Have a set of pins in your wrist or screw in your elbow?

[BeBop]

Shattered one elbow and one wrist today. (Apparently, the other wrist is only badly sprained.) Ulnar nerve damage, and something happened to my coccyx that is causing pressure on the spinal cord.

Treatment for elbow is screws to hold it together. Pins for the wrist. Anyone had this done? Recovery time? Unanticipated hassles? Recommendations?

I trust y'all a lot more than the hypochondriacs who "have a friend who...." on the other boards.

Thanks.

[7/4]

I've had a plate with 12 screws in my thigh bone for 12 years.

[marcello]

I have 16 pins/screws in my left leg. There was another to hold my ankle from moving, but that was taken out after a couple of months. I feel no pain from the metal in my leg ( along with a number of plates), except when it's very cold and I spend a lot of time out doors. Not much though.

I would imagine that it will be different in the wrist and elbow because those are joints. Your hard work in physical therapy will be important for your long term range of motion, so put in the the effort.

[7/4]

Mine isn't on a joint. I never noticed any issues with the cold (it's in the middle of my leg) or with the weather at all.

dB

[Chuck Nessa]

Our son has plates and screws in one wrist and the same in a leg. Two nasty ice falls on consecutive years as a result of Buffalo winters. If you want, PM me and I'll send his email address.

[Rooster_Ties]

This place is amazing.

I trust y'all a lot more than the hypochondriacs who "have a friend who...." on the other boards.

Amen to that.

[Jim Alfredson]

BeBop, sorry to hear about this. Good luck with your recovery and hang in there.

Are you going to be tied down at one place for a bit? Perhaps it's time to send those organissimo albums now?

[marcello]

Our son has plates and screws in one wrist and the same in a leg. Two nasty ice falls on consecutive years as a result of Buffalo winters.

Mine was from a ice fall during a equally nasty Rochester winter.

As a matter of fact, I took a really nice fall last week but didn't break anything.

The next time I fall on my leg they may have to take it off!

I've fracture/broken all sorts of bones on the left side of my body: wrist, collarbone, fingers, leg and elbow.

I's my preferred side to fall on.

7/4, I'm also a homebuilder so I'm in and out of really cold weather and wind all of the time.

Ice, snow, frozen mud...

The winters in New Jersey are like Spring to us here!

Good Luck Bebop!

Edited December 31, 2008 by marcello

[Van Basten II]

I was lucky in a sense i guess, once fell down from the stairs in the subway, ended up with a light concussion, a bruised coccyx and a broken elbow. was split in two with a separation of about 2 millimeters, nurses at the hospital told me it was a beautiful fracture, it was time someone told me i had something beautiful, anyway i disgress. They put me in a half-cast and got stuck with it until the bones would be back in place, took about a month and a half. I'm a lefthander and it obviously the left that was broken, so for all that time, couldn't do much except curse a lot.

Once they took away my cast, i had some rewards, had to go to physiotherapy, had nice ladies putting electrodes on my elbow, then they would make a few exercices to improve the strenght and flexibility. After that she would massage my arm, no extras were offered though.

Nowadays my elbow is back to normal although it remauns slightly crooked and when weather is humid i kinda feel it.

Hope it goes as well for you.

[papsrus]

Shattered one elbow and one wrist today. (Apparently, the other wrist is only badly sprained.) Ulnar nerve damage, and something happened to my coccyx that is causing pressure on the spinal cord.

Treatment for elbow is screws to hold it together. Pins for the wrist. Anyone had this done? Recovery time? Unanticipated hassles? Recommendations?

I trust y'all a lot more than the hypochondriacs who "have a friend who...." on the other boards.

Thanks.

All I got is a few loose screws. ... Sorry to hear about your injuries, and good luck with your recovery.

Oh yeah, and don't forget to ask for some painkillers

Edited December 31, 2008 by papsrus

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

my grandpa invented that, as far as the 20th century accepted methods go

[James]

BeBop..............so very sorry to hear about your situation. Experience with a foot fracture and two right shoulder surgeries (no pins or plates --- just titanium tacks in the shoulder) allows me to second marcello's suggestion re. following rehab directions *religiously.* I have nearly 100% recovery in foot and shoulder as a result of hard work during rehab and beyond, while a former work associate has very poor shoulder mobility as a result of blowing off his rehab. (and his surgery was *much* less involved than mine.)

Best of luck.

James

[James]

Shattered one elbow and one wrist today. (Apparently, the other wrist is only badly sprained.)

By the way............dare we ask what appendage you used to type this post?

(So sorry ---------- couldn't resist)

[BERIGAN]

Sorry to hear about that Bebop! Should I ask how'd it happen??? Did you type all that with one hand, commas and all??? Or do you have some voice recognition system???

[AllenLowe]

Larry Gushee, the great jazz historian, has reported similar news - about 7 or 8 years ago he fell (while visiting in Maine) and had a bunch of stuff put in his arm to hold it together - he was just informed that the whole apparatus has come apart -

I told him he shoulda got the extended warantee -

[BeBop]

Thanks for all the information and well-wishes. I've actually had a knee and a hip replacement in the past, so perhaps it was the fresh-from-the-hospital drugs that had me excited about the prospect of pins n' screws. (Actually, I have pins holding together my collarbones; they've never given me any trouble, other than at airport x-rays, so I've never paid them any attention. But as some have noted, they're not in a joint.)

For now, my fears are under control. so thanks to all who posted.