When will I get my wrist back?
In May I broke my wrist (my radius and my ulnar styloid process). I had surgery, and now have a titanium plate. I did physical therapy all summer, which I stopped because I went back to school. It’s now been out of the cast for five months, and I’m still having problems.
It’s really stiff, and I can’t bend it backwards very far. If I overuse it, it hurts.
Has anyone had a similar injury? Do you remember the time frame of how long it took to get full use? Did you EVER get full use back (dun dun dun)? Or any OTs in the house?
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7 Answers
A lady at my work had a similar injury when she fell while bowling (ouch). She does stretching exercises twice daily every day, even though it hurts. Basically, she is trying to re-teach her muscles and tendons and so forth how to move again, which sounds like the same boat you are in. She has been out of a cast for about 9 months now and still have another 3 months of PT left, so my guess is that you may have stopped your therapy too soon. I would recommend soaking the joint in warm water while you rotate your wrist in all directions. that hould help some of the pain brought on by using it, but will also give your wrist the exercise it needs to get stronger. Good luck!
My sympathies. I haven’t broken a wrist but I have sprained ankles, due too all the sports I used to do. One of them took a good year to heal properly. The body is complex but not very smart, and you have to teach it what to do, and use every part of it. Otherwise your body “believes” it doesn’t need it. Keep up your exercises. Good luck.
I broke my ankle and even after PT was over, I kept doing the exercises I was given. I can do them on my own and it really made a difference. It also helps if there is someone to push you a bit—these things do ache or flair up, but if it really HURTS, you over did it.
I had foot surgery wherein bones were “broken” on purpose. It took about a year before it felt “normal.” One foot came back all the way to full function, but I will always have problems with the way my big toe bends on the other.
As others have said, keep doing the exercises you did in PT, possibly doing them longer or with a light weight in your hand as they get easy to do.
I have strained my wrist a couple of times, and it usually takes 6 to 8 weeks to recover, plus being weak for up to another 6 weeks. I purchased an elastic wrist brace, which I use if it starts hurting while I’m driving.
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