suffering from my first broken bone ever…the scaphoid in my left hand/wrist…amd really bummed…12 weeks in a cast (below the elbow but includes the whole thumb). doc says i can run, and swim as soon as i get my h20 proof-goretex- cast liner (monday), and i can ride the trainer in the aero position (can’t put weight on it sitting up). this was the year i was gonna work on the bike…not gonna happen now. i’ve done a couple trainer workouts already and it’s been challenging just to stay in the aero position for the whole thing,
how hard/different will it be to swim?
and finally, anyone ever done a tri (sprint) with a cast on? I’ve already registered for one and think it might be fun to do with no pressure of really competing…i think i could pad the cast during the swim (400 m) for safety of others…and i’d start way back…or maybe i’ll do the relay…but i’d like to do the whole thing…of course only if doc says i can.
these next 3 months are gonna suck… I was just getting back into training after 3 months of laziness.
Bike accident, didn’t think it was broken at first…7 hours later knew it had to be. And i don’t want to ramp up running too much, due to a tendonitis issue (why i’ve been lazy for 3 months…well that and recovery from IMF). guessing it will be a taking it easy season.
Keep some fitness however you can, but do everything in your power to ensure you heal properly. As I’m sure you’ve been told, the scaphoid can be a little obstinate when it comes to healing.
Maybe a second opinion? My sister broke hers 4 weeks ago and had surgery immediately. She took it easy for a week. With a hardshell brace(and her doctor’s ok) she has been back in the pool and on the trainer since. She hopes to be out of the brace in the next two weeks. Six weeks recovery only vs twelve.
No matter what, be careful with this injury as there is the possibility of avascular necrosis in the scaphoid. Good luck!
Typically if the fracture is aligned well the usual treatment is 12 wks casted…but…it is also common for athletes to go ahead and put a screw in it so you only have to wear a brace and will get out of immobilization quicker…also my experience with gore tex cover is they work OK with showering but I would be suprised if they work swimming…Did you see an orthopedist…if you already did and he gave you that advise ask to see a Orthopedist with Hand Surgery subspecialty and simply inform them your and athlete and would prefer to have a screw put in it early and start mobilization earlier…it is commonly done in this situation (this is assuming you would go for surgery)…since I am a surgeon I need my hands early so I would consider this option heavily…let me know what they say for my addit. 2c…
I did it, and you cannot swim. Mostly, it hurts your shoulder with the excess weight…but the key is, you can do long kick sets, I found this was really valuable in the long run…
You may already know this - but I’ll write it anyway: make sure to get 1500-2000mg of Ca a day (not over 2000mg). If a nutrition label says “20%” that means 200mg. Your body can only absorb 500mg at a time, so if you have 16oz milk (30% x 2) you’ll only absorb 500mg. If you don’t get enough from food - Viactiv Ca chews are great, I like the chocolate flavored ones. Anyway, bones need Ca, vitamins D and K to heal so amke sure you’re getting it!
We have sooooooooo much in common, i have only broken one bone in my body and it is the scaphoid.
Don’t be bummed about the trainer, stay out of the aero bars and hammer…you will be soooooooo strong, try to think of it as a positive not a negative thing. The trainer can be your friend!
At least it your left hand, mine was the right hand…lets just say ALLOT of things are quite challenging trying to do it with your left hand.
I had shattered my scaphoid bone coming down from an awkward hit in volleyball, catching myself as I fell. By the time i mustered up the courage to look at the wrist, it was twisted and knotted like an old tree limb. The ER “doctors” examined my x-ray and declared that nothing was wrong…but unfortunately they missed the fact that the scaphoid was MISSING! it had shattered into bits.
After the surgery to try to put it back together and after all the PT insurance was willing to part with, I’m left with a very ineffective wrist. To this day, some 5+ years later, if i don’t stay on top of my own PT, the affected wrist/hand (my dominant one) becomes completely useless, unable to turn a key in a lock, hold a pen, or lift a glass of water. But as bad as it gets, it never slows me down in the pool.
I’ll second this - my scaphoid break wasn’t too bad - essentially nondisplaced, only found with a bone scan, but it was slow to heal and I was casted for 16 weeks. And not prescribed any formal PT afterwards. The atrophy was, in a way, worse than the injury, and though it’s fully functional now many years later, it’s still a little crooked when I curl my wrist and I’m kind of chapped that they didn’t give me some instruction and that I didn’t know to ask for any.
As to racing in the cast…the one thing you really do not want to do is re-break it or make the break worse by falling on it again. I don’t know if the cast would really protect you in a fall - I’m not convinced it would, they didn’t want me to ride on the road with mine. Even if you convince yourself you can handle your bike under normal conditions, you can’t control other riders in a race - if you fall on the wrist you may be looking at surgery, and if you break it badly, even with surgery it may never be right. If the bone dies, that’s really bad. So, for me…I’d err on the side of patience and safety.
Thanks everyone…i’m gonna look into this surgery now option…althougj even with the surgery and 6- weeks healing my goals for the season are pretty much shot.
Just saw your post and wante to say sorry. I broke mine a 9 years ago and it was a long road to recovery. I tried the cast thing but because of the placement of that bone it doesnt get a lot of blood flow, hence delaying the healing process. In my case, I had no fusion of the bone ends. They were touching just not fusing. I ended up having bone graft surgery where they took bone from my hip and put it in my wrist and fused it with a screw. I would def look at the surgery option.
I’ve broken my right scahphoid twice and ended up having a bone graft and pin put in it. I’ve broken my left one three times, with a bone graft and pin put in after the second surgery. Sometime after the second surgery (10 years ago) I broke it again. Unfortunately now there is little chance of repair. All fall related injuries all lengthy cast times.
I’ll never be a boxer, pro arm wrestler or be able to take a hard slap shot but I think swimming has helped my wrists stay reasonably strong.
At the same time… I’m sure I’ll have some pretty bad arthritis when I get older.
Thanks everyone…i’m gonna look into this surgery now option…althougj even with the surgery and 6- weeks healing my goals for the season are pretty much shot.
Like many people here, I also broke my scaphoid. I did mine snowboarding. Hit a jump, missed the box, snapped it into 2 pieces. Here’s the kicker, I didn’t go to the doctor for 4 months. Then, I waited another 4 months to have surgery. (Got hurt in January, had surgery in September). I was in a cast for 10 weeks. The last 6 weeks were water-proof, which including a couple of bodyboarding sessions down at Blacks! I had a screw put in as well as a blood vessel graft. I think the blood vessel graft was key. Without that, there was no way to get blood to the area to allow it to heal. One year to the date after my surgery, I was completely and 100% healed. Oh yea, I didn’t spend even 1 day in Physical Therapy. Not one day! No exercises, nothing. I wish you were in SoCal because I’d send you to my doctor.
My doc isn’t a sports med guy, but hand/arm specialist. I would urge you to talk to your doctor about the possibility of a blood vessel graft. I think it would be very beneficial to you.
Just to add another anecdote…I fractured mine in a bike accident in 2002. I was casted for ~ 12 weeks and I was able to swim, bike and run due to the marvelous Gore cast liner. Swimming was a little akward so I only did about 1000 yards a couple times a week just to keep a feel for the water.
The only issue I had with the cast liner was getting it to dry completely after showering. If the doc casts you correctly it is very tight and not much air can get in to dry it. My solution was to go into the garage after showering and set up a leaf blower to blow into the slight gaps in the cast. This way I was able to get it completely dry and not smell funky. I guess you could do the same thing with hair dryer on the cool setting. There was just something kinda ‘Monster Garage-ish’ about the leaf blower so I went with it.
You will be fine. Just don’t do any risky pack riding and rehab religiously when you get your cast off so that you get your range of motion back.
how did it happen?