Re: Fractures and the questions..

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One area in which i have to say, haven't been there done that

But best to go with your doc's recommendation.

Re: Fractures and the questions..

Last year October I had an accident where I broke my right hand palm bone (hair line fracture) and dislocated my left thumb.
Post the plaster my pinky finger was not in correct position, and its been one year that I cant make a fist , my pinky finger remains out of the fist. I have problems gripping heavy weights in gym.Also cold weather makes it worse.

Its been one year, all I can say is if its fracture, it will take time to get completely healed. Its a slow process, and you have to gradually come back to normal riding, Follow strict physiotherapy too.

Re: Fractures and the questions..

Ouch!!! You just touched a painful nerve. Jokes apart, I was involved in a very bad crash which left me with 5 fractures. While I did not exactly walk away from the crash, I thank god and lady luck that I was able to get away with just the 5 fractures. I am not being flippant or sarcastic. No internal trauma or damage to any organs, no spinal injuries, no head injuries and no road burns. It could have been a whole lot worst with life changing injuries. The prognosis was that while it will take time, I will make full recovery.

However, while I will make a full recovery, the time and effort required would be substantial. Before operating on me, my doctors gave me a full briefing on what was the damage and what it was going take for me to make full recovery. Their prognosis was 2 to 3 months for the bones to fuse and join, and 9 to 12 months to full recovery with intense physiotherapy.

The nature of my injuries were as such:

1. A broken femur in the left leg. The femur had completely shattered from the middle. It was like someone had taken a grenade to it. There were multiple fragments of bones with just enough of the top and bottom of the femur remaining to help secure the part with a 12 inch long titanium alloy nail that was passed through the bone marrow to act as a brace around which the shattered fragments would coagulate and fuse to start the healing process.

2. A broken radius in the left hand near the wrist joint. This break while clean and not complicated was near the wrist joint which made it a bit complicated to operate on. One of the city's foremost surgeon and expert of wrist joint was called in to operate upon it. The radius was secured with titanium alloy plate with 8 screws.

3. A broken radius and ulna in the right hand. The right hand was the most traumatised part. The radius bone along with ulna had shattered. The radius had one break and the ulna has 2 breaks. The radius was relatively less damaged compared to the ulna. The ulna has not just broken into 3 parts, the middle part was compressed and badly deformed. Both these bones were secured with titanium alloy plates and screws that ran that ran almost the length of the bones.

After 2 operations and 3 surgeries that lasted over 14 hours in total, the long road to recovery began. The first challenge was to get up and walk with crutches. With 2 broken arms it was thought that it would be difficult for me to walk with crutches. However, by the 3rd day after the surgeries I was walking with crutches. I was discharged on the 7th day and asked to continue my physiotherapy.

15 days after the surgeries I was taken off pain medication completely. Initially it was very painful, the doctors suggested that I resume pain medication. I refused as I knew I had to face this pain sooner or later, best to get it out of the way right then. It took another 15 days, but the pain gradually subsided to manageable levels. I now have some pain initially in when I wake up in the morning, but that is something I have schooled my self to work through.

75 days after surgery I was taken off the crutches and told that I need not do physiotherapy as I had expressed my wish to resume my weight training as soon as possible. I had to convince the doctors that I knew what I was talking about and asking for. I had assure them that I was not going to be a bull in the china shop, but rather was going to make a detailed plan with qualified sport therapist who would also be my personal trainer. They begrudgingly gave me the go ahead with the caution not to lift heavy weights before the healing is completed.

So on the 76th day I was back in my gym. The first 2 weeks were exclusively used for exploratory sessions to gauge the levels of pain, range of movement and current strength (I had lost 4 kgs in 10 days post surgeries). We started out with minimum weight and was designed to maximise the range of movement. It was important to keep extending the range of movement as the healing progressed.

One month after starting training, we started gradually adding weight and started concentrating on range of movement and strength.

Now in the 7 month, I have gained 6 kgs, and am back to almost my original strength. I am bench pressing 90 lbs and we will continue to move forward from here.

All this progress has impressed my doctors. There are raised eyebrows and smiles whenever I go for my consultations.

However, not everything is ok. While my leg and left hand have healed, the ulna in the right hand has not healed and the breaks have not fused together. Doctors are a bit worried about it and have taken the decision to wait for another 3 months to see if there is any healing. If not, then bone grafting may need to be done.

Here are the takeaways from this experience:

1. How fast and how well you will recover will depend a great deal on your attitude. If you have a positive 'can do' attitude instead of a 'poor me' one, it will go a long long way to help you heal faster.

2. Stop smoking (lucky I don't smoke). Its a scientific fact that smoking inhabits healing of bones.

3. Stop drinking alcohol. I am not much of a alcohol drinker, just the occasional glass of scotch. However, I have been completely off alcohol since my surgeries and it helps.

4. Eat healthy and eat well. Healing will not happen without proper nutrients. If your doctor has prescribed supplements, please take them regularly like swiss clock.

5. Get plenty of sunlight. Being cooped inside a office or house will not promote healing.

6. Get good 8 hours of sleep. This is just as important for healing as good eating and exercising.

7. Follow a physiotherapy plan to its logical end. Do not let drop off and if you do, pick up immediately and keep at it.

8. The last but just as important as all of the above, be gritty about the whole thing. You will only succeed to get the best if you will keep at it and believe in yourself.

There will be days when you will feel down, there will be days when you will ask yourself if all of this is worth it, there will be days when you will ask yourself if its worth getting out of bed to face this carp.

The answers is 'YES! I CAN DO IT! I WILL DO IT! I MUST DO IT'.

Re: Fractures and the questions..

Firstly, wishing you a speedy recovery!
I met with an accident(rather a fall) 4 years back when the entire weight of me and my bike broke apart the radius and ulna of my right hand. The gaps between 2 pieces of bone were 2 cm.s and 1.5 cm.s respectively. From my limited knowledge, those are high numbers when it comes to bone fractures. I got that operated after around 15 days. The operation was done by a veteran orthopedic surgeon and was done so well that I could do small movements after 2-3 weeks. Of course, post operative care, diet(specially calcium and iron rich food) and exercise played a big part. And I started riding my bike after 7-8 weeks from the date of accident. Yes, the gap seems small but again it depends on how good has the fracture healed(varies from person to person) and your confidence. I'd done 6.5K km.s on my bike then. It's 47.8K km.s as of today. I'd advise you to keep your doctor into confidence and ask his advise. Also if needed, consult a physiotherapist. After the green signal is given, ride as light as possible and keep a friend at hand to see whether you have gained enough stamina and strength to counter potholes and keep the handlebar straight. 2-3 such sessions and you are good to go!
Oh..I forgot to mention that I still have 2 plates and 8 screws inserted in my hand.

Re: Fractures and the questions..

Thanks for the response Krishna, you give me much hope! Since my wrist/metacarpal got broken repeatedly in a month's time frame, I'm a little hesitant to even try anything close to riding for some more months, but yeah I'l take it slow and steady. Just wanted to know, does the occasional slip into a pothole hurt at plate's location and does it hurt more during winter (like getting frozen or something) ? Thanks again!

Re: Fractures and the questions..

Yes, that hurts. Specially where the plate is attached with the bone.
And going by the condition of your wrist I'd advise not riding at all for at least 8 more weeks.

Re: Fractures and the questions..



Oh and you hit the doubtful, partly demotivated nerve right where you should. I was way too worried that the second break to my metacarpal was a bad sign of things to come but seeing what you've been through, its literally nothing brother. I'l keep at it, and good luck with the right hand! Thanks!