Dislocated Elbow – healing time?

Ended up in A&E on Sunday with a dislocated elbow. Was sedated whilst it was put back into it’s proper place but My whole arm is now very swollen, lots of bruising from my shoulder down to my wrist and I can’t do anything.

Has anybody had a similar dislocation and how long did it take to recover, at least enough to get back on the road bike or even the turbo?

I was doing very gentle riding 6 weeks after I did mine. It was 18 months until the ligaments were fully repaired and my arm was back to normal strength. I was in a cast for 3 weeks with mine, when it came off I only had around 10% movement in my elbow. Physio helped but it was months before I got full movement back.

Bugger. Mines not in cast. Just a sling. Hopefully that’s a good thing.

Did you break any bones or was it just ligament/muscle damage?

The fact it is in a sling should be good for you as the muscles will not waste away and you should be able to gently move it to exercise it and stop it seizing up etc.

Mine was in a cast for a week before I had an operation as I had shattered the end of the radius bone as well and in just that week it seized up and the muscle wasted noticeably. After the operation I’m sure it took me about 6 weeks till I was able to ride ok. Mine still will not go straight like it did / my other arm, though it’s not bad enough to necessitate another operation luckily.

You ‘only’ dislocated it though so should have no long term issues. Just need to wait for the ligaments and muscles to recover I guess.

My elbow never regained full movement, but then it used to hyper extend before the accident, like my other one still does!

At the time I was told it would’ve healed quicker if had been broken.

Here’s my X-ray,
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IMG_1711[/url] by Simon_Booth[/url], on Flickr

And when the cast came off,
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IMG_1875[/url] by Simon_Booth[/url], on Flickr

Lovely mottling[/url]

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Untitled[/url] by UncleFred2007[/url], on Flickr

When my cast came off the consultant at the fracture clinic told me I had to wear a sling for a few weeks. I didn’t like the sound of this so I went to see a physio who said ditch the sling and and get you’re elbow moving ASAP.

In the mean time make sure you keep the other joints in your arm, shoulder and wrist moving.

It is always hard to say what to expect as everyone is different. What I would say is do what you are told and don’t rush it 😀 At the same time if you are concerned that what you are told to do doesn’t feel right or doesn’t feel enough then make sure you communicate this to the surgeon/ physio/ GP.

Seriously, the worst thing you can do is try to get back to daily activities/ riding too soon and bugger yourself up in the longer term just because you couldn’t wait for an extra 2 or 3 weeks. You hear all the time about people who recover quickly or perform amazing feats in a short time but you never hear about the long term pain, problems and other niggles.

Bit negative I’m afraid but riding should be the last thing on your mind. Heal up!