Fused wrist

[Angustoyou]

Wondered if anyone has had to cope with this, or something similar. Just had a full fusion of the left wrist. I should be fine to ride in 6 months, but I won't have any up or down or sideways movement. My fingers and thumb will be fully operational, just wondered if the constant pounding off road is going to loosen screws or cause me any other problems.

[HRRacing]

Not a fused wrist, but I did receive a bone graft with temporary pins for 6 months in my left wrist. I lost more than half of my forward and back motion. I waited another 6 months before I started riding again. No adverse effects from riding. It's been 7 years since the injury. I do wear a wrist brace on every ride. The only problem I have is aching in the winter time when it gets below freezing. I do religiously exercise every day. That helps a lot having muscle strength. Less stress on the joints. I eliminated my physical therapy sessions with exercise.

[mtbeta300rr]

I had a full fusion to my left wrist 3 1/2 years ago. First year it hurt to ride so I tried Flexx bars. The flexx bars really helped with the pounding you take. I have since went back to the stock bars, I do exercise the hand, fingers and forearm daily which does help. There is still an ache in the wrist. If flexed to hard it does hurt, but that usually happens when I wreck so other parts hurt also. It does not interfere with my dirt bike or snow biking. You do need to be patient and rehab it hard. Screw is still in wrist and no issues at this time with fusion.

[Angustoyou]

That's good to hear. Thanks for posting up, it's re-assuring to hear from those that have suffered big opps like this and cope well afterwards. My wrist had got to the stage that if I rode for a solid hour I could barely use it for 2 weeks, and certainly couldn't ride, so if I can go back to mild temporary discomfort after a days riding I'll be well chuffed.

If you have any tips on rehab and excersises i'd love to hear them, or if you could point me to some good advice that would be great. Thamks chaps.

[Angustoyou]

Just an update for anyone that's searching for the same issue I had and stumbles across this.

The op hurt like hell for 2 days after, should have been a day op that turned into an overnight, as the insides were messier than expected, and took twice as long. Crappy dead bone on the damaged scaphoid scraped back to good, dead loose floating bit discarded, remaining cartlidge removed, bone graft from the mounting point from the forearm bone to give a flat base for the plate, and encourage bone fusion for all the wrist bones. Elevated in a sling with a plaster cast on, and told to wiggle fingers as much as possible, so I did. Down to just paracetemol after 3 days and no need for anything after a week and a half. 2 weeks later plaster removed, stitches out, new plaster for another month, keep wriggling! Improved my diet, didn't worry about weight gain, I figured better over nourished than under.

Plaster off, told to use and excersise to 70% of old capability. Phsyio advised on what I'd already found, keep it moving, kerp stretching, exercise, build strength back through rep sets, building the strain up as you go. Suprisingly weak muscles so quickly, played with a squash ball, hand grip strength thing, and got used to using it as much as I could. Day to day strength came back quite quickly. Scar massages daily and tendon stretching 3 or 4 times a day at least. 2.5 months after op rode on the road bike for the first time, with a lot of clutch work, no issues. Mountain bike commute is still painful, swapped bars and still can't get comfy. Seems to be the palm of the thumb that hurts. Can live with that, and it's very slowly improving.

4 months after op, xray and all clear to "do whatever it is you like to do", including full off roading. Woop woop! Xray shows no pin movement (so not over strained it) and some fusion of the bones, expected complete in 12-18 months. A bad fall that resulted in a break would see the forearm bone break or the pins pullout before the wrist gets damaged. All highly unlikely. Recovery to 90% strength now, and a possible 95% max. Continue exercising and tendon gliding daily, becoming a habit, and certainly not a chore.

Had my first two enduro hare and hounds and everything is good. Except my bike fitness. No pain when riding, no pain after. Muscles still improving, and a slight loss of finger movement in the first 2 fingers, when I close my fist fully those 2 fingers don't flex in as far as the rest. The tendons should stretch a bit if I keep using and excercising. They have further to travel now, over the top of the plate. The wrist muscles ache lightly when I wake up. Vanishes within 5 minutes with a little normal use or flexing when making a brew. I figure that as the wrist doesn't move overnight, my muscles don't either and it's just like sitting in one position only for 7 hours. A non issue. Continue to exercise and massage when I remember to. Abdolutely zero issues in riding, though my 2 finger clutch use shifts to 4 finger as I get tired. Simply need to improve strength and stamina. No pain, just tiredeness.

No real restrictions in use, and everday life, though I'm glad I have full mobility in elbows and shoulders, as picking dishes out of the sink and silly stuff like that demands a bit more movement there. Tight jeans pockets at the front are slightly harder work, as are button flies. They are the work of the devil in any case, and they are being mastered.

Conclusion: I'm really happy I had this op, and wish I hadn't put up with swelling and pain for so long. Also really glad I found and took advice from orhers that have had the same, or similar. Rehab, rehab, rehab - you get out what you put in. Hope this helps someone else. Ride on!

[ricoyam]

Good post!
Gives those in similar situations hope for the future.