broken radius and ulnar in the arm

pauli

14 months ago my arm was pulled into a machine at work which broke my arm. I had metal plates and screws put in both sides. After 3 months I went back to work. 14 months on my arm is strong again but the pain is constant. I am on ametripelyne as a muscle relaxant/ nerve blocker and when I cycle, especialy out of the saddle I suffer with discomfort and what feels like swelling inside. I am two stone lighter from when it happened and won't give up the bike as the benefits our way the discomfort. Has anyone else had a similar injury any treatment that could help?

Diamant49

I shattered my left arm 34 years ago and had a plate & screws inserted - both radius & ulna fused, so I cannot rotate my forearm and hence wrist. The plate was removed about 9 months after the accident, as it was causing problems - but I didn't suffer much after that, except at the shoulder as I rotate my arm there instead.

More recently I shattered my right elbow - that resulted in much more discomfort until the plate & screws they put in was removed, after about a year. That was nearly a year ago, but it has taken most of that time for the swelling to go down completely, and about 6 months after the plate was removed for discomfort when cycling to go.

It sounds like a more involved problem with you though - but have the plates been removed or is that not possible?

pauli

That's very helpful thank you. Am at the doctors this morning as they want another look. They have said before they would take the plates out. I have no trouble with strength or movement as the breaks were a little bit further up from the wrist, but do suffer with pain and swelling, unfortunately more so on the bike.

thegreatdivide

Hi pauli. I had my right radius shattered and a big chunk off the end of the ulnar after taking the wing mirror off an oncoming car in 2011. They left the latter un fixed which took a long time to fuse and I still have wee bits of bone floating around that cause the odd twinge, but the radius required a lot of fixing. I started to get complications where the area around the metalwork would really swell up and cause major discomfort. The specialists decided to remove the plates and screws after six months which sorted the swelling. Sadly I'll always have nerve issues in the arm and they had to cut out tendons which means I can push a pencil into my arm lengthways (neat party trick!). But it's not stopped me riding :-) Anyway, as above, see if you can get the metal out. It could really help.
Hope you get it sorted.

pauli

Looks like that having the plates removed could be a possibility now. The thought of another three months off work and off the bike puts me off. If that's what it takes so be it. Thanks for your advice

thegreatdivide

It won't take that long. If the bone has healed well you could be back on the bike in a matter of weeks. I had mine taken out just before Xmas and was riding pain free at the end off January. I might be wrong but I'm sure they also put some kind of 'filler' in the holes left by the screws.

Good luck.

FatTed

Could take as long as 3 months for the bones to come up to strength when plates and screws removed. the bone has to grow and fill the holes left by the screws. You would be able to ride your bike I guess 14 days after operation, but you would be at increased risk of re-fracture until the healing process is completed.