dislocated elbow

[lph]

hi duck! yep, woodchopping was in "romjula", the remains of the bruise just nicely accents the cast

i'm in no pain, thankfully, just mighty annoyed at the cast. drop me a note and we can see if we can meet up!

[lph]

woohoo again!

my one week check-up. supposed to have cast another week. the dr looked like a outdoors type - 50s, lean, short hair, slight tan - so I started telling how much of a pita the cast is when training (stat. bike + weights 1 hr a day), and all that sweat prob isn't doing it any good, and isn't it kind of crumbling up, and would there be any chance of taking it off early and putting something more flexible on, plus seriously big puppy-dog eyes...

and hey presto he asked the grumpy cast techy to make me a glassfiber cast cut open that i can take on and off at will could have HUGGED him.

but jeez - after 6 days in a cast my arm looked like a big yellow squash and i had mybe 45 deg range of movement some is prob. residual swelling inside the joint, rest is shortened tendons i guess. gentle stretching many times a day now.

just posting this in case someone else gets the same thing sometime, figured it might be handy to know. still no pain for which i am massively grateful.

oh, and was at a big 60th birthday party for mil last night, and had gallant gentlemen in their 60s practically tripping over themselves to help me do stuff wonderful, very chivalrous. gotta enjoy the perks!

[OakLeaf]

Yay for getting the cast off! Those things are evil. Now be careful with it y'hear?

[Fredwina]

{{{LPH}}}
I had the same issue with stifness and range of motion when my cast came FWTW.
That's what therapy is for!
Hang in there, it'll get better

[smilingcat]

Hi LPH,

I'm sorry for not chiming in earlier. I thought I had. Well it's good that you are in great shape to begin with. You are healing much faster than the average person.

Your doctor sounds like a really understanding man and getting you a removable cast. how cool is that!! now if you arm itches, you can take it off and scratch your arm, wash it so you can keep it clean.do gentle stretches by yourself for a better recovery.

I'm going to be a kid again. Lets see lets see with your arm before it all heals up. And like a little kid want to say YEWWW!!! J/K

listen to your body as you do the streches. I wish you a complete and a speedy recovery. you are too pretty and too young to be all banged up and bruised.

smilingcat

[lph]

Since you ask, dearie, and since I'm a shameless exhibitionist (note have regained use of capitals! ), here ya go - one of the big yellow squash, not so impressive any more, and one of my purdy red glassfiber cast.

On a less positive note: when picking me up after the accident, my dh managed to back into another car in the parking lot in the heat of the moment. With my bike on the back... my old red dearly beloved Trek winter commuter. Took a look at her today just to see how much stuff needs doing, 'cos she was due for new brakes and cables anyway... and the crank arm and pedal touches the frame... I do believe the old lady's frame is shot.

Ah well. There is a time for all old bikes to die, I guess.

[lph]

(I'll be logging my recovery here every now and then, cos this is a slow process and I found it very encouraging to find somebody else's status reports on the same condition a few days ago. Someone else is bound to bust their elbow the same way sooner or later and search this up.)

3 weeks post-dislocation: I've been w/o a cast for over a week now, and am trying to use my arm as much as possible. Can type two-handed, pick up and carry small things, shower and soap myself w/o too much difficulty, open doors carefully, and woo-hoo, progress of the day - put my hair back in a scrunchy again! My ROM is maybe from 20-30 deg extension to maybe 95-100 flexion. Extension is easier to work on, I do gentle stretches several times a day and it's not painful, just like stretching any other stiff and shortened tendon, but flexing the arm is harder, the joint feels swollen and spongy and I don't want to push it. Activitywise I've been doing 30 min on a stationary bike plus some light weight-training every weekday for the past 3 weeks, and I can pretty much keep my hands on the bike all 30 min now so I'd like to try biking again next week. Dr's orders to NOT FALL, though.

Skiing! is so far the best. Not "real" skiing on groomed tracks, I can't pole properly with both arms and end up doing this weird lopsided thing. But slow backcountry skiing with mountain/light telemark skis like I did this weekend is just perfect. I can run but I hate it.

Maybe swimming soon. May end up swimming in circles, though