Broken wrist - recovery time

turkeytickler

Came off my bike in early september after a car pulled out in front of me and i cracked a couple of ribs and the radial on the wrist.

The ribs seem to be mending nicely and I had the cast taken off my wrist last week. Physio said I should still be taking things easy as im only 5 weeks into a 12 week healing process but conceded that if i felt ok, and used the soft splint they provided provided (Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital - absolutely brilliant care from A&E, to fracture clinic to physio) it would be ok. The fracture was minor, nothing moved but there is a lot of soft tissue damage from a sprain.

This morning, I thought I'd give it a go. half a mile into my commute I was in agony and had to turn back. Ok, so its not ready yet

Has anyone else had a (relatively) trivial wrist injury like this, and if so how soon were you back on the bike?

I was on a hybrid with suspension forks and flat bars.

turbotommy

I fractured my wrist after a front wheel pinch puncture. I think the brake was a little worse than yours by the sound of it although not too bad. I think the cast came of after around 6 weeks and it prob took another 3 / 4 weeks at least before it was strong enough to cycle and err... other stuff, for prolonged periods without aching. Rehab as always is a must. I was also 20 at the time for what it's worth so obv healed a bit quicker than it would at now at 35. I think you can expect it to be sore as you push yourself more but just be careful not to over do it.

turkeytickler

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19724608#p19724608]TurboTommy[/url] wrote:

I fractured my wrist after a front wheel pinch puncture. I think the brake was a little worse than yours by the sound of it although not too bad. I think the cast came of after around 6 weeks and it prob took another 3 / 4 weeks at least before it was strong enough to cycle and err... other stuff, for prolonged periods without aching. Rehab as always is a must. I was also 20 at the time for what it's worth so obv healed a bit quicker than it would at now at 35. I think you can expect it to be sore as you push yourself more but just be careful not to over do it.

Thanks for the reply Tommy, ok so im probably looking at a good few weeks yet oh well never mind. Definitely a case of overdoing it for now so time to ease off.


Cheers

tt

cruff

Not necessarily. Wrists are weird, weird things. I had a pretty bad off in April - came off on the underpass at Swinton on the East Lancs Road doing about 50kmh when i hit the deck - smashed my front teeth, fractured my jaw, tore a calf muscle and broke my wrist. I was able to ride the Mallorca 312 two weeks later with a splint on (probably the same sort you used today). Mine was an avulsion fracture rather than a 'crack' - apparently the most common broken wrist cyclists get - but healing times can be different based on individuals. You might literally find it stops hurting tomorrow - but definitely, definitely do the rehab. I also found that icing it regularly made a big difference to the pain - though i was lucky enough to only have the cast on for a week.

Good luck!

tetm

Mine took a year, a crack in my triquetrum, TFCC tear and some ligament damage. Lots of physio was great, as was a single steroid injection - that made the most difference and eliminated the swelling that was still residual in the joint after 7 months.

jimboyle1967

You need to be really careful with wrist injuries. Even though they might seem not too serious, if they are not given the proper recovery time, the blood flow can be permanently damaged. Whatever the doc tells you to do - do it!

zebra67

<Waves at fellow Norfolker>

When I broke my right arm badly (2010, not compound fracture but both bones near the wrist) my cast was on for almost 7 weeks. Was a week after cast came off before I dared drive and I couldn't do even short rides for almost 2 weeks after cast off, because I had lost so much muscle strength in that arm. Had to build up slowly.

Definitely listen to & respect the pain. Do you need any physio? I couldn't supinate properly with mine, because the ligaments had tightened up all the time arm was in the cast, but was sorted with physiotherapy.