Radial Head Fracture (Elbow)

[mayabialo77]

4 weeks ago i slipped over at work and put my hand out to break my fall and i ended up fracturing my radial head in my elbow..

I was in agony for 3 days but it's gradually gotten better..

My only worry is.. my elbow won't go straight anymore, if i extend it i get to maybe 95% straightness.

Is this normal? WIll my arm eventually get back to normal?

I fractured my elbow about 20 years ago. It’s now completely straight - you’ll be fine, it just takes a bit of time 😊

Try gentle movement, as much as you can stand, to increase range of movement. I'd advise getting physio/osteopath treatment as soon as possible once the fracture has healed. Have you had your arm in a sling for most of that time? If so it's more likely to freeze into a bent position - at least that was my experience and physio said it's a common injury she sees. It was on a clearly bent angle after 4 weeks of sling and it was impossible to fully straighten or turn/twist.

I'm quite sure that if I hadn't had treatment there is no way mine would have been fully straight afterwards. Luckily I had private medical insurance through work at the time but knowing what I do now, I'd pay for it if I could afford it (NHS delays mean a long wait and treatment isn't 'hands on' enough anyway). My physio really got stuck in to make it move and gave me lots of home exercises s well. It still has the odd twinge when rotating it or lifting something heavy but is essentially back to normal.

I had it out the sling after 1 week and movement is pretty good now..

Like i said it's only 95% extending now..

THe thing is i like to go to the gym and lift weights.. also swimming.. i really want and need my arm back to full normality.

The consultant at the hospital basically shrugged his shoulders and said "there's nothing i can do.. maybe it will come back to normal, maybe not."

It's the NHS so he doesn't really give a toss.

I will look into private physio appointment next week.. 5 weeks is enough for the bone to fully heal?

It may or may not do.

Radial head fracture covers a wide range of injuries.

It will probably improve from where it is now, but my experience is that there's often a subtle loss of extension of you look hard enough.

I had a radial head fracture a year ago and Its only in the last 6 weeks that I've been able to fully straighten it. It didn't hurt or anything, it just wouldn't straighten.

I was seeing a physio for something else about 4 months after it happened and asked him what to do. He said the elbows were tricky things when it came to healing and just to keep stretching it.

Hope yours plays nicely and heals sooner rather than later.

I am exactly 6 months post a mid shaft humerus fracture which needed a plate and over 12 pins.

my surgeon is happy with me regaining extension to around 165 degrees (180 is straight) I have hyper extension so for me is it very noticeable but according to them it is functional. I can fully flex and reach behind my back again.

I had weekly physio from around 4/6 weeks post and it has been a long painful and sometimes depressing road.

I am also active so worry that I will never regain strength on that arm, I struggle to lift 5kg on that arm.

i think bone takes a long time to heal in an adult. Obviously my injury was severe and extremely traumatic but in the 6 month xray I can still clearly see the fracture lines and place where the bone was completely shattered has yet to regrow. while it is healing it is clearly still broken and is still slightly swollen and numb

good luck! It will get better and easier, but don’t be hard on yourself.

I am highly driven and so it was difficult to just accept that there was nothing I could do. Pushing made it worse and I just had to relax and let time do its thing.

Just be gentle to yourself

Fractured the same bone five years ago. It goes 95% straight only, and hurts if I put weight on it eg if I am on hands and knees for Pilates/yoga

I fractured mine when I was young. It took AGES to straighten. You just have to keep doing physio. Touching your shoulder, straightening it, and repeating it. I used to race swimming and got bumped off the team because I couldn’t swim straight until my arm was straight again!🤣

I did this fracture about 7 years ago and was abroad and they cast it hand to shoulder. Which after a few weeks I learned was wrong! So it was very stuck bent for quite a long time. Physio and exercises helped so the sooner you can get onto that the better. There was a point after some months that I thought it was as good as it would get but I continued to see improvement up to around a year after and it did go straight again. Occasionally it aches in the cold and isn't quite as strong/reliable as the other one but generally it's fine and has normal use. There is still loads of time and opportunity for yours to heal and improve so get some good support, do the exercises when you are given them and be patient and try not to get despondent. (Easier said than done!) Wishing you a full recovery.

I broke mine 2 years ago, doing the same thing. I was given physio exercises (over the phone/email as it was covid times) and sent some resistance bands. I also bought some weights to do the physio. I wasn't actually that good at doing it but I have no problems with my elbow now. It took more than 4 weeks though, quite a few months.