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Posted: 5/8/2004 5:02:15 AM EDT
Last Friday I got knocked off a 10 foot ladder and landed on my right hand while holding a pneumatic nail gun. Surgery was Wednesday. Doctor said everything pulled into alignment perfectly and he was extremely happy with the surgery. Pain is manageable.
Fractured radius - split up the middle about 1 1/2" - external fixator Fractured ulna styloid process - screw Fractured scaphoid - screw www2.kumc.edu/instruction/sah/handkines/bone/scaphoid.html Anyone had similar injury that can share how long it took for full recovery and any problems they encountered? It is hard to tell with the dressing, but the 4 blue capped pins are screwed into the bone. Here is a couple of pictures.  
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Posted: 5/8/2004 5:16:02 AM EDT
[#1]
Dont know how long it will take but I sure hope you are left handed. Can't imagine having to wipe my butt with the off hand. Much less trying to get all the simple things like pullin up pants or buttoning shirts done. Best bet is to keep it dry and clean and follow what the doctor says to minimize down time. Good luck.
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Posted: 5/8/2004 5:37:53 AM EDT
[#2]
OH HELL YA.......
I remeber it well.. I was at work, a Monday, on OT, around Midnight, Augest of 1987... a 20ft rolling stock ladder collapsed, it had been broke and someone tried to weld it back together, only they never told anyone. The fingers on my right hand could touch my arm, UP AT THE ELBOW, broke the wrist and the tips of the forearm bones, whatever they are called. I was off work for 10 weeks... and took a few more weeks to get things back to normal.. GOOD LUCK.... |
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Posted: 5/8/2004 5:39:34 AM EDT
[#3]
I'm right handed, but wipe with my left. |
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Posted: 5/8/2004 5:58:55 AM EDT
[#4]
I've broken my left wrist twice, sliced the ring finger and pinky on it really bad once, and then had glass from a driver's side mirror slice some tendons in my wrist from when I rolled my van.
Hopefully you'll be fully recovered with full motion within a year. Depends on how much you excercise it. Are you going to be doing physical therapy? For me though, with all the abuse my left wrist has taken, I can no longer straighten out my pinky finger, have no feeling in my finger tips, and 10 years later after the last time a smashed it up, it still aches from time to time when I use it alot, normally right in the middle of my busy season when I'm running brushes up and down chimney flues. |
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Posted: 5/8/2004 6:52:42 AM EDT
[#5]
Ouch!  |
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Posted: 5/8/2004 7:11:11 AM EDT
[#6]
Its quite possible and most likely your wrist will never be 100%. I hope you went to a specialist to set your wrist in the right position. Do the Occupational Therapy excercises (No matter how boring it is), it will make a big difference. I know of some horror stories but I wont antagonize you with them. Anyway, good luck to you and speedy recovery.
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Posted: 5/8/2004 7:18:18 AM EDT
[#7]
Man, that must have hurt!
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Posted: 5/8/2004 7:34:12 AM EDT
[#8]
that hurts just looking at it!
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Posted: 5/8/2004 7:37:07 AM EDT
[#9]
Your summer is toast. That's fer sure.
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Posted: 5/8/2004 7:47:24 AM EDT
[#10]
Sorry to hear about your accident. Had the same (fractured bones in left hand above wrist) Doc said it would never be normal. Went to a very
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Posted: 5/8/2004 7:56:38 AM EDT
[#11]
3 to 6 months with PT. Youll have some residual pain and arthritis will set in at some point. Good luck.
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Posted: 5/8/2004 8:01:05 AM EDT
[#12]
HEY! Are you that guy that fell with a nail gun in his hand and shot himself six times in the head!!!???
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Posted: 5/8/2004 8:18:27 AM EDT
[#13]
LAWYER UP ASAP DUDE!!!!!
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Posted: 5/8/2004 8:42:52 AM EDT
[#14]
I don't know but you need to make up a better story for the girls than the "I fell off of a ladder"
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Posted: 5/8/2004 9:23:20 AM EDT
[#15]
Yep I'm right handed. Wiping lefty is tough. Bottoning my pants is difficult. I have no trouble tieing my new velcro shoes though
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Posted: 5/8/2004 9:26:57 AM EDT
[#16]
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Posted: 5/8/2004 9:31:02 AM EDT
[#17]
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Posted: 5/8/2004 9:32:41 AM EDT
[#18]
Ouch! Get better buddy, I'd imagine that hurt like hell.
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Posted: 5/8/2004 9:41:36 AM EDT
[#19]
I had an injury much like your on left wrist/arm. From your photos it looks like it is all still pretty 'fresh', you say the pain is managable, well good news, it's going to get alot worse!!
I thought it was going to be a piece of cake for about the first week, then I would wake up to night sweats over the pain, funny thing was that I would lituraly be dripping in sweat yet shaking like a leaf cause I felt like I was freezing to death, and that was in the summer time! Not trying to scare you just giving you fair warning. Also it may take more than one surgery to repair it, I ultimately had to have three, the second one was to take out a section of bone from the Ulna, I guess it wasn't fusing right, the last one was to remove some of the screws that were causing me problems, it took close to a year with threapy and shit to even get it close to functional I ended up with a 10" scar and a 50% disabilaty in that arm. I don't know what kind of employer you have but it would be smart to lawyer up NOW. I was an idiot and thought the comany would take care of me like they said they would and ended up taking a royal fucking instead, I finaly did get a lawyer, but it was much more difficult, and ended up taking 2 1/2 years to get a fair shake. Don't worry I'm sure you will end up ok, the phamacist is going to be your new best friend! 
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Posted: 5/8/2004 11:34:57 AM EDT
[#20]
With those injuries, the hand surgeon did absolutely the right thing. Scaphoid (navicular) fractures are frequently missed. With the ORIF (Open Reduction, Internal Fixation) and the ex-fix, your chances of recovery are excellent. Stick with your PT/OT regimen religiously. Good luck.
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Posted: 5/8/2004 11:59:18 AM EDT
[#21]
Oh God, why did I click on this thread?
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Posted: 5/8/2004 12:05:10 PM EDT
[#22]
So how long are the 4 screws going to be sticking out of your arm?
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Posted: 5/8/2004 1:01:19 PM EDT
[#23]
Will you ever be able to play the piano again?
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Posted: 5/8/2004 1:35:34 PM EDT
[#24]
How old are you?
Any other disease process going on with you?......diabetes?.......Rheumatoid arthritis?.........etc? Are you willing to put up with enough pain to go thru full active rehab? How much do you want it to be 100%? |
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Posted: 5/8/2004 2:04:59 PM EDT
[#25]
Your big challenge will be convincing the PT'ist to give back massages for your wrist. Depending on how immobilized your arm is and how long you might get one or two to help loosen up your shoulder. Otherwise all you may get is down the blouse front gazing.
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Posted: 5/8/2004 2:20:35 PM EDT
[#26]
Or to be serious - damn man that's yer shooting hand. Bad luck.
Get serious on your PT to get full range of motion back. There are 2 stages of PT. 1. Hurts like hell 2. Boring as hell First month or two will be involved in stretching all the muscles and tendons that have shrunk from lack of use. that gets to about the 75% point. The rest will be maintenance and exercise to get the rest back. and you really need to be religious with the boring stuff. I pranged my right shoulder showing my kids you don't need a boogy board to body surf. I used to have to do isometrics and stretches at work. Put my arm on top of file cabinets and bend body away, stand facing pillar with amr out straight pushing sideways against pillar and varieties of that, hand flat over door and lean through. Luckily the guys knew what was happening, but the passerbys were a little perplexed. As far as I can tell I got everything back, I avoid trying to throw footballs, baseballs or softballs aggressively, and I am a pansy with 12 pound bowling balls, and then I only show the kids the finesse. I used to be a gorilla with a 16 pounder. Haven't even tried. since, I'd rather shoot that go through all that again. Waited about a year before I went back to highpower or 12 gauge, and mostly light loads in my 45-70. I got the pretty PTs in the hurting stage and the guys in the boring stage. YMMV. Worst news I got was, "I don't think you need any more shoulder and back massages" |
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Posted: 5/8/2004 2:29:35 PM EDT
[#27]
Arab?  Just Kidding!
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Posted: 5/8/2004 2:52:26 PM EDT
[#28]
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Posted: 5/8/2004 2:57:50 PM EDT
[#29]
I had a similar injury. PT for several months. Got bored and begged for amputation. Around here I am know as either Lefty or Stubby.
   LL |
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Posted: 5/8/2004 3:13:36 PM EDT
[#30]
No diseases whatsoever. 1st time I've ever been to the hospital and its been years since I've been to a doctor. I'm willing to do whatever is required to get back to normal. I am very active and at my age I'm not ready to slow down yet. Plus I have 3 kids and I need to show them by example that when dealt a bad hand, you play it and still come out the winner. It is important that they learn that this is just a minor obstacle in the big scheme of things. My wife had knee surgery many years ago and pussed out on her PT. She still has pain and stiffness. My kids know she wimped out, so this should be a good lesson. I think keeping a positive attitude will be tough for the long haul though. Physical therapist said I shouldn't expect to be able to lift more than 10 lbs in 3 months. She said the scafoid is very slow to heal. She said pulling my 80 lb bow back will be at least 6 months out. I like to shoot big bore handguns. I imagine shooting them will be a long way out. BenDover was right about my Summer being toast. I hope the Fall isn't toast also. |
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Posted: 5/8/2004 3:14:12 PM EDT
[#31]
I was very much right handed. When I broke my right arm (Humurus), A: I was surprised by how well I managed with one hand. B: am now ambidextrous (although I still can't write very well). |
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Posted: 5/8/2004 4:17:33 PM EDT
[#32]
My boss had the same type of break on her right wrist from a snowboarding accident this past December. She's ~40 years old and it took maybe 4 months before the wrist no longer needed any form of extra support. Maybe 10-12 weeks until the screws and external fixators are removed. After that, the strength lost while it's disabled takes a while to build back up.
Sorry about that. Best of luck. |
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Posted: 5/8/2004 4:30:10 PM EDT
[#33]
masturbating with the left hand just isn't the same...
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Posted: 5/8/2004 6:01:35 PM EDT
[#34]
I'm pretty sure I sprained my left wrist fairly badly once, but I never saw a doctor about it so that's not an official diagnosis.
I couldn't apply any strength with my left hand without pain for several MONTHS. It was a FULL YEAR before it was 100 percent normal. And that was only a sprain or strain. CJ |
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Posted: 5/8/2004 6:15:39 PM EDT
[#35]
The fractured scaphoid is a pain to deal with, but since you have a screw in place it should hold just fine. What you have to watch out for is the lose of range of motion. Make sure you do some therapy for the wrist once the cast comes off.
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Posted: 5/8/2004 6:31:07 PM EDT
[#36]
You're right. It's better! BTW, I broke my arm on a newyears eve (yeah, it sucked), by the end of March I was using my right arm already, and in early July I rode a mechanical bull with some minor soreness around the area where the original fracture was (humurus, right at the joint, if that matters). Also, for broken bones, the best thing you can do is not heat the area and eat/drink plenty of soup (the sticky bullion has good stuff in it). |
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Posted: 5/8/2004 7:12:21 PM EDT
[#37]
I did the same thing by turning off the light and and jumping into bed but hit the floor instead!
Didn't hurt till the next day when the Jack Danials wore off hisI had a stent inserted between my bladder and kidney to keep the stone in place till next Friday when the doctor will blast the stone. I wondered what kind of fool was going to be sticking a stent and scope up my dick but calmed down when I saw a large NRA pic. on his wall and the center fire pistol medals in his office, cool guy! Good luck, the left hand is not as good but. |
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Posted: 5/9/2004 4:53:31 AM EDT
[#38]
Well, you're no spring chicken anymore. (neither am I) That will work against you because your healing will be slower than a teenagers. Just a fact of life.
Definitely a plus!
Good attitude! Remember that when the therapist is making your eyes water! NO PAIN = NO GAIN My 14 year old daughter compound fractured her arm and completely dislocated the elbow. The Ortho told us that she'd never get full use from it again. "Oh yeah?" I said. 1 year later she has full use, full range of motion, full strength! She hated me during the rehab but she has full use today. During therapy she whined, she cried ............ but she has the arm today! Bottom line: Your future with that arm/hand/wrist depends mostly on your attitude during rehab. I further suggest a sports rehab facility for your condition. Most common rehab places consider you "finished" when you can hold a pencil to write. "Sports rehab" knows what the "full use" conditions are. Hope this has helped you. 
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