broken elbow

bennyandrew

i had a bad crash about eight weeks ago and broke my elbow,i had a op and my elbow was wired up,a couple of weeks ago i tried to ride my bike and the pain was fairly intense ,anyway i went back to the infirmary yesterday and was told the break was still not healing,so what i want to know is complete rest the better option or riding through the pain?i have been told the act of cycling as no effect on my arm either way.

Secteur

If it's been wired then you aren't going to disrupt the fracture site.

Was the fracture involving the joint? In any case, the elbow joint itself it going to be stiff & painful. You need to keep using it & doing exercises but the jolting force of riding a bike is probably not conducive to a sore elbow!

Unless you're competing I'd wait for the elbow to settle much more before pushing on with it!

I assume you have a physio?

merak

Surely you should ask your orthopaedic consultant? Explain that the road position puts significant weight through your arm and sends road buzz and vibration up through the bars. I don't see how anyone on a forum like this could possibly advise you.

bennyandrew

i dont have a physio and the surgeon is not really helping me with any clying related advice

charliew87

I had my elbow rebuilt a couple of years ago. Dislocated and broke in 8 places. Took a fair while to be able to do anything weight bearing with it. It will take some time but you should be fine once it has healed. Just don't go doing anything silly before it has healed!

Slow Downcp

I fractured my elbow In December - stayed off the bike until Easter and was still painful then. There's a lot of weight on your arm, plus the vibrations and bumps of the road. If it hurts, don't do it - if it doesn't then do

Nairnster

Although lack of physio and unhelpful surgeon aren't great, try speaking to your GP.

But to me, logic dictates that if you are going to be putting weight on it by cycling, along with associated road vibration, and also the fact that you do more than just hold and rest on the handlebars when riding a bike, that staying off the bike for a while would be the best thing to do.

ollyridesfirst

surely the hospital referred you to a physio? If they didn't i'd kick off with them!

Any injury to anyone like that should go to a physio for post-injury movement

Paul057

Rest mate. Broke my elbow in July. I was lucky enough to be back on the bike after about 4 weeks, but it wasn't a particularly bad break. That said, i saw a physio and did the exercises they gave me all day; i was desperate to be fixed and i was worried about losing my job.

BruceG

bennyandrew wrote:

i had a bad crash about eight weeks ago and broke my elbow,i had a op and my elbow was wired up,a couple of weeks ago i tried to ride my bike and the pain was fairly intense ,anyway i went back to the infirmary yesterday and was told the break was still not healing,so what i want to know is complete rest the better option or riding through the pain?i have been told the act of cycling as no effect on my arm either way.

SO why not consult the GURU who advised you the "act of cycling will have no effect on your arm"

Are you really asking for medical advice on a cycling forum ?????????

sloppyschleckonds

MTFU

bennyandrew

BruceG wrote:

bennyandrew wrote:

i had a bad crash about eight weeks ago and broke my elbow,i had a op and my elbow was wired up,a couple of weeks ago i tried to ride my bike and the pain was fairly intense ,anyway i went back to the infirmary yesterday and was told the break was still not healing,so what i want to know is complete rest the better option or riding through the pain?i have been told the act of cycling as no effect on my arm either way.

SO why not consult the GURU who advised you the "act of cycling will have no effect on your arm"

Are you really asking for medical advice on a cycling forum ?????????

not really medical advice has such,just wanted to hear some opinions thats all, its all good.

bennyandrew

ON the plus i did a good ten miler today with a support bandage on which helped a lot so a couple of short rides a week to keep my legs spinning seems ok.

Dante256

I've found the physio has been absolutely key to sorting me out after I sustained an olecranon fracture 12 weeks ago.

The biggest advice I would give is whatever is advised by the physiotherapy - stick to it, your arm literally depends on it. Due to the significance of my injury - It was intra-articular, I had physio exercises that took about 45-min to and hour to complete. These had to be repeated daily, along with simple hourly stretched.

I have been running since about 7 week post op and have just put my first cycle www.titaniumgeek.com. I've also put examples of the physio exercises I had to do on there. Might find a few helpful bits?

Overall I'm glad it not actually been as life changing as I was worried about!

rafletcher

OllyRidesFirst wrote:

surely the hospital referred you to a physio? If they didn't i'd kick off with them!

Any injury to anyone like that should go to a physio for post-injury movement

Not always necessary - depending what's broken. My wife fell and "broke" her elbow - but she didn't avulse the joint, she cracked off one of the bony protrusions. Still a "broken" elbow, but nothing physio would help - and bloody painful for a good few weeks too.

Karlos69

Have you thought about joining a spinning class to keep your fitness up without putting too much strain on your elbow?