Broken Radius

[noobi]

Well on sunday some slippery clay resulted in a snapped left radius above my wrist, I dont have a picture of the break, but heres the post op xray

Whats the general consensus on time before riding is possible? I have the final round of an enduro series im doing quite well in in 11 weeks, and id really like to do it.
Also, whats the opinion on having the plate and screws removed?

Cheers

 

[gg3]

Well on sunday some slippery clay resulted in a snapped left radius above my wrist, I dont have a picture of the break, but heres the post op xray

Whats the general consensus on time before riding is possible? I have the final round of an enduro series im doing quite well in in 11 weeks, and id really like to do it.
Also, whats the opinion on having the plate and screws removed?

Cheers

Sorry to hear about the break,you've been going well this season as well.All the clay tracks are super slippery at the moment.

 

[nhrider]

Sorry about the accident. Take your time...better late then never.

 

[twowheels]

That's a bummer, man. Drink your milk and heal up - our hare scrambles chairman has tried coming back with a plated tib/fib and it continues to give him grief to the point of not being able to completely buckle his boot.

I think standard practice is to run the hardware until you get to a convenient time to remove it - the fewer surgeries the better.

 

[bchatt]

Hey Dale
Don't worry, it's character building -take it easy!
Where abouts were you riding?

 

[jostby]

My kid (now 18) broke his right radius and ulna wrestling Jan 3 last year and was able to keep in shape enough to ride at the Desert 100 (first of April) last year and the doc had already cleared him to start freestyle wrestling 3 weeks earlier. It was only the poker ride portion but he and his friend kept me from passing them the whole time (doesn't say anything about my ability though )
His doc told us after it was plated he could start rehabbing the muscles as soon as he fealt ready because the bones weren't going to move because of the plates and screws, just not to get too crazy.
My non-professional opinion would be to work on regaining flexibility. (I did the same thing with my tibia and fibula). Use the hand exercisers to work on keeping your hand clenched. Also clench your hand (with the hand exersizer) and rotate your wrist up and down. Sorry I have a mental block as to "hand exerciser" you know, the hand-grip things with the spring that helps keep them open? I bought a nice one cheap that had a dial to adjust the tension at the local variety store.
You can do this, just don't damage the plates/bones/screws as they heal together. The big part is to keep the muscles that will protect your forearm in shape.
To make you feel better here's a picture of his (4 brakes in all)....
by the way, sorry to hear of the accident

 

[noobi]

Thanks everyone.
The docs reckon its about 6 weeks until the bone is solid, then another 4-6 weeks until resuming sport. So as long as all goes smoothly during healing time, I should be ok to do the enduro. Fingers crossed.
Ill try and clear this all up at the post op check up in a weeks time.

 

[gasmonkey]

Sorry to hear about your injury noobs.You made me laugh going up that slippery root infested hill.
2 laps and a wanked gearshift lever was my count for the day.
Your a young tike and you'll recover quickly.
As mentioned above plenty of arm/hand exercises to keep flexible and you'll be right.
Haha you'll have to use the other hand now.

 

[noobi]

That hill was a pita on the first lap, riders everywhere, but on my second I found a awesome line and got all the way up in one go. Not long after that I fell and did my arm...:/ heres a mates video of what some of the riding was like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3QM_PXlnAk

 

[bchatt]

Oh man, was that at Patetonga? Don't tell me I missed a brilliant ride 'cause I thought it would be too wet and too hard - God I hate myself sometimes...

 

[webmaster]

After having a major surgery and having my upper body "out of action" to recover, I was surprised by how atrophied the muscles had become in a relatively short period of time.

You may have enough time for the bone to heal well - but maybe not enough time to build the muscle back up in your arm and upper body after you are able to fully use it again - take it easy and start lifting light weights as soon as possible to get things moving again.

jeff

 

[bchatt]

Well, I just watched the whole utube thing and yes, it was Patetonga. I swear I will never wimp out of a ride ever again! That is a tricky place to ride when it's wet. It's a shame they don't run rides through there during the summer. Last year at the start of the winter I did a ride there in the opposite direction - it was still semi-dry and one of the best of the year.
Check out the very last bit of the vid! Looks like he was taken out from behind by one of his mates! You gotta love riding with mates - they always follow too close, fall off on top of you and then scream at you to "get this f....g bike off me it's burning the inside of my knee!!"
I'm thinking it would have been a long painful trip to Middlemore with that arm, still, if you called in at Mercer for a Mrs Macs steak and cheese on the way it probably wasn't so bad....

 

[GMP]

I broke my left radius back in '02, but it was not that bad and they casted it as it was not displaced, although hardware would have let me rehab faster. The PT on the wrist was long and expensive after being immobile for so long.

Muscles go away fast in non-use, but also come back fast. Heavy on the calcium/vitamin D, no smoking, and no NSAIDS. Do as much PT as you can to keep the blood flowing to the healing area.

 

[noobi]

I went for the post op check and they pulled the stitches, the cut is healing nicely, it wont be a gnarly scar unfortunately.
But they put my arm in a fibreglass cast for 4 weeks, I thought that there was no possibility of the bone moving due to the plate, but they seemed to think that I might bend the plate or snap a screw if I put much force on it, they said that a full cup of tea was about the limit!!!! what the heck.

Jostby, did they put your sons arm into a cast?

 

[jostby]

No cast. Pretty much told him to take it easy and if something feels uncomfortable then "don't do it". I would stick with your doctors advice though, or you could always get a 2nd opinion. He may be going the extremely cautious route just to cover his butt.
Between my kid and I, I've noticed that "sports doctors" are more willing to work with you to get you back to your sport than "general" doctors. This means surgeons also. On top of that a competent "sports orientated" physical therapist will be 100% more competent than the ones a general practitioner will refer you too, at least most of the time anyway. You really need to choose each of them carefully. Getting a 2nd opinion may be your best bet for a quicker rehab as long as you don't cause more damage in doing so. Maybe you mentioned something to your doctor that scared him and that's why he cast you?

 

[noobi]

Im trying to get an opinion out of Dr Mark on thumpertalk before paying to see a sports doctor here, but so far, nothing.
So it was about 11/12 weeks and your son was riding again?, did he have any discomfort caused by the riding?
Heres the original break

 

[jostby]

He actually didn't ride for about 14 weeks. He broke it the first of January and got on the bike mid-March to try to get things moving for the D100 early April. The discomfort he had was from the damaged muscles and tendons as far as he could tell. He said when he hit hard ledges and rocks or gullies it was a "wierd hurt" sensation. I don't think bones have nerves so I don't think you would feel anything if you started pulling the screws or weakening the repair. Maybe our surgeon was looking for more work haha!

 

[noobi]

You said that he rode on the 1st of April, and broke it on the 3rd of Jan. And was given the ok by the doctor mid march?

 

[jostby]

Yeah, the wife wasn't going to let the kid go with me if it wasn't OK'd by the doctor. Doc told him to "be careful and don't do it if it hurts". You can go for a trail ride, slip and break your arm no differant than riding that poker run or race (he didn't race but he didn't ride slow either).
The doctor gave him full release for wrestling too and that was early to mid March.
Jeff.

 

[noobi]

Dr Mark on TT said that riding in 4 months. Thats too long, ill be doing everything I can to be ready for the enduro which is 11 weeks after the operation. Ill go off the deep end if I miss it, as its the final and iv already dropped a round.