Broken wrist--distal radius fracture--4 months later
I fell backwards off a ladder, did a karate chop from h!ll behind me to break my fall and broke my wrist instead. And a distal ulna fracture as well! Those are the two major bones in your forearm. They end at where your wrist starts. Distal means "end of". Had surgery to pull the end of my radius back into proper position and place a 6" piece o' metal with 6 screws to hold it. Not having surgery wasn't even an option.
Was in a cast for 5 weeks. Swelling took 2 1/2 months to go mostly down. My hand looked like a gnarly leather glove! My arm (right and I'm right handed) just disappeared, muscle-wise. Couldn't work out, heck couldn't even tie my shoes, and sure as sh!t couldn't ride.
Finally the pain subsided enough I could start using my right hand, very very slowly at first till I could pick up a gallon of milk and shift my Element--whoopee!
4 months after my fall (August 22 at 2:24 pm) I've ridden easy trails 5 times and lift weights--again very slowly, like 12.5 lb curls and 20 lb dumbbell shrugs. At first it was trying not to lift so much that my hand felt like it was going to come off the end of my arm. Now I actually have definition creeping back to my arm and strength where before there was nothing. There was nerve damage as well--my middle two fingers feel like an electric shock is running up and down them. The docs say that may never go away. When I wash my hair in the shower my hair feels like sandpaper with my right hand. Oh, well, at least I can use it!
I'm looking forward to Moab in late March (maybe not Porc but maybe Sovereign) where in the first few months that seemed impossible. Make no mistake, the hand still hurts a lot while riding and my range of motion still sucks. I stretch 2 hours daily, still go to PT, wear a JAS splint three 30 minute sessions daily. (www.jointactivesystems.com--for all your range of motion needs, not just wrist injuries. A lot of docs don't know about these devices. See if your insurance covers one, mine does. They're not cheap to rent monthly which is how you do it, but you have six months from injury to get back what range of motion is possible. You gotta get on it NOW!) It pushes my hand backwards and the other way as well, but I really need the backwards motion the most. The turning of my hand left and right came back with the proper instructions on how to properly stretch. All thanks to my PT lady (Dona, bless her professional heart).
I feel like I can tell you my story on this forum without sounding like I'm whining. I don't compare my current condition with August 22 at 2:22 pm (lifted regularly, mountain biked pain free a lot and a contractor/carpenter). I now compare myself with when I was in the cast, one handed (and my off hand at that!) and kinda helpless. The fact I can ride easy trails with pain, lift lightly with pain and look forward to going back to Moab and ride is kind of overwhelming, actually, considering I was just a helpless dude terrified of falling down the stairs for quite a few weeks.
Others have commented on other threads that you probably won't be the same after rehabbing certain injuries and they're probably right. But your perspective changes to one of being grateful as heck for what you do have. Good luck, all of you coming back from injury. And try a JAS device for whatever injury you have. No, I don't work for them.
I fell backwards off a ladder, did a karate chop from h!ll behind me to break my fall and broke my wrist instead. And a distal ulna fracture as well! Those are the two major bones in your forearm. They end at where your wrist starts. Distal means "end of". Had surgery to pull the end of my radius back into proper position and place a 6" piece o' metal with 6 screws to hold it. Not having surgery wasn't even an option.
Was in a cast for 5 weeks. Swelling took 2 1/2 months to go mostly down. My hand looked like a gnarly leather glove! My arm (right and I'm right handed) just disappeared, muscle-wise. Couldn't work out, heck couldn't even tie my shoes, and sure as sh!t couldn't ride.
Finally the pain subsided enough I could start using my right hand, very very slowly at first till I could pick up a gallon of milk and shift my Element--whoopee!
4 months after my fall (August 22 at 2:24 pm) I've ridden easy trails 5 times and lift weights--again very slowly, like 12.5 lb curls and 20 lb dumbbell shrugs. At first it was trying not to lift so much that my hand felt like it was going to come off the end of my arm. Now I actually have definition creeping back to my arm and strength where before there was nothing. There was nerve damage as well--my middle two fingers feel like an electric shock is running up and down them. The docs say that may never go away. When I wash my hair in the shower my hair feels like sandpaper with my right hand. Oh, well, at least I can use it!
I'm looking forward to Moab in late March (maybe not Porc but maybe Sovereign) where in the first few months that seemed impossible. Make no mistake, the hand still hurts a lot while riding and my range of motion still sucks. I stretch 2 hours daily, still go to PT, wear a JAS splint three 30 minute sessions daily. (www.jointactivesystems.com--for all your range of motion needs, not just wrist injuries. A lot of docs don't know about these devices. See if your insurance covers one, mine does. They're not cheap to rent monthly which is how you do it, but you have six months from injury to get back what range of motion is possible. You gotta get on it NOW!) It pushes my hand backwards and the other way as well, but I really need the backwards motion the most. The turning of my hand left and right came back with the proper instructions on how to properly stretch. All thanks to my PT lady (Dona, bless her professional heart).
I feel like I can tell you my story on this forum without sounding like I'm whining. I don't compare my current condition with August 22 at 2:22 pm (lifted regularly, mountain biked pain free a lot and a contractor/carpenter). I now compare myself with when I was in the cast, one handed (and my off hand at that!) and kinda helpless. The fact I can ride easy trails with pain, lift lightly with pain and look forward to going back to Moab and ride is kind of overwhelming, actually, considering I was just a helpless dude terrified of falling down the stairs for quite a few weeks.
Others have commented on other threads that you probably won't be the same after rehabbing certain injuries and they're probably right. But your perspective changes to one of being grateful as heck for what you do have. Good luck, all of you coming back from injury. And try a JAS device for whatever injury you have. No, I don't work for them.