Broken Arm

Posted by: MrGordo

Broken Arm - 06/06/11 08:33 AM

Hey all, I've flipped myself into an unfortunate mess and as a result ended up with a complete break on my dominant arm (distal supracondylar fracture was the term I think). I've had surgery, first time ever, where they've inserted a plate and I'll probably be casted up for 4-6 weeks but I'm going to see the doc sometime this week where hopefully I'll find out more info.
Anyway I was gonna ask if any of you have been in a similar situation and what you did to stop yourself from going crazy. I was finally getting somewhere with my gym routine and now its grinded to a halt again. Its just frustrating knowing I'll have to start back from scratch very slowly. All I have in my head is getting back to practising again. What I can do is focus more on my stretching, so that's one thing.
Any advice would be appreciated smile


Also anyone interested in how I did this, I was attempting this. Apparently I was very close :P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i34nWsfQjXo
Posted by: Cord

Re: Broken Arm - 06/06/11 11:48 AM

Yep, major injury sux frown Had a few big setbacks over the years, including a life changer in 2009 that now means i am permanently restricted in what I can do. It also meant a solid 4 months out of the gym completely, and being 100% sedentary for that time (bar specific rehab work).

All I can advise is to take a breath, and accept what has happened. Then from there focus on what you may still be able to do (a broken arm wont prevent you keeping your cardio up by using a stationary bike for example), and also to use your downtime to prepare and gen up on rehabilitation strategies, so you can get the arm back to full function as quickly as possible.

The bright side is that to regain a level of physical ability is always quicker than to attain it in the first place, so keeping your head now, and rededicating yourself to your training when able, will ensure you are back where you want to be in a shorter space of time than you imagine is possible right now smile
Posted by: Dereck

Re: Broken Arm - 06/07/11 09:13 AM

I feel for you; been there. Broken arm and wrist at the same time once however was younger and not working out. Did severe my ACL and then had surgery that put me out of the game for quite some time. Thought about working out all of the time and ended up playing a lot of XBox 360; Oblivion (18 hours a day). And also crushed some vertebrae in my neck that set me back as well

All I can hang tight and heal. Do the physio they give you. Come back at this SLOWLY so you don't re-injure yourself. As Cord said, cardio may be your friend. It will keep you active and in decent shape.

Good luck to you.
Posted by: MrGordo

Re: Broken Arm - 06/15/11 07:53 AM

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I'm quite surprised how fast things seem to be improving. It has only been a month (and only 2 weeks after surgery) and yesterday they took off the cast and took out the stitches. I was in and out in about half an hour, I was really surprised I thought they were going to cast me up again. Literally all I have is a bandage over my scar and a sling for when I go out.
There's still not much movement around the elbow but I'm starting to move my wrist around, I don't know what I would do if I broke that too. I'm going home for summer from uni this week and I've been referred to a physio back there so I'll be starting that soon. I've done some cardio which has definitely helped defeat some boredom. I've also been going to my capoeira classes to watch, being such an exciting activity it was fun to be there as a bystander but at the same time it was like torture that I couldn't join in :P
One advantage in not going out much is that I've saved money, which is very rare as a student, so I may invest in a PS3 or XBox.

Thanks guys.