This is the first time I revisited the blog in years. I'm glad it's still being read. I would recommend anybody in a recovery situation to read about the experiences of others in the comments section, since they give perspectives different than my own. I was very lucky to having completely recovered.
It has been another great year, although I have stopped running due to knee issues. I still can't complete more than six pull ups in a row. But that's good enough for me.
I hardly think about the accident and I've been back ice rink several times without fear. But I've met even more colleagues and friends of friends who also broke their humerus. Often, it turns out, by slipping on a wet floor or falling in the stairs at home. It's dangerous outside, but perhaps more dangerous at home… Several of them, if not most, have not recovered completely. Some have difficulties sleeping, while others never regained full range of motion. Sorry, I don't mean to discouraging, rather there's something to be learned. I think my PT did the right thing: he had a mean streak, but by emphasizing the importance of, and forced me to working the ROM early on and not worry so much about muscle mass, I recovered. I really wanted to use heavier weights early on, but his arguments were quite compelling and I trusted him. In hindsight, the PT was a much more important person than the orthopedic surgeon.
Eight years ago to the day and six days after the accident, the brace was not on, I was still taking Percocet and not knowing what was going to happen, how hard the recovery would be and how much PT that would be necessary. In the end, the accident made me a stronger person. Most of all it taught me that life could change really quickly, and that good health should not be taken for granted.
16 comments:
Hi, I broke my right humerus shaft 8 weeks ago. Seems the treatment for this break is completely different in the US than the UK.. at first I was given a collar and cuff (four nurses arguing over the correct way for me to wear it)
Second night I'd manage to get in to a very painful position while sleeping and couldn't get back up so had to call for ambulance, paramedics decided to apply a sling.
After consulting with the doctor he decided this wasn't acceptable and gave me another collar and cuff but raising my arm higher than it was originally.
1 week later I had 2nd x-ray, bone had lined up perfectly. Given a back cast from shoulder to wrist at 90° angle. Terrible and still in a hell of a lot of pain!
3rd week, another x-ray, still no callus formation or difference pain wise. Could barely hold the weight of my toothbrush.
4th week, another x-ray. Still no improvement
Same again week 5-no improvement. Discussed the possabilty of surgery. However I did have my cast removed and asked to do small movements with my wrist, oh and quit smoking (felt like they maybe should have informed me of the delays of bone heeling before now)
They added a brace from shoulder to elbow, uncomfortable at first but 100% better than a cast.
It's been another 4 weeks since then. Not a single cigarette And a healthier diet (due to reading benifits of certain super foods online) I have my next x-ray tomorrow. I'm extremely nervous. I have more movement in my hands and wrist, and can bare a lot more weight. But still have no movement in the top of my arm or elbow without assisting.
I think this is due to the complete lack of pt and no guidance / advice from my doctor whatsoever!
I've also suffered mild depression throughout this experience. It's the Christmas period, I'm a tattoo artist and have had to cancel a huge amount of clients and have barely stepped foot in rather studio, I was on track to play my first championships in roller derby this year and have had to back out. Relying on your partner for everything (even washing my hair and doing up certain pieces of underwear) is so embarrassing and frustrating. Being sat in all day when I usually have such a busy, fast pace lifestyle is depressing in itself. I really feel for anyone who has to deal with a break like this.
I am so happy your arm heeled quick and without complication. It's nice to read a good story (as good as can be) instead of the horror stories I keep coming across. Feel that reading this has made me feel a little better about my appointment tomorrow.
Tomorrow will decide whether I need surgery or not, an absolutely terrifying thought.
I apologise for my huge essay just a little good to rant to someone who has been through the same thing (no one understands how difficult the simplest of tasks can be, or the pain!)
Thanks for the blog, it's helped.. oh and baby wipes �� good shout!
Very inspirational and resourceful blog. It was great to read through many different individual experiences and opinions with a variety of advice and tips. Im 6 weeks into my "journey" after a 4 part proximal humerus fracture and its been stressful to say the least. Initially the first hospital I was at said that only 1 in 3 people with a fracture, such as the one I have, gain full range of motion but I am much more optimistic as was the second hospital I received surgery at. Im 26 and 2 weeks into physical therapy [3x a week] and hoping for a complete recovery. Very nice of you to continue to update many years after. Hope this year is great for you and everyone else dealing with this life impediment
Thank you for this blog! I broke my right humerus falling off a ladder while painting on 9 December 2016. The radial nerve is recovering, but very slowly. I am in the soft side compression brace and did not have to have surgery. Reading the experiences of others is quite helpful.
Well this has been an enlightening read! Even though this was all so very long ago it's incredible to read so thanks very much. Like most people who comment, I also broke my humerus. The left one to be exact. Unfortunately it was not a clean break at all, and during a simple game of 5 a side football I managed to take a stumble during a full sprint and slammed into a solid wooden barrier. In the moments before it happened where I knew I was in for a painful impact I tucked my head down and took it all along my shoulder/back... Sort of like you would going in for a Rugby scrum? Anyways my left arm whipped out and smashed into the wood, and then also landed in a nasty position to break in three places. Basically a butterfly fracture. The sort part was the segment that now "floats" in the middle also had fractures running lengthways as well.
Here is an xray from the day i broke it:
[IMG]http://i63.tinypic.com/2ppbwjq.jpg[/IMG]
When the surgeon saw this he was mortified. I had a nice 4-5 hour Open Reduction Internal Fixation operation where they fixed it all together with the biggest metal plate you've ever seen! It runs almost the entire bone. My surgeon described how worried he was as the break was literally next to the radial nerve and he had to slide the plate under it. Intense stuff (do not google the operation... I regret it).
This all happened on the 22nd December so I had a nice Christmas in the hospital cause they wouldn't let me go home until the feeling returned to my left hand (they blocked the nerve to save me the first 24 hours of pain from having such massive surgery). Here is what it looks like at my last xray 3 weeks ago:
[IMG]http://i65.tinypic.com/20i6xao.jpg[/IMG]
I am due another xray in a weeks time and I am hoping to see some callus and bone healing. Considering the severity of the fracture im not in any constant pain but my range of motion in both my elbow and shoulder is very limited. I'm not sure if the plate is blocking movement or something else but only time will tell.
As for how I felt when it happened? Well first I was mortified at the unnatural angle! An arm should never be able to bend that way and it will haunt me forever. I actually felt no pain on the initial impact against the wall or floor, nor did I head the bone break. But afterwards and any slight movement was 10/10 agonising. I was initially told to make my own way to the hospital. As soon as people tried to get me up off the floor I literally screamed and everybody knew I was not budging haha. But I then had to wait on the cold December night floor for 30-40 minutes. The ambulance crew were great and managed to get me into a sling with the help of an entire tank of gas and air. I was floating high that night but still the pain was like a thousand knives trying to burst out from my arm.
Maybe I should do my own blog, I seem to have written enough! Anyways again thank you for the read and I hope my recovery is quick. Glad you are doing well all this time later.
Just want to say thanks for this blog. I'm 12 weeks along after a proximal humerus break. Doctors and PT are reluctant to talk about typical recovery ("No two breaks are alike.") and they REALLY hate having you compare your recovery to anyone else's (unless you're definitely ahead of schedule), so I have appreciated seeing the details of your exercises, progress, and pain levels for each week. At least I have some idea of what to expect and how to gauge my own progress. When progress seems agonizingly slow, I check in with your blog and find reassurance that eventually I should get there.
I'm reading my way through your blog. I also broke my humerus ice skating just over 5 weeks ago. It's a mid shaft transverse fracture. I'm finding the whole experience frustrating and depressing. I'm obviously more active and in control than I give myself credit for. Most of all I'm finding the lack of information about this type of fracture and an estimated recovery time extremely frustrating - I just what some idea of when this nightmare will be over !! I haven't slept properly since the aciident and I long to lay down in my bed rather than sleeping upright on my sofa (I also bruised my coccyx badly making sitting up in bed excruciating ). I salute people like you who give us all a light at the end of a tunnel
Thank you for the update. it was very helpful to hear your story of recovery. Patient perspective us important. I just had a humerus fracture 2 weeks ago. I sort of know what to expect.
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Hi, I appreciate all your stories. I will share mine so far. I broke my shoulder/humerus June15th, 2017. I had a 2 point fracture with a sublaxation like a kind of partial dislocation, my humerus was down below the ball of my socket but in alignment. I fell. My initial period was complicated by a condition called hypnatremia which makes one dizzy, confused nauseous and bleary eyed. I couldn't do my passive exercises because I got too dizzy and nauseous. This persisted for a while however still I was recovering. I had a brace and home care for 6 weeks. Then the orthopedic doctor took the brace off saying the fracture was 65% healed. This was a big day as I could hardly stand the brace and wanted to rear it off. I did loosen it at night in bed and left my arm lie straight beside me. After the brace came off I had some PT. I couldn't lift my arm off the bed even at the elbow. i would lift my right (broken) arm with my left hand and place it on my stomach and stroke my hand. Then I would slide my left hand under my right hand and try to encourage it to respond but it would just lie there light and almost lifeless. These were trying days that can test your strength of mind and body.
For pain, I used many massage oils: ashwaganda oil, Arnica oil, castor oil, and Mahanarayana oil. You can buy these online. I alternated them. For pain after the worse (11 days) I used an essential oil called German or Blue Chamomile oil. It is wonderful for pain and would help me increase my ROM when I used it before any exercise. Be sure you get a therapeutic quality.
Most things seemed to have improved bit by bit except for my ROM. I have been able to raise my arm to the side to 90 degrees and straight forward to 140 degrees for some time but I hadn't seen any improvement until today 8/8/17. This occurred as all the other muscles seem to be relaxing more and more and then there was some breakthrough and the range increased and the popping was much less.
Monday I go to see my Orthopedic doctor. My last visit was 4 weeks ago and there had not been significant healing for 2 weeks so I am hoping these next X-rays will show complete healing of the humerus and I am anxious about it. I know my arm is stronger but there is still some pain there and I am not sure wether it is the humerus of the deltoid muscle.
When the PT's try to stretch it out, they say it is stuck but little by little the surrounding area is softening up and I think the rest will unstick and stretch soon. I am 72 ans only have a slight ostopenia and I feel I am healing well.
I don't stretch too much into the pain. As of yet I haven't had too. I think the massage oils which I use daily, in the beginning, I kept applying them through the day and now mostly at night, have helped enormously. I put a small towell under and over my arm to protect the sheets and blankets and to keep my arm warm. I still don't dare to move quickly or unexpectedly during the night or during the day if I can help it. I can now do many day time tasks with my right hand and it feels fairly normal except for the limited ROM and also I have a complication with my wrist which is a little swollen and my fingers are weak. The PT havn't addressed this yet.
Good luck to you, Anonymous, who is just a week ahead of me. I hope you are doing well and speedily recovering.
hey,
also broke my humerus in 4 parts and broke the place that holds it. A taxy driver ran over me and my bike. I was angry when it happend so didn't think much about the pain nor if i was hurt. Just wanted to get up get my bike and go home. But when i tried to do that i felt as my arm was loose and then i felt the pain. Went back to the street and a lot of really good people ( angels really ) started helping. My phone flew away from my pocket but someone found it ( not normal in my country ). I guess someone stopped the traffic and called friends and family.
Since the public health collected me they had to take me to a public hospital and the ride was alful and the hospital even worse. Nobody cared and they just left me asside while i was agonizing ( at that time the pain was in its worst level ). Thank God my sister managed to come in and not without a good fight after beeing torrured by xray students i was realesed to another hospital after 6 hours. They had already gived me morphine 10mg but i was still feeling it a lot. But when i got to the new hospital things started to get better and the pain was slowly reducing. I was afraid of the cirgury but had no other option.
But the anestesist was really smart and quick and i felt nothing. But when i got back to my room i was felling severe pain in my "good" arm. Looks like they placed me over it through the 5 hour cirgury.
We bought something to hold my arm. I felt no pain since i left the hospital and now i'm in my 4 week. A bit afraid of the recovery part. 40 sessions of PT. And red a bit of your stories so i use to work out a lot and do sports. so i was afraid i was not going to be able anymore. And looks like thats a real possibility. My doctor told me a would have a full recovery in a year and that i 2 years would be away from danger.
Got mine oblique Mid Shaft Feature on 15th Jan 2018. In my 5th week. A Non Invasive recovery for me by god grace. Sleeping is the toughest part in this period. Reading your Blog to get some tips and it was really helpful. I am taking a bath partially and wishing to get a good shower soon as my plaster cast is still on for another two weeks as doctor advised. The best way to recover soon is your diet and keep the fracture immobilize as much as you can. The fracture was an eye-opener for me and after I recover my first aim is to loose weight as it was the major factor that the arm got fracture when I fall.
I recently broke my humerus, midshaft, and have found this blog so helpful. It has inspired me to document my journey too: https://medium.com/series/40cd495bbad0?source=linkShare-cc56bb288105-1520428931
More than happy to be contacted by anyone who has experienced this break now or in the future - I think it’s so helpful to speak to others who have had similar experiences :)
Well, this is interesting. I want to thank you for this great article. Thanks for sharing this :)
rounded shoulders brace
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Thank you for sharing your experience here. I really learned a lot. Midshaft Humerus Fracture-Transverse. Third Week. I just want to ask if you have a Xray of your arm a year after the accident? Does it still look like the one that you have had on your 18th week? I am really worried about mine. Thank you.
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