snapped wrist recovery

morthog

Hey all, i snapped and dislocated my radious ulna back in May, they pinned and plated me back together and sent me on my way, i've done all the physio and feel that it's getting stronger.

The advice i'm after is just how long this will take to fully heal, people i know who have had the same injury have gone back to competitive bmx racing within the year.

My wrist is still sore and a bit stiff after an hour of riding, can anyone out there who has had the same injury give me some advice and goals to aim for.

Many thanks

Le Hog

butcher of bakersfield

Times differ on the specific nature of the injury. I once broke my ankle. Not badly, in the sense that everything was still where it should be - just a few cracks, didn't even get a pot on it. At the time I thought it might be healed in a couple of weeks.

The reality was at least a couple of years before the pain was completely eradicated and I had the full range of movement back. I was back to skating within six months, but was very limited in what I could do. Another year to gradually reduce those limitations.

Then again, some people get back to full form in much less time. I think I was quite an exceptional case and obviously done a lot of damage to the ligaments. You should be well on your way within a year if not before, and only you can judge your limitations in that time.

In the meantime, just keep up the exercises, building strength and flexibility.

thebikeschool

I found a Power ball to be very useful for strengthening up my wrist after i broke it earlyer this year or wrist curls in the gym.

Mine was still sore a couple months out of the cast, what i would say is take it at your own pace and listen to what they said at physio.

Cheers Adam.

Chrissz

I broke my (left) wrist (radius) back in May of this year. Two pins to hold the bone in place. I was off the bike for 8 weeks and once back on it took some time to get things back to 'normal'!

At first I found that I was struggling to change gear (Campag Ergo levers) - after about 20 - 30 miles, changing up from the little ring to the big one became a maximal effort, with me needing to use my entire arm to force the lever over. After a few more months it was back to normal but I still get an ache in the wrist (4 months later) during long rides (3hrs +) or when I hit a rough patch/pothole.

I used a powerball to try and strengthen the forearm muscles and I try to do some flexibility work on it (when I can remember/be bothered) - it's still not as flexible as my right wrist - not as much movement and generally it doesn't bother me too much these days except for when I carry something with my wrist turned so my thumb is uppermost.

Muttly1981

I broke my Scaphoid 3 years ago next month playing football and although the break healed without any problems the tendon damage that was caused is still causing me pain to this day i have limited movement in my wrist, i have no upwards movement whats so ever meaning i can't ride as much as i'd like (it causes pain to even grip my handlebars) to but the doctor is now giving me steroid injections to try and build strength and it seems to be helping the pain side of things but they don't think i'll ever get full movement back.