeding, but it seems reasonable to expect that a break may heal more slowly while breastfeeding.

Another issue is the shifts in weight that occur during and after pregnancy.  I tried to roller blade three months after the birth of my son and immediately fell on an easy hill and knocked the wind out of myself.  If I calculated correctly Anna's baby would have been around six months old during the first break.  I lost my weight gradually at about the same rate that I put it on, so I would not have been in the same physical shape six months after delivery that I was prior to delivery. Then there is the issue of lifting a toddler which can also influence muscle structure and influence how one might move on a soccer field.

As for physical therapy, both my surgeon AND my physical therapist (who is stellar and put up with all sorts of questions I had about breastfeeding and the position of hands, wrists, necks, backs, and legs) said that it will really take an entire year for all the tissues to heal.   My insurance cut off my twice a week physical therapy after about four months -- but because I was still finding it beneficial and will be paying out of pocket for less frequent sessions.  I still have pain as I continue to stretch the tissues and work on my mobility. The surgeon just did allow me to resume full sparring in my Martial Arts class five months after the break.  Its not deep pain, it is that pain you get when you work on a resistant stiff body part or the ache that comes after when it has been stretched beyond its prior capacity.  It could be that it will take longer for my injury because they inserted a plate around my radius.  Still 8 weeks post weight bearing doesn't seem long enough for all the surrounding tissues to heal well enough to avoid another injury.  

As for the ligaments.  I did go back to Martial Arts within three weeks to keep up my strength and agility working on a bag with my three good limbs being VERY careful about my movements.  It kept me in good enough shape that I have no problem now with endurance.  But having one arm out of commission definitely changed how I used other body parts.  I developed "tennis elbow" in the opposite arm and knee pain in the leg on the same side.  Between the physical therapist and the Pilates instructor where I am now doing breastfeeding groups, I was given additional exercises to work on the knee and the elbow.  Oddly, all that pain went away when I was allowed to do push ups, probably because pushups gave enough of a counter stretch to punches that it stretched the ligament appropriately.

In addition, the physical therapist discovered all sorts of imbalances in my body and exercises and stretches that will help me with my Martial Arts.  In some ways I feel that this will end up helping me become better at the sport than I would have become.

With two major breaks in a year, it seems that a very good physical therapist would help with the appropriate exercises and stretches for the supporting structure and analyze what contributed to those injuries to begin with. 

By the way, I did play RUGBY in my youth in the Seattle area.  We were the Elliot Bay Rugby Team.  Since I'm very short and low to the ground, I managed to keep my knees intact, but did break my nose from a knee to the face. 

Anna -- good luck healing.  

Best, Susan

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