broken elbow club

[joe.e]

any other forum members in the broken elbow (with hardware club)? my homie FlashUNC has been more than kind with his info and story, but I figured I might as well collect info from the forum at large.

I'm two weeks post op (olecranon fracture) and got plated/screws. Got the cast off yesterday and fitted with a removable splint, and sent home with super minimal homework (once a day use other hand to raise arm toward shouder/let gravity stretch elbow toward full extension, and palm up/down twists. Surgeon was adamant that there would be no range of motion loss due to the plate (because I guess they check while you're out), and that I could regain full rom through pt. gotta say, I was shocked/super bummed at the muscle loss after only two weeks

anyway, any info for a new club member? stuff you wish you knew/stuff you wish you didn't do/stuff that helped/etc?

edit: don't worry, the bike made it out fine.

[GScot]

I had that last July along with a shattered end of the radius. Plate to affix olecranon and a new end on the radius. Might have been OK at that point but I had a drug resistant infection take hold in there and complicate things. I started therapy after every surgery but kept going under the knife. Last surgery was Dec solely for the purpose of restoring range of motion. I am still limited about 20 degrees in extension and 10+ in flexion but am doing 2 hours or more of static tension daily and aggressive weight training hoping to get it back. Rotation, strength and dexterity are all normal or so close it's hard to measure a loss. In fact I have gotten Popeye forearms from all the therapy (I did everything symmetrically to gauge how far to stretch the affected arm).

It changed my bike fit and about three hours is my ride limit, no longer due to the elbow but asymmetry of the arms causing shoulder/back pain. I am dealing with it and expect gradual improvement for some time.

I don't expect you'll have such bad luck since the damage wasn't so wide spread and they probably only minimally invaded the joint capsule. Good luck and therapy the hell out of it, especially rotation of the forearm and wrist. Things tighten up fast when an elbow is immobilized. And FWIW on muscle loss keep working the good side, the bad one will catch up fast once you can really use it. I was able to hit the weights without limit in January and it was probably March when I was just able to pretend I could handle the same size dumbbell with the bad arm. Right now my strength is similar or maybe higher than the before the accident as working with weights near my limit seems to be the best way to really stress the joint.

[FlashUNC]

Dude, we need some x-rays posted. Let's see the carnage.

[Mzilliox]

ah crap, heal soon brother. never done the elbow before...

I just had hand surgery, maybe not as bad, but I'm feeling some of your pain.

[joe.e]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

Dude, we need some x-rays posted. Let's see the carnage.

damn dude, after seein my xrays yesterday, your injury was magnitudes nastier than mine. I got a plate and like six or eight screws

I forgot to get a pic of the xrays,but I did get this super nasty shot right after they took off the cast (before anything was cleaned).

WARNING: THIS LINK IS GROSS
http://imgur.com/9GkYAXd

[stephenmarklay]

Did you do this on the bike? Don’t worry about the muscle loss it will bounce back. You can take Creatine however to help.

Originally Posted by joe.e

any other forum members in the broken elbow (with hardware club)? my homie FlashUNC has been more than kind with his info and story, but I figured I might as well collect info from the forum at large.

I'm two weeks post op (olecranon fracture) and got plated/screws. Got the cast off yesterday and fitted with a removable splint, and sent home with super minimal homework (once a day use other hand to raise arm toward shouder/let gravity stretch elbow toward full extension, and palm up/down twists. Surgeon was adamant that there would be no range of motion loss due to the plate (because I guess they check while you're out), and that I could regain full rom through pt. gotta say, I was shocked/super bummed at the muscle loss after only two weeks

anyway, any info for a new club member? stuff you wish you knew/stuff you wish you didn't do/stuff that helped/etc?

edit: don't worry, the bike made it out fine.

[joe.e]

Originally Posted by stephenmarklay

Did you do this on the bike? Don’t worry about the muscle loss it will bounce back. You can take Creatine however to help.

yea, bike wreck on 5/6 and plate on 5/9. it was one of those 'bad luck' wrecks that seems to get you sooner or later in your career. laid it down bookin it pretty good on a street I've ridden a million times and that was all she wrote.

Bonus: this is the first thing I've typed since the 6th with both hands! Little victories!

[stien]

Yay! Join together, olecranon fracture brotheren!

I went down some 3, 4 years ago and broke mine clean off. Tricep pulled it away, and I had to ride home over the GW bridge into NYC.

Mine was pinned back together but the pins were too long. PT wasn't yielding any results and when I went back in for a re-eval (some three weeks later) the doctor took me into surgery that day to remove the pins. He manipulated my arm while I was under so I woke up with full ROM and minimal pain.

Don't take the drugs, trust me.

Surprisingly, my wife, then girlfriend let me captain a tandem we purchased while I had a healing arm.

I'm now getting back into upper body fitness. Can do pullups, pushups, etc without any problems. Just slight pain once in a while. I was off the bike for a few months but nothing could hold me back!

xray by Alex Franks, on Flickr

[stephenmarklay]

Originally Posted by joe.e

yea, bike wreck on 5/6 and plate on 5/9. it was one of those 'bad luck' wrecks that seems to get you sooner or later in your career. laid it down bookin it pretty good on a street I've ridden a million times and that was all she wrote.

Bonus: this is the first thing I've typed since the 6th with both hands! Little victories!

Yep I hit the deck April 20th and my hip is still swollen and the muscle are like stone. But I am able to ride. I would rather ride and crash than not at all.

[FlashUNC]

That's gonna leave a gnarly scar. Well done.

When do you go back in for a follow-up?

[miguel]

wasup jerks
right hooked by inattentive driver in july of '14 - edit:broke olecranon process and surgeried the same day
back on the bike january '15
participated and completed PBP in august of '15
plates and screws removed in october of '15
back on the bike christmas '15

try to get off the opiates as soon as possible - they will make you feel terrible. if you live in an awesome state like oregon, washington, colorado try to get on some alternative medication.

my fitness is TOAST. i am nowhere near where i was at the end of July '15.

it is a hard road.

my range of movement is less than it was, i can't do more than 1 pullup right now, pushups hurt, but im on the road to recovery.

[miguel]

oh, and my already bad handwriting got worse

[GScot]

Olecranon fix was simple but the radial head was a bitch. Titanium elbow is not an upgrade.

http://forums.thepaceline.net/attach...7&d=1443736327

[miguel]

"so, how much does it weigh?" me
"the plate?" orthopedic
"yeah, and the screws" me
"a couple ounces" ortho
"ounces?!"

this conversation happened

then i called it a counterweight to my wedding ring. wife was :colbert:

[joe.e]

Originally Posted by GScot

Olecranon fix was simple but the radial head was a bitch. Titanium elbow is not an upgrade.

http://forums.thepaceline.net/attach...7&d=1443736327

jeez man, best of luck. A new radial head is no joke