Does anyone use a wrist brace?
I have a scaphoid fracture in my right hand/wrist and have raced on it past three race weekends but it is very uncomfortable causing major pains in my hand and wrist which is less than ideal for throttle and brake hand. Just wonder if anyone else has dealt with this.
I fell down at Barber in Sept of 2011. Broke 6 ribs, cracked my sternum and my wrist hurt pretty bad. Doc said my wrist was not broke and gave me a big bottle of Norco. I tried to be easy on the wrist hoping it was just sprained. Went snowmobiling in January of 2012 and road 1200 miles in 5 days. My wrist hurt so bad i almost couldn't stand it. Went back in and they found my Scaphoid was broke. Went through surgery in Feb of 2012. Stayed off the bike until May. I just said fuck it the thing hurts I don't care I want to ride. Went in for X-rays last month. The screw is windshield whippering around in there. It's not healing properly. Doc says we need to do a bone graph or put new pin in. He has me on a bone stimulator device right now for 30 min a day. Sometimes I remember to use it sometimes I don't. It's been almost 2 years since the break and my wrist is still completely fucked. But I don't care because I want to ride. The right wrist scaphoid break sucks for a motorcycle racer. Throttle and brake hand and take FOREVER to heal if you keep on using it. 2 years now and mine still isn't healed. I gave up on it and just take the pain.
You oth may want to do a little research on the scaphoid break. It is a pretty common break for motorcyclist, rugby players, football players and roller bladers. Typically anything you can fall and land onto the palm of your hand. I had a low speed crash in 2010 and broke my scaphoid. I also suffered from a Bennett's fracture(base of the thumb) and a communities fracture at the tip of my thumb.
Recovery has been good but I do have some deficits. Due to a limit in the mobility of my wrist, I now do push ups on my knuckles. I am still working on increasing mobility but not as much as I first did. I would rehab myself on top of my rehab visits doing the same techniques as they would. I would rehab myself five times a day, it was my primary goal.
The scaphoid is one of the most difficult bones to heal and many times it does not heal. This is due largely due to the blood flow to the bone. It is typically fed from one end and not both. A complete break will be more severe and has a worse prognosis. Early union of the bone halves make for a better prognosis. Utilizing the wrist under stress only puts undue pressure and movement to the bone never allowing this union. Surgery is often times used to reduce the fracture and physically put the bone back n the best position for this union. Even with this union it does not guarantee that this bone will heal.
Nicholas, that bone stimulator is one of the last ditch efforts that is used to help with healing. The more you stress it the less likely the healing. After two years with little progress the prognosis is worse for the healing process. Now just because there is pain does not mean that healing hasn't occurred. Mine has complete healing but there are times in certain positions that I have pain. That to me is my body telling me not to do that.
I initially used a wrist brace to help with the stability of my wrist and scaphoid fracture. It is unbelievable how many times I struck the injured thumb against objectives while walking.
You can go all your life without realizing that the scaphoid has been broken. There was one woman that did just did. I met her during my rehab. She lost a lot of strength and mobility in that arm. If the bone does not heal the typical choice is a bone graft. Then the bone stimulator can be used to help promote healing. In the end there are prosthetics that are used, but depending on the orthopedic opinion it is best to use living tissue, meaning your own scaphoid healing.
The choice is yours. Do the work and get it to heal or neglect it and hope it heals.
One more thing. X rays don't always show fractures and many times it can take two weeks before a fracture shows on the X-ray. The best people reading those X-rays are the radiologists and an ortho. Just because someone is a doctor doesn't mean the have the craft of reading X-rays.
Thanks for the insight. Going soon to get it checked out. My first dr. appointment month or so ago he told me to just ignore it.
That's why they call it practicing medicine. I don't know the specialty of the doctor you first saw but I would suggest an orthopedic is who want to see.