Arm injury update #5...Now a couple of hours post-op...still grogy

Prayers and best wishes for a quick and complete recovery.

Way to keep your chin up when the punches keep coming kid!

You're very fortunate that the surgery and scope was done immediately after the injury. I'm sure the Dr. told you the longer you wait to fix an elbow injury the worse off your prognosis is...

The first Ortho Dr. I had was as worthless as a 2 legged horse....he was incompetent, didn't or couldn't do an elbow scope and told me that there was nothing that could be done... he didn't want to refer me out. And he also told me "I had to tough it out"...
It was 6 years from the time I injured my elbow, until my first scope...5 years later the technology improved again and I had the second scope. The damage is done, but the pain is gone. You are so fortunate to have had the guts and the people around you wanting and willing to do the surgery immediately...

When it's all said and done you'll have a myriad of different colored Ortho bands to hang on your wall like track ribbons...
And a full set of dumbbells to use for years to come...

Good luck!

Ken B said:

Prayers and best wishes for a quick and complete recovery.

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Thank you for the prayers and well wishes for a quick and complete recovery, Ken B. I'm going to do everything in my power to get back as quickly as my body will allow. The fix is done...now the time for work has begun.

slugger3 said:

Way to keep your chin up when the punches keep coming kid!

You're very fortunate that the surgery and scope was done immediately after the injury. I'm sure the Dr. told you the longer you wait to fix an elbow injury the worse off your prognosis is...

The first Ortho Dr. I had was as worthless as a 2 legged horse....he was incompetent, didn't or couldn't do an elbow scope and told me that there was nothing that could be done... he didn't want to refer me out. And he also told me "I had to tough it out"...
It was 6 years from the time I injured my elbow, until my first scope...5 years later the technology improved again and I had the second scope. The damage is done, but the pain is gone. You are so fortunate to have had the guts and the people around you wanting and willing to do the surgery immediately...

When it's all said and done you'll have a myriad of different colored Ortho bands to hang on your wall like track ribbons...
And a full set of dumbbells to use for years to come...

Good luck!

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Thank you for your comments, Slugger3. It seems like lately life has been throwing me a bunch of lemons but I keep making lemonade. But yeah, it seems like I've been in a 5 round fight with Miesha Tate (for those that don't know she is the UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion). But keep getting up. My original doctor felt they could do the surgery but there was no mention of scoping my elbow. No real mention of rehab. No real mention of ones they'd refer. The doctor in Philadelphia that did my surgery, she was the one I was originally refered to by the doctor at the walk-in clinic. She was so good. I give her kudos for going above and beyond what I had expected. I thought it was going to just be a surgery, get the plates inserted, be refered to rehab and I'd be done. She scoped my elbow and cleaned it out while she was in there. Plus, she came and talked to my parents and I in the recovery room, came to my room before she left for the night and came to my room before I was discharged from the hospital. I go back to see her Friday to check on everything and see how the splints doing. Then a week after that, I get the stitches removed. She said to me that I should fully recover from this and have full range of motion. She's glad I didn't fool around and wait. She said I seem like the kind of athlete that is a leader in the field and will do what it takes to get back as fast as possible.

My mouth does still hurt from the braces. I expected it to. My teeth just feels...I don't know...tight. Right now, I'm rocking blue and silver..my sister's little league team colors. I had to laugh when you said about my rubber bands...I could see myself doing that though...lol. I'm not sure though what you meant by dumbbells though. Well I have to cut this off. My nurse is coming to take me to rehab.

You'll end up doing rehab on your own with the Ortho bands and dumbbells you'll end up buying.
I used heavier dumbbells for rehab exercises and to try to get range of motion back. I'd hold my arm over the edge of a chair with a 20-30 lb dumbbell to try to stretch the elbow back out...
You probably will not have to do that since you caught it so early.

slugger3 said:

You'll end up doing rehab on your own with the Ortho bands and dumbbells you'll end up buying.
I used heavier dumbbells for rehab exercises and to try to get range of motion back. I'd hold my arm over the edge of a chair with a 20-30 lb dumbbell to try to stretch the elbow back out...
You probably will not have to do that since you caught it so early.

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Today, my orthopedic therapist wanted to assess my range of motion I have and what my pain tolerance is. Right now, I'm probably at 35-40% range of motion. I didn't think that was bad for being one day post op. I was really hurting after rehab...but I still wanted to go for a run afterward.

I'll probably be getting some bands and stuff to workout at home. Also, we have a family membership at our local gym. My brother and I probably use our gym membership the most. This evening in therapy, they had me using the lightest bands and the lightest barbells.

What were some of the workouts you did when you rehabbed your arm?

I did alot of the standard tricep exercises they recommended. But for the situation i was in, where I had lost 45-50 degrees of motion in my right elbow, I did some unorthodox exercises that your therapist might frown upon.
I got nearly 10 degrees of range of motion back by doing these 2 exercises...
I'd hold onto 10-15 pounds of weight and hang my arm over the edge of a chair for up to 30 minutes. I'd periodically bounce the weight to try to stretch the elbow out.
I'd also do the same exercises with 25-30 dumbbells for 5-10 minutes. It was painful, but it worked.
You're much better off than I was since you caught it so early.
I don't think you'll have as much of a problem as I did.
With the elbow, you ABSOLUTELY have to do the rehab regiment that they prescribe. Otherwise you won't get the range of motion back.
Good luck!

slugger3 said:

I did alot of the standard tricep exercises they recommended. But for the situation i was in, where I had lost 45-50 degrees of motion in my right elbow, I did some unorthodox exercises that your therapist might frown upon.
I got nearly 10 degrees of range of motion back by doing these 2 exercises...
I'd hold onto 10-15 pounds of weight and hang my arm over the edge of a chair for up to 30 minutes. I'd periodically bounce the weight to try to stretch the elbow out.
I'd also do the same exercises with 25-30 dumbbells for 5-10 minutes. It was painful, but it worked.
You're much better off than I was since you caught it so early.
I don't think you'll have as much of a problem as I did.
With the elbow, you ABSOLUTELY have to do the rehab regiment that they prescribe. Otherwise you won't get the range of motion back.
Good luck!

Click to expand...

Right now they're mainly having me work to strengthen my biceps and triceps. I'm doing a lot of work with the Ortho bands they have there plus I'm doing some occupational rehab. In just a couple of sessions I've gained a little bit of motion back in my elbow. But I'm also putting in an extra session where I'm working out on my own and pushing what my arm is capable of and seeing what is comfortable to me. I want you to picture a table. I place my elbow on the table. the point I place my elbow is 0 degrees. The surface of the table is 90 degrees. I can bend my elbow to roughly 25 degrees from the surface of the table without being in a lot of pain. I'm feeling good and my arm is feeling good.