I have a bad wrist injury (mountain bike crash). I am going in for surgery on Thursday. Doc says expect a good 6 months before everything is back to normal. I will be able to run and bike on the trainer much sooner. Question is, what should I do? Racing starts in April for me. Should I treat the next five to six months as a long base period? I assume there is no such thing as too much base. My primary limiter this season was muscular endurance, I always fade on the bike at the 2 hour mark. If I can tolerate 4 hour rides on the trainer, this may be a good thing.
-Jamie
Jamie,
I had a Scaphoid-Lunate dissociation injury back in college, it definitely took a while to recover from the surgery. I was back in the pool after 15 days and trained with the cast on during that time.
Use it as a good base… like your thinking and make sure to get PT for it. You’ll want the PT to get the full range of motion back and for comfort on the bike. I still find that a long ride makes my wrist ache the next day, but it’s not an issue if I’m on the drops.
Best of luck!
I broke my Scaphoid and radius on March 6. Had surgery on the 10th. I spent a week in heavy bandages post-surgery and then one more week with a removable cast before doing anything.
I started running some shorter distances 2 weeks post surgery, nothing super hard, but enough to get out and keep the legs moving.
3 weeks post surgery I started biking on the trainer, using the aero bars plus a pillow/towel to prop my arm up, I made sure my weight was either shifted off the arm or going directly up my arm and not putting pressure on the forearm, sure a bit off from how I normally ride, but I was mostly concerned about keeping endurance up close to what it was before.
4 weeks post surgery, I was swimming with no issue (hardest part was getting in and out of the splint) This did not hurt in any way, I actually think it helped keep my strength up. Worked on stretches and keeping some mobility, massaging the wound on a daily basis.
I think about 7 weeks after surgery the doc cleared me to run and ride and put me in a brace with instruction to taper it off over the remaining few weeks.
I did a race on May 1 with no issue. I was limited on mobility some, but nothing to hurt performance.
At this point I am healed up, it does get a bit sore with heavy overuse, and my range of motion is not 100%, but the doctor was always happy with my progression and never suggested PT.
In case you ever doubt having the surgery while recovering over the next six months…I opted to not have the surgery and let it heal on its own. It took just short of a year.
I am hopeful I will see similar recovery times. I had surgery last Thursday, it was and has been painless. Like you, I am in a heavy bandage. I see the doc on Monday. I hope I can get a removable cast, I can’t stand not being able to take this thing off. I have 4 other broken bones in my hand and despite this my hand actually feels good. My fingers all work, and all the swelling is gone. If I can start running and biking on the trainer in the next few weeks I’ll be more than happy.
I’ll post as this progresses
-Jamie