scaphoid fracture - anyone else done this?

[RoadRaven]

My daughter (then 17) crashed a couple of years ago - at slow speed, a truck came behind her, she got nervous, went too far off the road, lost it in the gravel and fell at relatively slow speed.

Her wrist was aching, we slathered it with arnica, but it was still sore two days later to the point of slightly teary eyes (she is very brave). We went and got it xrayed, but even though there was nothing at all visible on the film, the doctor recommended and temporary cast and explained how the break can be very fine and may not be visible for a week or so. Thank goodness we had a cautious doctor. Sure enough, she had a fractured scaphoid.

A very hard few weeks ensued - a Hawkes Bay summer is frustrating to endure in a cast...

She has healed well but still gets occasional aches in her wrist. Sorry NMT, but her priority wasn't cycling so I can't tell you how quickly you could do long miles on a bike, but even after the 6 weeks in the cast, it was months before she could put too much weight on her wrist - so go softly softly.


Zen... even if bones didn't have nerves (I hadn't thought about that Wahine) the tissue, muscles etc around bones would be damaged and bruised and pushed outta place - I guess thats why it hurts.

[nomummytummy]

Thanks all. Great link ZenCentury - picture looks exactly as it feels.

Silver - even if I could hold onto my handle bars, I am pretty sure that I would be very unpopular with DH if I rode with a cast on. Mr Silver is obviously a "saint". I did get a DVD of the Les Mills last 2 releases of RPM. Yay! I Might take my trainer out into the yard if it's a nice day on the weekend.

Road Raven - cycling isn't meanst to be my priority either (haha). I know it's a cliche, but I had planned to do Round Taupo. I'll just wait & see how it feels in 2 weeks. There is always the Mt Taranaki ride or the Grape Ride to aim for. My trainer suggested I find a team for Taupo, but I'd rather skip it if I can't do it all myself. Well I say that at this stage. We've already booked accommodation - maybe DH can ride my bike for the 1st half & I'll finish.

Bike4Ever - I thought I had a high P threshhold - but this is worse than having a baby without drugs. It's just a deep boring pain - especially after doing too much. Like typing on my computer! - that has no cute reward at the end!

Thanks Wahine for your insight. Luckiily it's my left hand so use that less when adjusting. I'm trying not to think about what happens if I need surgery. It just isn't a pretty thought actually. My associates are working really hard & we are already one chiro down, so now wasn't the ideal time. Luckily, I have a great team who I can trust and great patients who've been great about seeing others. They keep poking their heads into my office for a chat & so I'm still able to procrastinate on the jobs I usually claim I never have time for - like paperwork! Aerobars - Mmmm... bike bling! Not that i needed an excuse!

Well I will keep you all updated. Thanks again for your insights

[nomummytummy]

Well I got my cast off on Thursday and had an appointment with a hand physiotherapist today. She agrees that although it didn't show up on film it's all too likely that it was a scaphoid fracture. Still really intense point tenderness over the actual bone. I've a brace to wear for 2 weeks. But....

went for a ride on Sunday. Didnt tell DH I still had suspicions about it as just really really wanted to ride and then re-assess if it hurt. I did about 55k & 3 big hills. Was nervous abouut climbing out of the saddle as that wasn't pleasant in spin classes. Was OK.

Cannot highly enough recommend spin classes if you are off the bike. I climbed better than I did before the fall & could have ridden further, but had agreed to not do whole ride.

Now 2 more rides this week & a week skiing for the school holidays next week should bring me back up to my required speed thrills before I return to work!