Broken wrist recovery - advice?

frenchhornprof started this discussion · 8/6/2014

Has anyone on here come back from a broken wrist or other arm break? I fractured my left wrist in a bike accident the other day. I had surgery, and now I have a permanent metal plate holding the radius together where it broke off. I've been told that recovery can be from 6 months to a year. Has anyone had a broken bone, and how long before you could pole again? They told me that I wouldn't ever be able to bend my wrist back at a 90 degree angle because of scar tissue, but I have hope that I can recover well since I'm fairly young.

6 replies

Veena · 8/6/2014
Omg, I'm so sorry! This isn't in my scope of practice so I'm not sure how recovery would go with something of this severity. I will say, make sure they set you up with a good physical therapist because our bodies are capable of amazing things!!! I strongly feel that if you want to pole again, you will!!! 💐
CatsEyes · 8/7/2014
Outch ! I broke my right wrist in 3 when I was young. I was supposed to get a permanent metal plate as well but the surgeon decided it was not necessary because I was young and I would heal well and... he was right ! I am ok :) I had a plaster cast for 3 months then I had a sort of elastic wrap for several weeks. It was good support for my wrist. I went to a kinesitherapist to rebuilt my strength and muscles because when they took off my plaster cast, my arm was soooo skinny. It is very important to see someone to help you regain your mobility and muscles ! Today, I am very careful with that wrist. I know that I cannot repeat some things too many times (for example, few months ago, I redecorated my living room and taking off wallpaper was really painful for that wrist). Regarding pole dancing, when I am tired, that wrist can be painful and when I started, I could felt it was very fragile so I practice with a wrap like that one : http://www.nutritionwarehouse.com.au/images/P/WristWrapThumbLoopStart.jpg And I still wear it when I work one something new that requiere strong wrists. I also use this to gain strength in my wrist and forearm : http://www.changersoncorps.comhttps://pub-a085b59791bc4c1a94b0a223a67a37d6.r2.dev/wp-uploads/2013/01/71cIyRGWKaL._AA1500_.jpg
michaelaarghh · 12/28/2014
Wondering how you're going with your arm frenchhornprof? I fell from a ragdoll spin at the beginning of the month and broke my wrist :( I have tried to keep up with physical activity since I broke it, and worked on leg flexibility. I get my cast off in mid-January. The orthopaedic doctor at the hospital told me it would be three months post-cast until I could do any activities that put stress on my arm in a flexed position (so that eliminates most "push/pull" pole movements and handstands wahhhh!)
frenchhornprof · 12/29/2014
Michaelaarghh, so sorry to hear about your wrist! It really sucks. Did you have to have surgery to fix the break? I have a plate and screws, and I think that makes the recovery longer. I'm five months out since the break (four since cast removal), and I've come a long ways, but I still have a ways to go. I started putting weight on it about a month after the cast came off, but I still cannot fully bend my wrist backwards or forwards. I'm unable to do handstands, and I can only barely do a girly pushup because of the restricted range of motion (I have taken to doing girl pushups on my fists). I have hope that I will gain back almost all of the range of motion and strength, although the doctors told me I wouldn't. I made a few videos of my pole progress post break that you might watch to get an idea of what I could do when I came back. I haven't been very diligent about pole for a while, but I am taking a lyra class in January! I feel that the wrist is good enough to try. So, you're looking at an extended recovery, but you'll come back. When I broke my wrist, I could hardly find any information about what the recovery would be like for a poler, so let me know if I can be of any help to you.
michaelaarghh · 1/2/2015
It really does suck! I was really lucky, I didn't have to get surgery, as the bones didn't move out of place. I am so thankful for that, because like you say - recovery would have been so much longer. I am so sorry that your break was so bad that you needed plates and screws! When you say you started putting weight on it, what do you mean by this? The orthopaedic specialist said it will be three months post-cast until I can flex my hand backwards (as in handstand wrist position) and put weight on it. She said my range of motion will be limited at first, but with physio rehab it will be back to normal. Are you able to use like "baseball grip" type movements on the pole? And how long did it take you until you were strong enough to do that? It's just so frustrating to have progressed so much in the past year and now be set back heaps :(
frenchhornprof · 1/3/2015
Glad you didn't need surgery, and good to hear that you'll get all of your range of motion back. I was only recently able to do a downward dog stretch with my wrist bending and holding my weight. You'll start flexing your hand backwards during therapy, and the doctor is probably right about it taking about three months to get to a place where you can put weight on it in the fully flexed position. I'm looking forward to the day I can do a regular pushup. When I first came back to pole, I did moves that did not require my left arm. I even inverted with my armpit since I couldn't use the hand. After about a month I could invert normally again. After about two months I could do moves that required more grip strength, but I still haven't tried a SG ayesha or anything. I could shoulder mount again about two months after the cast came off. It is terribly frustrating to lose so much progress. I was looking back at photos of mine that are a year old now, and realized I'm not anywhere near there anymore. Fortunately, we're relatively young, and we should bounce back.