Went OTB and landed hard on my left hand. X-Ray’s show a fracture in the big bit of bone at the arm/wrist area. It’s not displaced so I’ve got a wrist guard.
It’s painful and rotational movement difficult, and I’ve got no grip.
Should I be taking the guard off and icing it? Are there any supplements I should have- glucosamine or calcium. Or should I just suck it up for six weeks.
I either ride or go to gym nearly every day to stave off being clinically fed up, so 6 weeks sounds like hell.

Edit- it’s a y shaped fracture of the ulna at the top, not all way through.

Develop mutant healing powers and have adamantium grafted to your skeleton?

I had similar in a crash at Donington park in 2008, I was racing there 2 weekend later so left it unplastered. I did rubbish in the race, but the arm held up fine and hasn’t given me any long term troubles.

Thanks, I will try that. (Edit- the mutant powers)

Calcium withe whatever your body needs to meatabolise it (Vit D? Iron?)

otherwise it’s a pretty standard 6 weeks and with a displaced joint injury I’d be very careful – it’s easy to have long term issues from from doing too much too soon.

Once the bone is mended I’d get some professional advice on an exercise, strengthening and stretching routine to get the joint fully mobile asap.

this:

suck it up for six weeks

the stationary bike in the gym will be your new best friend, there’s no harm in taking calcium (and vit D I think) tablets.

DO NOT attempt to use the wrist in anyway, it may cause the bones/bits to move. I did this unintentionally and ended up having surgery and a metal plate put in, which was far more grief than the original break.

I believe the swelling allows it to heal better, but you also don’t want to lose movement once its healed. So I would not use ice and when healed you need to gradually work on movement.

However, you cant speed it up.

Best use of your time is on a spin bike 🙂

cissus quadrangularis, team mate put me on to it and we both get back on bikes racing in no time.

cissus quadrangularis

One of Hermione’s favourite spells. THat’ll fix you up in no time. 😉

should I just suck it up for six weeks

Yes, and if not longer if you want the bone to heal properly. I’ve done it twice.

Physio from when they say you can do physio. Doing that properly will have a more positive outcome than anything else.

Use the other arm for ‘self satisfaction’

edit : beaten to it by wca

Busted mine I suspect last August. Didn’t get it checked as I was going on holiday and not being able to drive would have resulted in a last minute cancellation and my death.

It is just about OK now with some occasional aching and a slight loss of movement.

I am an idiot.

Use the other arm for ‘self satisfaction’

and to wipe your arse…or use paper, up to you 🙂

Can you get to use a hyperbaric chamber , they speed recovery times .

I’m very surprised that if there’s a visible fracture they’ve just given you a wrist guard. I’ve got a suspected broken scaphoid (so a smudge on the x-ray but no displacement) and I’m in a precautionary cast for 2 weeks and then follow up x-rays. Everything I’ve been told (Dr / Physio) is that the wrist bones have very low blood flow and so take a while to heal plus anything that disturbs the healing process (like movement) can make things worse.

So I’m currently resigning myself to 6 weeks on the trainer… which isn’t ideal as I’ve got BC Bike Race in 12 weeks but needs must.

Your break sounds like it is on the arm bone so perhaps a little less potential for complications but even so.

Yeah it’s the top of the big arm bone, I’ll see what the fracture clinic guy says tomorrow.
It is really sore now, so maybe a proper cast might be better.
I’ve got an exercise bike I can use, although I hate it.

Get a turbo and turbo tyre.
It will heal when it heals

If they haven’t put a backslab on it they can’t be all that worried about stability. You’ll still most likely get a lightweight plastic cast when the swelling’s gone down a bit. Probably best not to ride off-road* but you could always trim the cast if necessary so you can “comfortably” ride a road bike. It’s your wrist so you get to decide what kind of risks you take with healing.

You can’t speed up healing IMO, but you could sure set it back some if things go wrong. The most “sensible” approach is to follow medical advice but that’s going to be very conservative.

*I have done before with a non-displaced fracture, probably wouldn’t now. It’s a risk and just too uncomfortable to be fun anyway.

Thanks all.

the back slab is the correct procedure due to the potential for swelling

they should assess for immediate plating or give you another x-ray a week from the fracture to assess the alignment of the healing, if OK they will put it in a cast, if not it’s surgery

if they wait for two weeks to reassess and it’s misaligned they will let it heal and mess you around with physio and then operate if misaligned, you can look forward to potentially twelve months off the bike and permanent loss of range of movement

never be the last person seen in a busy NHS fracture clinic

Salford Royal has a good wrist surgeon who works privately

Women heal faster than chaps, have you thought about changing gender?

. he back slab is the correct procedure due to the potential for swelling
they should assess for immediate plating or give you another x-ray a week from the fracture to assess the alignment of the healing, if OK they will put it in a cast, if not it’s surgery
if they wait for two weeks to reassess and it’s misaligned they will let it heal and mess you around with physio and then operate if misaligned, you can look forward to potentially twelve months off the bike and permanent loss of range of movement
never be the last person seen in a busy NHS fracture clinic
Salford Royal has a good wrist surgeon who works privately

Most places will have a system that all featured/potential fractures have their images reviewed by a consultant the following day, and a plan made based on that. When you’re seen in clinic has nothing to do with the treatment plan you’ll receive. Letting any bone heal naturally without adding the complications of cutting into surrounding tissues and adding metalwork is always going to have a better outcome providing that 1) the bone will heal naturally and 2) the position it’s in is acceptable.

Occasionally things shift as they heal, (or are used too much too early) and require fixing, but they’re by far the minority.

Long and short, there’s not much you can do to speed healing, other than follow advice and working through the initial pain/stiffness to mobilise fully when told you’re good to go again. Calcium+vitD will do nothing, unless your calcium is low (highly unlikely if your young and fit). There’s plenty you can do to make it worse and prolong the healing time!!

HGH doping will massively speed recovery, know any body builders?

Most places will have a system that all featured/potential fractures have their images reviewed by a consultant the following day, and a plan made based on that

Not at the Bury fracture clinic, quick review by registrar and sent off to come back in two weeks

go back, get told “what are you wearing that for, why isn’t it in cast?” by the next registrar. Consultant reviews outside the room, no assessment of the severe loss of movement. Lets leave it was the decision.

Go private, Senior NHS Consultant specialising in wrist surgery basically points out I’ve been royally screwed and that he would have operated a) the day after or b) at two weeks

spend a year and £10k on the insurance trying to fix it

permanent loss of range and massive quality of life impact

If the clinic is busy you are just a number and the quality of care random at best

Get yourself in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, cut out all alcohol and sugar (they stop bone growth) increase intake of calcium and also boron (body needs boron to break down the calcium into usable stuff)
I did all this and it more than halved my recovery time from a severe pelvis brake.

Had a less severe fracture a couple of months ago. Watched ‘Dead Man Riding’ and followed @dsmithgb on Twitter for some much needed perspective then sucked it up and got on the turbo. Feeling stronger than ever now.

If the clinic is busy you are just a number and the quality of care random at best

See I would disagree completely with that. I know many surgeons who treat the first person at a clinic exactly how they would treat the person they see last at a clinic.

The better surgeons tend to be at the bigger city/teaching hospitals. However this is not always the case.

I’m pretty sure a hyperbaric chamber will not aid recovery. Too high an Oxygen content in the gas you breath has some serious side effects.

A hyperbaric chamber seems a little on the exotic side for a non-displaced fracture in one of the bones at the wrist.

The fracture clinic in Banbury was well run and I was happy with the consultant.
He advised no need for full or half slab cast, so stick with the strap on.
He did spend a bit more time with me advising the best places to visit in the Alps, which was nice.
He also said a normal diet should be all I need, and that if I want to road ride earlier than the six weeks, it was up to me, it was my risk to call, just don’t crash.
X-ray again next week.

Hyperbaric Chambers work! I know I’ve used them and know many people who have benefitted from them also

Too high an Oxygen content in the gas you breath has some serious side effects.

Which are?

Keep away from carbonated water and drinks as I have read that it can use up valuable calcium and slow the process. Eat clean and take moderate exercise to pump a bit more blood around.

Let it heal and don’t stress the wrist? Getting back into action too quickly will likely antagonise it and it will take much longer.

Rest it until it’s time for physio.

This is from someone who built a 10m long 1m high retaining wall from concrete blocks with a broken wrist in a flexible cast and is now regretting it a couple of years later.

You could also get a cat that likes to purr and rest your arm on it. Apparently the vibration (ultrasound is apparently very good) helps them heal their bones quickly.

There is a pain killer that inhibits bone growth but can’t remember which. Maybe ibuprofen? So find out which and avoid it if the pain is not bad.

Also maybe regular blood infusions from someone young according to something I watched the other day.

Make sure you get carefully reviewed in the fracture clinic and sensible answers from someone who can interpret your X-rays after examining your wrist.
There is not much you can do to speed things up beyond eating a balanced diet and avoiding unduly stressing the broken bone. Don’t smoke (including e cigarettes), minimise NSAIDs (ibuprofen / diclofenac) and consider taking vitamin c supplements (some evidence it reduces complex regional pain syndrome)

If you’re in London feel free to come along to Chelsea & Westminster Hand & Wrist clinic where I’m a consultant surgeon

I know many surgeons who treat the first person at a clinic exactly how they would treat the person they see last at a clinic.

such a shame patients have to put up with the Dr’s that don’t

You could also get a cat that likes to purr and rest your arm on it. Apparently the vibration (ultrasound is apparently very good) helps them heal their bones quickly

There does seem to be some evidence to support that Low Intensity Pulsed Ultra Sound (LIPUS) is able to speed up the union in recent fractures, less so in delayed or non-unions. Not 100% convinced that a cat counts, but worth a try 😉

Sauce:

Effects of Low-Intensity Pulsed Ultrasound Therapy on Fracture Healing: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (2012)

Bashardoust Tajali, Siamak MS, PhD(c); Houghton, Pamela MS, PhD; MacDermid, Joy C. MS, PhD; Grewal, Ruby MS, MD