Broken wrist - how much time did you have off work?

[Kayoh]

I broke my wrist 2 weeks ago falling over (great timing). It was dislocated and I thought it would need pinning but fortunately they were able to realign it in the end (3 separate manual manipulations 😭), it's been very painful and swollen. I'll be in a cast for another 4 weeks.

I work in an office job which I enjoy but is high pressure and busy. I'm genuinely not sure how much time I'm likely to need off? A friend didn't have any time off for a broken wrist but I honestly can't see how I can sit in a typing for hours a day - thinking my wrist would be very painful - and I'm wondering about asking for a phased return. Just wondering how others found the later weeks of recovery.

I had surgery on a volar Barton fracture and I only took off the day of surgery.
my surgeon was not happy with my progress when cast came off and signed me off. I didn’t use the sick note.
years later I deeply regret putting work first as work didn’t give two hoots about treating me badly recently.
ask your doctor or specialist to advise and write you a fit for work note.

Oh sorry @Kayoh!!

That's not what I meant to imply at all!!!

I was just ranting about one of my employees ... you can probably tell it still sticks in my throat! All his colleagues had to do a lot of extra work while he was off.

This is a job working from home!

So again I apologise if you thought I was having a go at you and do hope your wrist gets better soon, what a way to start the New Year.

Can you use voice dictation? I have cerebral palsy and while I can type well and quite fast on short things like comments on Mumsnet, my hands get stiff and achy after a while and my typing is slower than most people. I am a teaching assistant, so a lot of the time I am in class, but when I am doing reports I routinely voice dictate. On Google it's built in - open a Google Doc, Tools, Voice Typing.
It's not perfect, so you do need to check what you've written but it's mostly there.

Can’t you just work one handed?

I broke my wrist on Christmas Day last year in Chicago. Had to have it splint until I flew back to where I live as ortho surgeon wasn’t available until the day I flew.
Had to have it reset NYE and then cast (chose not to have surgery) and was back at work 2 Jan albeit went home once pain meds kicked in and made me drowsy.
Thankfully was office based and ran a department so could type one handed and did a lot of Teams calls instead of emails.

I broke my arm at a similar time last year and did not take any time off other than for appointments.

It really depends on the type of office work you do. Most of mine is emails, spreadsheets and reviews, so I was able to use the dictate function on my keyboard.

My Employer also set up a home working assessment and I was able to get office kit to make my workload easier. They were also understanding that I would be slower and sometimes, not as accurate with my spelling.

When I was teaching I didn’t take any time off with a broken wrist. It was left hand though so I could type (slowly) and write with my right hand.

Not at anything like the rate I normally work! It's busy and fast paced and I write a lot of emails and reports every day. Unfortunately I broke my dominant wrist and I reckon I'd type at about 1/3 pace.

If you work in the public sector is there occy health, I'd refer myself to them and they can determine if you need a phased return, adjustments, sick time or temporary redeployment. What's your sickness policy at work.

Dictation is a good suggestion though, I think that could help.

I would discuss that with management - in many cases having someone in at reduced duties may still help everyone else

If it impacts on typing or using the laptop etc then you might need some kind of adjustment? Either to make it more comfortable or an acceptance that your work will take longer?

When I broke my wrist I think I just had a couple days off. But it was my non dom and didn't affect my ability to use computer or phone or pen.

My colleague broke both her wrists at the same time falling off a chair she was standing on, and she was off for about three/ four weeks. So it really depends!

Hope you recover soon x

I have six weeks off with a broken toe. Some of these workplaces are practically barbaric.

You're a fool then.

Your paid time off is part of your remuneration, so you are seeing yourself off.

If you were run over by a bus, you'd be fully replaced in no time with only a small notice of the gap in service and a bit of lamenting you as an individual, but the business as usual would continue.

Take that time off. Leave work at work. I have also martyred myself for a job and it led to two absolute burn outs which took years to recover from. I wasted my life on that, and for what?

If you do go back soon (or just when you do) try the dictation @Kayoh ... It's come a long way and works in most O365 products. I sometimes use it in Word, check it, then copy/paste into emails.

I've just remembered that my DH managed to break both wrists at the same time. This was apparently my fault as I phoned him while he was out jogging. He reached for his phone, dropped it, tripped, put both arms out to save himself and voila! That was a fun few weeks.

Are you in a cast?
I had 6 weeks off, till the cast came off. It’s not an office job though.

I broke my wrist on a Monday when DS1 was 11 months old and not walking. This was in the days before parental leave and carers leave, so DH was back at work by the Wednesday and his boss in the RAF thought he’d done me a massive favour by letting him have one day off. I couldn’t even take decent painkillers because I needed to be on the ball to look after the baby.

If you use MS Office, recent versions of Word have speech-text functionality.

It was two months for me. Broke my wrist and tore ligaments.

Can you or your manager refer you to Occupational Health and ask them to assess?

My colleague came in the morning after her wrist surgery to work (which I totally don't think she should have done) She had pins put in after a fall. I would say only you know the answer and set up a meeting with occupational health to support.

I broke my humerus and had to take 7 months off before they finally pinned it and I was back at work 2 weeks later

I was off for about 8 weeks after breaking my radius and ulna. Got operated on after 2 weeks then needed 6 weeks off to recover from surgery.

I died once but didn’t have any time off, especially for my funeral. What the fuck is wrong with people?
If you are unfit for work for whatever reason you Do Not Attend.

Unfortunately sometimes bosses are not supportive. I had the chief executive of a charity shouting down the phone demanding that I returned to work when I was signed off by my GP with a broken arm

I got out of said job as soon as I possibly could