Fractured head of radius (elbow)

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Tinea Pedis
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by Tinea Pedis

Came off today and have a non-displaced fracture of the head of my radius.

I'm well versed with bone healing time, only interested to hear others experiences with this. How long until pain permitted weight bearing, etc?

As I'm in Europe for another 10 weeks. Going home isn't something I'm keen on, but racing for at least a month seems out of the question. So considering going to explore the Alps...if i can handle the bike.

AGW
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by AGW

From experience with my own patients, non-weight bearing for at least one month, possibly longer. Who diagnosed you? You're sure it's a radial fracture, not an olecranon or ulnar fracture? If you have access to an orthopeadist in Belgium, they might be better able to give you a specific time-frame as well as follow-up imaging to ensure healing is taking place as expected (or perhaps better, and thus weight-bearing sooner).
Last edited by AGW on Thu May 15, 2014 4:59 am, edited 1 time in total.

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bikerjulio
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by bikerjulio

This thread needs pictures :D

Good luck with the healing. Is there any kind of brace or support that can help?

I have not broken this particular bone so won't try to offer any advice.

My avatar is a selfie taken about 6 weeks after I broke my hip. On my first ride outdoors, and showing the scene of the accident. Except there was ice at the time.
There's sometimes a buggy.
How many drivers does a buggy have?

One.

So let's just say I'm drivin' this buggy...
and if you fix your attitude you can ride along with me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GekiIMh4ZkM

weekapaugin
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by weekapaugin

Sorry to hear you went down Nick, I hope you heal up fast!

I fractured my olecrenon basically twice in one season. The first time I went down I had to get stitches and when x-ray'ing it the doc improperly diagnosed the bone fragments floating around in my elbow to be asphalt and debris. My elbow and triceps remained sore, but manageable. About a month after that I was taken out from behind, going down on the same elbow. A very long story short, it ended up being an open fracture, the ER doc was going to release me stating there wasn't much they could do, but thankfully the on-call consulting Ortho decided he wanted to operate. Upon getting in there, they found over 80% of my triceps had sheared off with the fracture. Two small anchors were inserted into the elbow and the triceps were re-attached. Months of rehab to strengthen and gradual increase range of motion followed.

This was probably a worst case scenario, but it was basically my lack of triceps strength that prevented me from riding during rehab. The silver lining is that I'm now set to marry the nurse I had when I was in the hospital for the crash this coming fall :thumbup:

This is a very abbreviated version of a very long story, so if you want more details, or have questions, I'll help where I can.

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Tinea Pedis
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by Tinea Pedis

How did the rehab go?

Nice work too, nabbing the nurse!

CulBaire
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by CulBaire

Nick, surely you’ve ran over a black cat while riding under a ladder?.. Shit luck!

I had this very injury way back when! I was off the road bike for 4 weeks, and back on the mountain bike in 6 weeks, raced a 12hr MTB race 8 weeks after the accident (came 4th in open). I didn’t have rollers then, but did a lot of running in my 4 weeks off; 3 x long runs (10 to 20kms) with 2 x HITT session per week. If anything the running made me feel like I got back on the bike stronger than when I got off.

Hope it heals up quick for you!

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Tinea Pedis
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by Tinea Pedis

Thanks mate. Yeah, 2014 has been pretty sh!t so far for me...

Pic of the break

Image

Couloirman
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by Couloirman

That's a really small fracture you're going to be just fine. Unfortunately, you shouldn't bike for 4-6 weeks but early mobility is important-- don't let your elbow freeze up. It does not appear that your fracture obviously involves the articular surface of the joint, but hard to tell from that one view. That is a good thing for long term risk of developing arthritis.

I broke radial head, ulnar styloid process and got gamekeepers thumb a week ago as well. Pretty bummed as I am racing the Colorado trail in August but, well, it happens. I was sweaty, and sneezed 3 times right as I hit a big bump I didn't see on my road bike and ejected over the handlebars. Both of our crashes probably could have been a lot worse.

Are you following up with an orthopedist? Is your arm in a sling? A cast? Splint?

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Tinea Pedis
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by Tinea Pedis

No ortho consult, as Doc and Radiologist are happy with it. No cast, in a sling (to encourage minimal loss of mobility).

Aware it could have been worse, only in my current situation a broken bone of any sort isn't advantageous...

weekapaugin
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by weekapaugin

My rehab was about 3 months, 2 off the bike. My case was more for the sake of the triceps though, my arm was locked completely straight for two weeks and I would gain a little more range of motion each week. Had it just been for the bone, they let it heal on its own so I could have rode no handed on the trainer almost straight away.

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Tinea Pedis
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by Tinea Pedis

Did 75 min on the ergo today.

But no chance I could weight bear on it.

drchull
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by drchull

Good luck Tinea, injuries suck . That should heal like new.

Calpol
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by Calpol

Did the same thing 2 years ago. My advice would be to get it mobilised as soon as you can. That means stretching it out and trying to get you elbow straight as possible. With me I rested it for about a week before I started trying to rehab it. It does hurt a bit at first but worth it as you get full range of movement. I bought a turbo and used that one handed for a week or two. I reckon I was riding out on the roads after about 5 weeks but able to drive after about three. It took about 9 months to be fully healed.

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Tinea Pedis
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by Tinea Pedis

Road in 5 weeks?

That's not good news...

Camilo
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by Camilo

I fractured both radial heads in the early 80s. To this day, I cannot straighten my elbows fully.

It's a very minor handicap. Things that require longitudinal force along the arms to the shoulders are kind of painful and I can't lock my elbows so things like planks - or similar activities that benefit from locked elbows - are kind of a weakness for me. At the time, I was a CPR and EMS instructor and I couldn't do conventional CPR, had to modify.

Road bike riding isn't a problem especially since I learned that one shouldn't lock elbows anyway. Rough roads and a lot of vibration get a little painful at times.

My healing and re-hab was: they kept me in splints for a couple of weeks, but after that, I was encouraged to remove the splints and move the joint as much as possible and do PT (i.e. straightening exercises, strengthen tricepts) asap. I went on a 2 week canoe trip within a month of the injuries, without any problems.

They were sort of painful regularly for a couple of years after the injuries, but after that, mostly pain free. Every once in a while I get some pain from over use, but a few days of good steady dosing with an NSAID will knock it down.

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