Thursday, December 22, 2011

Humerus Day

Half jokingly we call December 22 Humerus Day. It's a day to remember the accident and be grateful for the successful recovery, and a day to appreciate our health.

I have since the accident three years ago encountered friends and friends of friends who also fractured their bones, and in a few cases even their humerus. Sometimes the break was far from as severe as mine, but the recovery took more time nevertheless. It seems to be almost impossible to predict how the healing will go based on the initial x-ray. Nerves can get damaged and so can tendons and the blood circulation.

I have no recurring nightmares about falling, but last summer I fell during running at deep decline and rolled around on the asphalt a couple of turns. The pain was quite severe and my first thought was to check the mobility of my arms. The injuries were mere scratches and healed in a couple of weeks. But the incident reminded me again how quickly things can change.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Two-year update 2

I just read some comments to my Two-year update post. Philip asked how I could be happy not having a straight bone. That's a good question, so I'll respond:

I am happy because I'm not aware of any angle. The last x-ray was taken long time ago, and before the bone had healed. Also, my doctor use to say that the x-ray image was lagging a few weeks behind what was happening inside. It was then strong enough for daily life (perhaps not push-ups). The angle at the last x-ray at week 18 was not that bad, a few degrees, perhaps, but it didn't look completely aligned – that's true.

What then happens in the healing process was that the bone solidifies and the body moves bone material from one side to the other, so that the angle more or less disappears. This is called Remodeling and doesn't only occur after a fracture, but throughout life. It also adapts to stress: a right handed tennis player will have higher bone mass in the right arm.

How much "straightening out" that has occurred in my case is impossible to say without another x-ray, but why take another image (and be exposed to more radiation) when things are going fine? Apparently, the remodeling after a fracture could take up to five years, so things are still happening in there. But today I performed 20 dips on gymnastic rings, not too shabby for a middle-aged former couch potato, who couldn't perform even one only three years ago.

When I feel the humerus bone, it's impossible to tell that it was ever broken and no misconfiguration is visible from any angle. So to my knowledge, it is perfect.

Thanks for the question Philip!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Two-year update

I didn't think I would write more, but since this blog is still read, I'll give a brief update.

Two years ago, I just started the cable column workouts (with no weights). Being in the gym triggered an interest in strength training and CrossFit, something I've never been into before. I don't exercise too much in the gym now, one–two sessions a week in addition to running and biking, but I can now do fairly advanced body-weight exercises such as pull-ups and dips something that helps running form. I'm significantly stronger than before the accident, and I have no restriction in my range of motion or any kind of pain. In a strange way, the accident changed my life in a positive direction.

I just discovered a fantastic blog for stretching that would have come handy two years ago: Mobility WOD. WOD is CrossFit jargon for Workout of the Day. The blogger, Kelly Starrett, who posts one exercise a day for one full year is a PT and CrossFitter and is convinced that stretching is absolutely necessary, not only for athletes. Many of the exercises are intended for the lower body, but search the archives for "shoulder", and quite a few videos pop up, many of which use a rubber band, such as this one.