In July 2009 I landed with my right arm extended whilst playing football (soccer) and broke my radial head into multiple pieces. It took the surgeon 5 hours to replace the radial head. Ever since the surgery I've been scouring the web day and night "researching" for some answers on my injury that I sustained over a year ago. I found medical articles provide good technical overviews (many of them outdated), various medical statistics etc of my injury but didn't really provide any real life case studies for me to relate.
So here's my story:
The radial head replacement involved the surgeon cutting a 20 cm incision along back of my elbow then screwing in a titanium rod into my radius. He then topped it off with a metal cap. The incision was stitched up with 30 metal staples.I was in a half cast for 7 days and on various pain killers. I then went back to the hospital to take out the staples. The nurse took these out with tweesers and I must say the worst part was when she rubbed alcoholic cotton rub over the skin. Some of the cotton got caught in the staples and pulled on the raw skin and the pain was excruciating!
At this point, my elbow was pretty much fixed at 90 degrees. I was told by the surgeon that I needed to exercise (force) the elbow movements at least twice a day over 10 - 12 weeks. That is, bending (flexion &extension) and rotation (pronation and supination).
A phsyio then installed a full length elbow brace. The brace completely disables the arm from rotating but allows for restricted bending. I was sent home with more pain killers. I did the exercises as directed (without the brace) over the weeks. At first it was very painful and could only cope with little rotation and bending. I did rotational movement by gently rotating it with my other hand. I would also put my forearm against the wall and gently push against it to force the arm towards my shoulder. It was very painful but i kept at it everyday.
After 1-2 weeks, I saw some improvements in my range of motion which really encouraged me. At 8 weeks I saw dramatic improvements. I was almost able to touch my shoulder with my thumb and had nearly full extension. I was out of my brace and I could drive, type freely with some pain.
After 11 weeks, I could easily touch my shoulder but my extension was a little off compared to my other arm. Nonetheless I was very happy. Also, pain in my arm subsided and I could do everyday things without any pain.
Fast forward 6 months. I took up golf again and felt minimal pain. The pain was actually tenderness around the joint but always went away after a days rest. I continued with the exercises but less regularly. maybe twice a week.
Fast forward 1.5 years. I am still playing golf and about to return to football in couple of months. I plan to do a lot of strengthening exercises for my wrist, elbow and arm. I found that using Gyroscope is quite helpful.
I realise now that when i was researching what i was really looking for was something that provided the means for people who have experiences similar injuries to share their experience in one place. At least then people can realise that they are not alone in this and hopefully share any information that may help them through the trauma as well as set some realistic expectations about their injury. These are the reasons for starting this blog (my first).
I will update this blog time to time on my progress. In the meantime, please feel free to post your questions and experiences
Cheers
