scaphoid fracture - anyone else done this?

[bike4ever]

I broke my hamate bone last year. While casted I wasn't able to ride my rode bike. I was able to ride my frankenstein/commute bike. It has a straight bar with Ergon grips. For about 8 weeks, it hurt terribly while riding. I often ended rides one handed.

Around week 8 I began trying my rode bike. Because of the location of the broken bone, I was in a lot of pain. I just pushed through it, but I know I wouldn't have been able to do a century on my hand.

I know each person is different. I do have a high tolerance of pain, but I definitely was frustrated with my wrist. Good luck.

[Zen]

Silver- You likely broke the scaphoid as well. here's a nice little primer on wrist injuries.

[BikeDutchess]

here's a nice little primer on wrist injuries.

Zen, thanks for posting that link, very informative!

[silver]

Thanks Zen! OK, I fractured my ulna. There were two fractures in it. So different situation for me.

I was actually happier in the cast. The arm felt more protected and secure in the cast than out.

I was only able to do some of the easiest of my silversmithing work. It was just prior to christmas and I wasn't able to complete some of my orders.

[Zen]

The wrist is such an intricate joint. I always try to roll on to my butt when I fall. Plenty of cushioning there and I've gotten way too much practice

Wahine- If the fracture had healed and you had 90% ROM, what causes pain at that point in recovery?
Now that i think of it, what causes pain at all when a bone is broken? Bones don't have nerve endings...

[silver]

The wrist is such an intricate joint. I always try to roll on to my butt when I fall. Plenty of cushioning there and I've gotten way too much practice

very true....if I hadn't mostly rolled onto my back/hip in the original accident, it would have been way worse, I actually broke the ulna just after the wreck in a drug induced/cranky/lack of sleep stupor walking fall, but we found during that x-ray that there had been a smaller break in the bike wreck.

Wahine- Now that i think of it, what causes pain at all when a bone is broken? Bones don't have nerve endings...

Good question...because I will say that broken bone pain is the worst that I've ever felt. And I still feel it. I've been told that you'll feel broken bone pain for years.

[Wahine]

Well, the interesting thing is that bones *do* have nerve endings and are in fact very pain sensitive. It's a common misbelieve that they don't have nerves. The pain that I still experience is likely due to sensitivity of the local nerves from the original injury. In addition to the bone injury I also had local ligament injury so that is part of my ongoing pain as well. However, it shoudl be noted that it is very unusual to break a bone close to the joint without causing ligament damage at the same time. Most docs focus on the bone healing and don't mention the co-existing soft tissue damage.

[Thorn]

Not a doctor and thankfully, never fractured the scaphoid...just a former x-ray tech that worked in orthopedic hospital. While things have changed since I zapped people for a living, the scaphoid bone has the reputation for being the hardest bone to heal from a fracture (lousy blood supply). It isn't unusual not to be able to see the fracture--it is a hard bone to x-ray well and the fractures are often hairline.

We had one of the orthopods break his scaphoid bone. Unlike the patients he treated for it, he immediately did the bone scan and he immediately put himself on the electrical stimulator. Even with that he was out for almost 2 months.

I guess, if I were you, I'd be pushing to get a diagnosis and agressive therapy, but I hate sitting idle and am not known for my patience.