Broke wrist in bike crash

[chickwhorips]

sorry to hear about your wrist. not sure how long it will heal and when you'll be back up and going, but nanci is right about healing faster than a cast.

good luck on the recovery and i hope things work out with the stupid 'person' that cut infront of you and she gets what she deserves.

[Steph_in_TX]

DH broke his wrist three years ago after a head-on collision with a big rock hiding in a shady area. Anyway, it wasn't as severe as yours, but he was in a cast for six weeks and then a brace for another six while doing PT. He bought clip-on aero bars and started riding on the trainer as soon as the initial soreness subsided. All that sweating did wonders for the cast. It stunk! It took him almost the entire six weeks of PT to get back his range of motion and most of the soreness worked out before he headed outside again. It doesn't bother him at all now unless he rides a REALLY rough rode for miles on end.

Good luck!!

[runningteach]

Thanks ladies! I am a little more optimistic about getting back out there soon. I was afraid it would take months. I'll keep you all posted.

Thanks for the website too!

[Nanci]

I always wonder if you could ride in aero bars with a broken wrist...That would be my plan. There's absolutely no weight on it.

Nanci

[HappyAnika]

Hardware is good! Then the fracture is stabilized, over, done with, rather than in a cast, flopping around till it finally makes a bridge. It'll heal faster!!

I was thinking it might take longer because you are messing with the bone even more by putting screws in it. That in itself will take time to heal. Of course your doctor will have the best idea of how long it will take, everyone's breaks are different. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

[Nanci]

I had a fractured fibula caused by a horse accident that took _six months_ to heal!! It just kept wobbling around in there, disturbing the new callus bone. This is my field- I'm betting it will heal faster. It needs to not move to heal.

[Kathi]

I always wonder if you could ride in aero bars with a broken wrist...That would be my plan. There's absolutely no weight on it.

Nanci

Sorry to hear of your accident. It's a really tough to be injured in the middle of the season.

I thought of trying to ride in a cast too when I broke my wrist a few years ago but the way my hand was casted I couldn't reach my brakes or shifters.

I was in a cast for 6 weeks, but it took another six weeks to gain the strength in my hand to shift and brake. My Ortho did not send me to pt but I had an athletic trainer/pt at my gym that helped me. By that time it was fall and by the next spring my strength was back and I rode without problems.

I took spinning classes, but I didn't do any of the standing, just rested my arms on the handlebars. In 03 I messed up my elbow. I put aero bars on my trainer bike and spent the rest of the summer riding it. That worked very nicely.

Do ice a lot even in a cast. For me, the icing kept the itchiness down.

I don't know if hardware speeds the healing. I had ACL surgery 5 mos ago tomorrow and I still get tingling and pain in the area where they drilled to insert the pins that the ACL is attached to. The pins are supposed to be asorbed into the bone but it takes a good year for the ACL to heal.

The good news is I've not had a problem with my wrist. After that 6 weeks of getting my strength back it was as good as new.

[pooks]

Please keep us posted about your surgery and recovery.

[margo49]

Healing toughts your way

Like what others have said - do the physical therapy.
It is quite important that your physio knows that you are a "rehabilitative type". I dunno how this phrase translates into English; but there is a recognition in the field of physical therapy that there are 2 kinds of patients. The ones who are out to maximise disability %-age and get back to the remote and those like your- and my-self who have to be restrained from doing themselves *more* damage by over-motivation.

I feel like I get into this focussed and driven mental space/state when I am ill or injured. I have had quite a few times like this but didn't appreciate how effing crazy I am till they gave me steroids while I was on chemo and they had to reduce them to 50% of the usual dose because I was so "aggressive" and then finally had to give me tranks to stop me doing myself (or the walls!) a damage in my objectively seriously weakened and immuno-supressed condition.I mention this so that you can be aware of the fine line between motivation and a particular personal psychology and can manage the situation more appropriately than Yours Truly (who prob'ly distresses and worries those around her without realising it).

[RoadRaven]

Healing thoughts and aroha from Middle Earth
Wishing you quick healing
~R~

[Bad JuJu]

Sending healing thoughts your way, for what it's worth. I'm sure the fractured wrist is no fun, but glad to hear you weren't hurt worse. I narrowly missed being injured by a car turning right in front of me about 10 years ago--the only thing that saved me was that I had just crossed an intersection and hadn't fully accelerated yet. Lady made a quick turn into a hot-dog joint because her kids yelled that they wanted hot dogs. Said she never saw me--big surprise.