dislocated elbow... Help?

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psycobill

 
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by psycobill » Thu Mar 11, 2010 5:09 pm

Thanks guys, I feel very lucky hearing some of the stories regarding similar injuries... Wow mconnell, I'm glad you didn't respond earlier, I probably would have cried like a baby (or cursed you) hearing your story.

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Slwyant

 
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Re: dislocated elbow... Help?

by Slwyant » Tue May 08, 2012 2:42 am

Hey Josh (and everyone!),

I know this is an old thread, but I figured it was worth a shot. I was wondering how your return to climbing went. I'm a rock climber as well and had a full posterior dislocation of my elbow after a fall. We took the cast off 3-4 days after the injury and started gentle rehab immediately. It's been a little over a month now and, while I've made some huge strides, I've hit my first wall in the recovery process. It's beyond frustrating and the idea of not climbing for several more months is some brand of torture. I've also been told recently by a few people who've had this injury that I shouldn't count on ever returning to full function. Hoping to find a climber or two with a reassuring story to the contrary!! Would really appreciate any insight that anyone can give me.

Thank you all :)
- Sarah

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nataliejwong

 
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Re: dislocated elbow... Help?

by nataliejwong » Thu May 24, 2012 3:21 am

Hi Sarah,

I'm in my sixth month of recovery as of today. Dislocated my left elbow (posterior-medial) and badly sprained my left ankle during a bouldering comp back in November. I was in a cast for 4-5 weeks because I torn my ligament in my elbow. My elbow was swollen, and super stiff from scar tissue build up. For first month, I couldn't walk or do anything. It was horrible. Physio was more painful than the dislocation and definitely not fun. I didn't do any climbing for at least 5 months for me. As of today, I still haven't gotten full ROM though, but still working on physio exercises and using a JAS elbow brace (http://www.jointactivesystems.com/).

Update (Nov 07, 2012)
It's been one full year since my elbow injury. Unfortunately, I haven't gain my full range of motion, and I don't think I will. However, I'm quite happy where I am compared to a year ago. I'm missing about 15 degrees each way, but I've been able to do most things including climbing. :) I'll continue to work on stretching my arm.

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gopro123

 
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Re: dislocated elbow... Help?

by gopro123 » Wed Sep 24, 2014 7:13 pm

Hi Everyone,

I dislocated my right elbow about 3 weeks ago from falling on hyper extended arm. It was pushed back in place at the ER and splinted for about 10 days (no fractures but Orthopedic said i probably tore the ligaments). After that I started physical therapy and now i can get about 165 degrees extension. I'm going to have an MRI tonight as I asked the orthopedic for it. He said I don't really need it as elbow looks like healing good. I would like to know if any of you guys think I can get full ROM in the future if I keep doing the PT? And also if I should be worried about any permanent weakness in the elbow?

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thewisdomtree

 
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Re: dislocated elbow... Help?

by thewisdomtree » Mon Oct 13, 2014 8:25 pm

This is an old post but I figured I would add my experience since I would have liked to have read it myself when I dislocated my elbow. Basically mountain bike incident fully dislocated my elbow it did not get relocated for about an hour. the key points.

No broken bones
Relocated "well" nothing tangled or caught
Basically tore everything in my elbow but nothing got torn in half or off the bone...
Surgeon 1 suggest surgery ASAP
surgeon 2 says no surgery
Surgeon 3 says MAYBE surgery in 3 months AFTER range of motion comes back

I chose no surgery, never stopped moving my arm (always strectching as far as I could with my own muscles not hanging on it etc at first) I think moving the arm is crucial to regaining you ROM keep it moving even when it feels really weird not if it hurts though... I had a brace but arm was always able to move
Started PT after about 3 weeks (arm was about 30 degrees from straight WEAK)
Went to physical thearapy : active release thearapy was the method and i think it was really helpful. Also did acupuncture (may or may not have helped) and continued stretching alot. Also ran a few miles a day which i think was good just to get blood moving and keep my body/arm active. After 3 weeks of PT (~6 wks total) my arm is completely straight and I can hang cautiously on it on my hang board (not the injured arm alone) after 7 weeks i can do half pull ups(90 to up back to 90) and can ride my mountain bike on mellow trails. it has now been 8.5 weeks and i can do pull ups and have climbed a few V3 and V4 that dont involve big moves with the injured arm (i usually only climb V5-6 when im healthy so this is pretty good especially factoring in my muscle loss from atrophy)
the moral:
Surgeon 1 said I was f#cked - I was not
Basically within 2 months i am back to pretty good condition. Obviously the elbow is still weaker and more delicate than my other but i can climb bike and basically do all my normal activities! Surgeon 3 says im fine and PT says im good to go. Take it easy at first keep the arm moving and do PT/stretching ALOT and you CAN recover and i know that can be hard to believe in the early stages.
PS i also switched to a pretty elite "paleo" diet of VegaOne, plants, meat, and lots of herbs most notably Reishi mushroom tincture and tea / yerba mate / chaga and cordecyp mushrooms / cacao and nettle (this debativly affected the healing time but maybe it did...)

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Christifurrr

 
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Re: dislocated elbow... Help?

by Christifurrr » Wed Dec 03, 2014 4:24 pm

I dislocated my elbow 6 weeks ago and have been tracking my progress. It isn't all negative........

http://christifurrr.silvrback.com/my-re ... ated-elbow

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