Scaphoid fx/torn rotator cuff??

[NismoGriff]

Terrible time for an injury for me (not that there is a good time) because it's the start of the busy season for remote start installs.

Anyway, I was at Ray's Indoor MTB Park in Cleveland on Monday (Dec. 3rd) and I was near the end of my ride. I was tired and I think that is part of the reason I crashed. I was coming down a small set of whoopty-do's and decided I wanted to change lines. I think I had a little too much weight over the bars, I turned and the bike washed out sending me flying. I came down HARD (I weigh 240lbs) on my right arm/wrist/shoulder, etc... My arm was stuck above my head and I was in extreme pain. I actually thought it was broken by the funny angle my arm was coming out of my shoulder. I spent a few minutes on the ground trying to figured out how to get up. Finally I decided to roll onto my back and as I did I felt my shoulder pop back into place. I worked my way back to the rest area of the park and asked for an ice pack. My shoulder popped one more time and it felt as if it slid back in a little more. I thought I was gonna be ok, but the pain continued and I couldn't move it in certain directions. Off to the ER. While waiting, I realized my wrist was hurting also. They took xrays of shoulder and wrist. Shoulder was back in place and nothing broken. They suspected I have a scaphoid fracture in my wrist. More xrays and more waiting...finally I left in a splint and a sling with a diagnsis of fractured wrist and shoulder strain with a follow up appointment in 2 days with my ortho doc. He examines me and says he see's nothing on the xray for wrist fracture but we know this is a common thing with these fractures to not show up for a while. Not wanting to take a chance... it's off to the cast room for a short arm thumb spica. He also tells me he thinks I may of torn my rotator cuff and orders an MRI which I had the next day (thurs 6th). I get the result from him Monday but the mri place gave me a copy of the scans and I think I'm screwed. It looks to me like my supraspinatus tendon has pulled off the head of the humorous. Anybody have any input on this? Sorry about any spelling/punctuation errors, hard to type like this.

UPDATE FURTHER DOWN IN THREAD.



My cast for at least a couple weeks



Me last fall with TFCC problems in both wrists



That pic was taken about 2 hours after getting the casts on and I spilled the first thing I tried to drink all over my shirt, lol.

[NismoGriff]

Forgot to mention the shoulder injury hurts like a mofo and all they gave me was hydrocodone. Taking 2 every 6 hours and it doesn't seem to do much.

[jersey0826]

I have experienced both of these injuries myself. Though, not at the same time. The scaphoid fracture healed fine without surgery. The shoulder though, took six anchors to repair surgically last year, and is doing well now. I had a more severe and chronic shoulder injury, several (15-20) dislocations. But even at that, it is back to 90% as far as strength and flexibility.
If your doctor says you need surgery, don't wait on it like I did. It will only get worse. And will most likely result in arthritis and other problems later in life.

All in all, you should recover fully. A few tips though: don't skimp on the physical therapy, and don't rush back too soon. You will feel ready to ride again, but you really need to wait until you get the green light.

Good luck on a speedy and full recovery.

[NismoGriff]

Thanks Jersey. Like I said, not sure if it's torn or not, I actually find out Monday. I already have Psoriatic Arthritis for which I take Humira. I don't need/want any more regular/constant pain in my life. If it is torn, I think I'm hoping he suggest surgery sooner than later.

[NismoGriff]

Saw my ortho doc toda for MRI results. I knew by the look on his face when he walked in the room that it wasn't good news. Torn rotator cuff (supraspinatus deteched from humeral head) and torn Labrum. I go to talk to a surgeon tomorrow. Also, they had to replace the cast on my arm(fractured scaphoid), it was a little to short and digging into my forearm. It's longer and a little more restrictive but more comfortable. Doesn't really matter much, can't move shoulder under it's own power so I'm in a sling 90% of the time. Doc says 2-3 months for recovery but I'm betting the surgeon will give me a different (probably longer) estimate. I was almost phsically ill when he told me. I think I had been in denial all week

[NismoGriff]

Update: Surgeon initially didn't want to rush into surgery. A) Because of the cast on my arm B) Because he wanted to give it some time to see how it would progress on it's own. Saw him again 4 weeks from the original date of injury. I still cannot lift my arm out in front of me or to the side. I'd say I have about 60% of normal ROM towards the back. He is now sending me for a nerve conduction test because he believes I have damaged the nerves when I dislocated (luxatio erecta) my shoulder. I have been in a sling for 4 weeks and now he is saying 6 more. Now says won't operate if the nerve has been damaged or stretched. Wrist is doing good, but still in a short arm thumb spica cast. Work has been very accomodating so far, but I have a feeling I will be forced to take a leave of absence if this goes on for too long. If I could rewind to the moment before the crash and make a decision on two injuries, I'd take two broken arms or a broken wrist and leg over this shoulder injury. Soft tissue injuries suck!!

[NismoGriff]

Cast came off today and had a nerve conduction test done. I've had these tests done before, but because I haven't used my shoulder/hand in 5 weeks, this was extremely painful. The woman doing the test just didn't seem to grasp that I had no strength because of this. She did see some issues that are due to a herniated disc in my neck, but I got the impression that everything else was fairly normal. This doesn't explain why I still can't lift my arm, but I get the doc's interpretation of all this on Friday. Felt bad for the wife today. I was highly irritable because of the pain and the fact that I've had 5 weeks with no way to blow off steam (MTB or 4 wheeler). How does she get her revenge?? By making me awesome low carb fried chicken (using soy flower) and a killer salad. I don't know why she puts up with my ish.