Anyone recovered from a broken elbow(radius)?

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

On the 23/12/12 I got knocked off and broke my elbow (delayed going to a&e till day after, thought I'd just bruised it?)

I declined the offer of a plaster cast, as the specialist said it would involve upto 6 months of physio after, due to shortened ligaments and tendons.

He said I could just use it upto my pain threshold so I've been riding and doing some jobs around the house. Every thing was going fine until a couple of days ago, I've obviously done something to upset it as I feel I've gone back two steps in pain and its clicking like fook and my range of movement has reduced a bit.

Is this normal to take a few steps back?

The specialist said it could be up to 2 years for a full recovery, I didn't really understand what he meant. Does he mean up to years for the pain to reduce or just full strength and movement?

Anyone else had this sort of injury? How long did it take you before you could come off the pain killers?

Edit: I've never broken a bone before so I've no idea what to expect recovery wise (apart from eye socket but that doesn't do owt).

 

[summerdays]

I had a minor break of my elbow and considering it didn't really show up on the first X-ray it hurt a lot. Don't know why I thought bones wouldn't hurt. I would say it was a gradual process of improvement over a long period. I didn't use pain killers apart from the first week really (but then I have to be in a lot of pain to take pain killers). There were lots of nights of disturbed sleep, being unable to turn in bed etc. I was back on the bike (only doing about 20 metres or so), within 2 days and gradually upped how much I could tolerate/do. I would say that after 6 months to a year that there was generally no pain and the amount of movement is fixed at almost where it was - only I can tell that I can't over-flex it the way I used to.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

Thanks for the reply, mine was a mess according to the specialist and he thought I'd need an operation...but luckily I didn't need it in the end.

So it's normal to take so long and at least I've been back on the bike from the get go...excellent thanks.

 

[fossyant]

Unfortunately it can take years. Best off using it, but I'd go back to the GP for a checkup / referral to your ortho specialist.

I banged up my shoulder, had two years of back and forward to my shoulder specialist, before they decided it wasn't getting better. Eventually had it decompressed (3 holes in shoulder, in with a camera and a drill/shaves and they take out part of the joint to free it up, got back on the bike quickly (after 2-3 weeks) commuting again within seven weeks, but it was still very painful. I also had fascial pain in the muscles on the damaged side in my back/trapezius - this got sorted with steriods 12 months after the operation, and I'd say it's 99% now. Pain free on the bike. The only problem I have is occasional back pain on my left side which is residue of the fascial pain - but that's usually whilst in bed, so a quick adjustment to how I'm sleeping sorts it.

I'd say 18 months minimum. I wouldn't be afraid of operations - the way I see it, if it needs doing, get it done, especially if you are active. It's all well and good being a couch potatoe, but if being active causes it to get worse, get it fixed. Living with long term pain isn't funny, neither is taking pain killers !

 

[dan_bo]

I can't imagine how much of a pain in the ar$e a broken elbow would be. Sympathies (again).

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

I can't imagine how much of a pain in the ar$e a broken elbow would be. Sympathies (again).

Thanks dan...how are you healing?

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

Unfortunately it can take years. Best off using it, but I'd go back to the GP for a checkup / referral to your ortho specialist.

I banged up my shoulder, had two years of back and forward to my shoulder specialist, before they decided it wasn't getting better. Eventually had it decompressed (3 holes in shoulder, in with a camera and a drill/shaves and they take out part of the joint to free it up, got back on the bike quickly (after 2-3 weeks) commuting again within seven weeks, but it was still very painful. I also had fascial pain in the muscles on the damaged side in my back/trapezius - this got sorted with steriods 12 months after the operation, and I'd say it's 99% now. Pain free on the bike. The only problem I have is occasional back pain on my left side which is residue of the fascial pain - but that's usually whilst in bed, so a quick adjustment to how I'm sleeping sorts it.

I'd say 18 months minimum. I wouldn't be afraid of operations - the way I see it, if it needs doing, get it done, especially if you are active. It's all well and good being a couch potatoe, but if being active causes it to get worse, get it fixed. Living with long term pain isn't funny, neither is taking pain killers !

Thanks fossyant, I now realise that 8 weeks is only a short period of time, which makes me more relaxed about it.

Goodness me, being pain for that long....must have been horrid....I thank my lucky starts I'm not contracting anymore...I'd have to have carried on working.

 

[MacB]

I'd think about surgery and then immobilisation while healing followed by as much physio as is needed.

I was told by the first guy I'd need surgery then saw the senior consultant on the Monday who said that surgery would be a risk and that I had a 70-80% of a full recovery without. I now know this to have been a crock of shoot and after months which turned into years of steadily worsening pain I saw another surgeon. This time I was told that there was no chance of a proper recovery without surgery and never had been. Also that I'd made life tougher for myself by creating a 2 year gap between break and surgery.

I'm now tentatively back on the bike after my second round of surgery and having followed surgeons and physio instructions to the letter this time. I will never have full use or strength back and knew that prior to this last surgery but so far it's a lot better than before. I may have had a full recovery had I had the surgery straight away after the initial break....but I'll never know now.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

I'd think about surgery and then immobilisation while healing followed by as much physio as is needed.

I was told by the first guy I'd need surgery then saw the senior consultant on the Monday who said that surgery would be a risk and that I had a 70-80% of a full recovery without. I now know this to have been a crock of s*** and after months which turned into years of steadily worsening pain I saw another surgeon. This time I was told that there was no chance of a proper recovery without surgery and never had been. Also that I'd made life tougher for myself by creating a 2 year gap between break and surgery.

I'm now tentatively back on the bike after my second round of surgery and having followed surgeons and physio instructions to the letter this time. I will never have full use or strength back and knew that prior to this last surgery but so far it's a lot better than before. I may have had a full recovery had I had the surgery straight away after the initial break....but I'll never know now.

Thanks for that macb, I'll give it few more months before I start to worry.

I thought it would be a healing process like a cut....linear improvements on a daily basis, after the replies I now realise that's not the case for active people. Google and research is obviously for sedentary people which is why I asked here....glad I did.

 

[MacB]

Oh and I have to admit to being more than a bit pig headed and I went back to playing golf too soon after the break...not the best sport for a healing elbow injury. Then after the first surgery I went back to cycling too quickly which was fine until I hit a bad pothole.

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

Oh and I have to admit to being more than a bit pig headed and I went back to playing golf too soon after the break...not the best sport for a healing elbow injury. Then after the first surgery I went back to cycling too quickly which was fine until I hit a bad pothole.

I did the same, out for a ride with pennine_paul on day 4 I think, hit a pothole in Manchester and saw stars, then fitted granite work tops on week 2...dummy..no wonder its sore...but specialist told me to use it!...

 

[dan_bo]

Thanks dan...how are you healing?

Ah not bad thanks. Fingers are taped up unless i'm on the bike, hurts when I hit a pothole, can't pull the brakes on the MTB for a couple of weeks. Oh you know....

 

[Rohloff_Brompton_Rider]

Ah not bad thanks. Fingers are taped up unless i'm on the bike, hurts when I hit a pothole, can't pull the brakes on the MTB for a couple of weeks. Oh you know....

MTFU...

 

[dan_bo]

MTFU...

Sod that I'm getting too old to not have it heal up properly.

The biggest PITA is that I had a month off the bike before christmas for the dupuytrens' operation, and now the other hand's fecked!

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I did the same, out for a ride with pennine_paul on day 4 I think, hit a pothole in Manchester and saw stars, then fitted granite work tops on week 2...dummy..no wonder its sore...but specialist told me to use it!...

My OH found out that what the medical profession and us more active people consider as exercise is 2 totally different things. Periodically he gets a bad back, and was told by our then GP (and separately by a chiropractor) to take short walks daily which we did do. less than a week later he was at the GP's in agony. Turns out that whilst our GP thought it marvelous that she had 2 patients who considered a short walk to be something a little over 4 miles (up to a certain gate and back again) 4 miles was not a short walk in her book! She as thinking along the lines of 1/2-1 mile which as my OH rightly pointed out was not enough to walk to the bottom of our track (at the time) and back again to take the bins out!

Me thinks you may need to re-appraise what using it means in their terms!
look after yourself & take it a touch easier... the pain killers won't knock you out as badly that way and recovery will be faster!