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Went flying at BPW on Saturday. OTB onto both hands from a great height. X-RAY at the walk in centre in Monday shows all the signs of a radial head fracture. Referred to orthopedics at the local hospital but they won't see me until the 31st(!). In the meantime told to keep arm in a sling and take painkillers as necessary.
Looking on NHS website advice appears to be get it out of the sling ASAP and get using and flexing it as much as is comfortable, with no excessive loading or impacts for 6 weeks (so no MTB for that period either I guess).
Anyone else had this injury? How long in the real world before you were riding again? Any tips on quick healing?
FWIW I don't think it's a bad fracture. Nearly got full range of motion back already and no pain from the joint itself - soft tissue bring in wrists and forearms is worse right now
I'm still blinging it up with titanium holding mine together. Op was day after the crash different break to yours sounds like. Not sure can offer much advice other than healing thoughts. I did use a soft elbow pad for maybe a year after, more as a confidence thing than needing to protect it. 8 years on still can't quite extend my arm fully but not really an issue for riding or day to day life.
I fractured my elbow three years ago. I was given the same advice as you. Painkillers, sling for a bit, but get it moving within reason as soon as possible, followed by physio and slowly building strength back up. Mine was a big vertical fracture right down the radius. Makes great noises now, especially first thing on a morning.
I had a type 3 radial head fracture 3 years ago, needed an op to pin and plate it all back together and another one about a year after to take out the metalwork. I can't quite fully straighten my arm and have about 90% rotation in my elbow joint. It doesn't cause any major issues.
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That's a shitty long wait. Did they whether it was stable or not?
Also
FWIW I don't think it's a bad fracture. Nearly got full range of motion back already and no pain from the joint itself - soft tissue bring in wrists and forearms is worse right now
This is a REALLY good sign, so keep doing what you are doing. You should be able to do most stuff by 6 weeks but it won't be completely healed until 12 weeks. Elbows can be notoriously slouchy healers so didn't give it a reason to go backwards! Ie keep it moving and start the loading when the physio says so but don't go booking any trips to the alps before it's ready! (12 weeks)
The advice on the NHS website is good, especially if it's a stable fracture. So keep it moving. The sling is useful if you are out and about to stop people bumping into you. You can prob take it off in the house, just now heavy lifting
One of the things your elbow does is rotate your hand (technically speaking supination and pronation of the forearm), and the radial head plays a key role in that movement, so make sure that doesn't stiffen up or your days of doing an impression of a French man saying 'comme ci comme ça' will be numbered
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shermer75 - Member
That's a shitty long wait. Did they whether it was stable or not?
Got very little information on Monday, other than 'it's an elbow fracture, treatment for that is just to keep it in a sling and take painkillers'. Got no timescales or anything else (if it matters, it was a locum nurse practitioner who saw me and interpreted the x-rays).
My assumption is, assuming the referral forwarded on the images, that they don't think it's anything complicated or serious so don't need to see me urgently?
My assumption is, assuming the referral forwarded on the images, that they don't think it's anything complicated or serious so don't need to see me urgently?
That was my assumption also
I did my radial head and scaphoid at the same time.
Mine hurt a lot for the first couple of weeks. But as soon as it stopped hurting enough for me to move it slowly it healed up very quickly. Much quicker than my wrist!
Took a while to get full extension again. And my forearm muscles wilted away which took some effort to build up again.
bri-72 - MemberI'm still blinging it up with titanium holding mine together. Op was day after the crash different break to yours sounds like. Not sure can offer much advice other than healing thoughts. I did use a soft elbow pad for maybe a year after, more as a confidence thing than needing to protect it. 8 years on still can't quite extend my arm fully but not really an issue for riding or day to day life.
This was my experience too. 15 years and still can't fully extend.
This was my experience too. 15 years and still can't fully extend.
If the metal work overlaps into the joint space (which sometimes it needs to in order to stabilise the fracture although surgeons will do anything they can to avoid it if they can) then full range of motion can not be fully regained, for obvious reasons. This can be remedied by removing the titanium with further surgery, however if your lack of range is not impacting your daily life then it is always best to crack on and avoid the surgery if you can! 🙂
Small non displaced fracture at the top of my Radius from Ft Bill in 04, 1 day in had zero movement in my elbow after the bruising and swelling kicked in, took about 2 weeks to get anything decent in terms of movement but was in the alps climbing and biking after 7 weeks, Fully straightened the first time on the Midi in Cham about 400m from the top of the route I was on, screameed when I got back to the valley....
Still feel it on cold days
Still feel it on cold days
This is super common, no-one seems to know why! 🙂
Time for a bit of thread resurrection...
Finally got to see the consultant a couple of weeks ago and he was happy to discharge and said to take the sling off this weekend just gone and gradually increase movement and loading over the next three or four weeks.
Took the sling off on Saturday (thankfully - it had got to the point where my arm was mobile enough that it was getting in the way), but now the elbow feels like it's got worse. Bending and rotating are pretty good (95% of my good arm) but straightening the arm has become harder and more painful again.
Is this just a result of the sling no longer supporting the joint and something that will improve again quickly, or should I get in touch with the clinic again?
Was told 6-8 weeks until full loading and some impact would be OK. Am 4 weeks in so far.
On a side note, getting to the point where not being able to ride has turned into looking for bike stuff (that I don't really need) to buy ready for when I can ride again. Injuries are potentially expensive!
I had this exact same injury from an OTB about 7 years ago. Dropped about 8ft onto my hands. Knocked me off the bike for the summer- probably 8 weeks all in?
Anyway, being young I did as many exercises as possible and generally got on with life and back on the bike. After about 2 weeks it 'loosened' up quite well. I had huge amounts of pain though.
A few month later I got 90% of rotation back and about 60% extension, but the pain was bad. I had a steroid injection in the joint. NEVER again. It was horrible. It did help for a few years though.
Over the last few years my joint is now very crunchy and heavy lifting in the gym sounds horrific, so trying to avoid it wearing away my cartilage. My rotation is back to normal but I'm missing about 20 degrees of extension. I also find it locks when being held in a bent position for more than 2 or so minutes (i.e.- holding mobile to my ear). I have to use my other arms to physically force it straight and it bloody hurts.
Ultimately I forget it happens 98% of the time. Hopefully you'll have an even better result 🙂