To not return to work as yet following fracture

[Stationclare]

Hi
Posted here for traffic.
Fractured my dominant wrist 3 months ago. Bad break and needed surgery
I am still off work.
Having physio and it's helping. Massive improvement and I'm pretty much ok at home.
However I don't feel ready to go back to work.
I work in the care system. I have a very physical and demanding job. No option for light duties.
I've asked my consultant when I should return to work and he was not helpful, said when I feel is the right time

Has anyone had a similar injury and what kind of recovery time.

I fractured my dominant wrist last year. It was a clean break and didn't need surgery. I have a desk job and using my mouse with a cast on was slow and painful. I couldn't lift anything like a full kettle for probably 4 weeks after the cast came off. If yours needed surgery and you have a physical job then 12 weeks post break isn't very long really. I would say I was back to full wrist activity in maybe 4 or 5 months but everyone is different. Take care as I know how challenging it is breaking a dominant wrist.

Is the physio still effecting improvement or is it plateauing? If you don’t expect to regain full strength/mobility perhaps you need to think about changing your job? My DH had wrist & elbow surgery that’s left him with some restrictions still almost 4 years later.

Thank you. It's so difficult to know!!
Being at home is not like doing a physical job, helping patients moving equipment.
I can lift things now but I'm cautious.
Little movements like opening jars are difficult.
My wrist feels super sensitive too. It's horrible.

What’s making you feel that you aren’t ready to go back? If it is weakness/pain and the physio is helping then could you ask your physio what they expect time wise for your full recovery or what the plan is for number of weeks left of the physio? That may give you a good idea of when you could feel able to return.

@SockFluffInTheBath
It's getting stronger with physio and the range of movement has improved. The consultant said I should regain full movement but can never know for sure. I'm sure I will be able to do my jobs it's just I'm imagining it will be uncomfortable.

You need to talk to HR and occupational health, to put reasonable adjustments in place.

I've got a couple more sessions to go. Consultant and physio said it's usually 4 to 6 months to be 'right'
But not sure sure if it's OK to work before it's right?

No, RA are not relevant to a temporary injury, and only required to be considered (not necessarily implemented if they are not considered reasonable) for a disability which this is unlikely to qualify as.

OP - have your work given you the option to work in the office or similar? If not, have you discussed the light duties options with them and what that might look like?

No there is no option for lighter or office duties. Its just return when I'm fit and back in there so to speak.

You would presumably have to move patients and equipment. And you are at risk of patients grabbing/injuring you. I'd say you shouldn't go back until your wrist is fully recovered, particularly given theres no alternative role you could do. Perhaps ask for 4 more weeks and see where you are then. It's better to be confident going back than to go back too early and need to be signed off again.

Are they ok with you still being off and are you getting sick pay? If they are ok with the situation then maybe give it another couple of weeks and see where things are at then. If they are beginning to make noises about it you returning then you could try having a conversation with them about if there could be anything else at all you could do for now and if not then give the a timeframe of when it might be you can return. If they don’t have anything else you can do then they may just have to wait a bit.

I broke my wrist two years ago, plate and pins as quite a thorough smash, both bones. Since my job is desk based I didn't need time off except for surgery, but there is NO WAY I could have returned to a physical job putting strain on the wrist at three months. I needed physio just to get the full range of movement, and it was about six months before I really felt confident to put weight on it, play tennis etc.

Your break may be simpler (I hope it is!)

@buttonousmaximous
This is my fear!! If someone grabbed my arm- well it doesn't bear thinking about!

Can you/have you given your Physio some specific examples of what you need to be capable of to do your job safely? It will help them guide your rehab and enable them to give you a more accurate guess (because everyone is different so it’s always hard to say with any certainty) on when you are likely to be fit for work.

Work haven't said anything about my return. They are fine in that respect

It wasn't my wrist but it was a long time (years) after a fracture before I felt fully confident that my injury was healed. Eventually I just had to force myself to do things and realise that nothing catastrophic happened. If you are still finding everyday tasks (like opening jars) difficult I don't think you are there yet.

That sounds promising, they knew quite early on my DH’s would never be right. Look after yourself, doing too much too soon could risk a setback.

I think I'm nervous about doing damage but I guess it's healed and no longer broken!! It doesn't feel like it used to but I suppose it never will.

Mine wasn't that bad thankfully. Only one bone broken, but that was bad enough. Yours must have been agony.

It wasn't especially painful actually but oh my God, the absolute inconvenience. Just wringing out a cloth or opening a tin were so difficult.

I needed surgery on mine too and it was 6 months before it felt strong enough to not worry about lifting anything. Before that even a full kettle or a pot of potatoes was a struggle to lift, so I definitely would've have gone back to a physical job like yours until 6 months. It's better to take the time and get it back to full strength rather than risk damaging it. Mine feels completely normal now, but it felt really fragile for months.

Wringing out a cloth was near on impossible till recently.
I'm still very cautious about lifting large saucepans and put most of the weight on my other hand.
My still feels fragile but less so as the time passes. I definitely don't use it completely normal. But maybe some of that is in my head

Opening tins with a tin opener is hard still and as for opening a bottle of wine😒

I sympathise OP.
I did the same last year.
Life savers for me, from a practical point of view -
electric tin opener from Amazon - put on top of can, press button and away it goes with no need for you to do anything other than pushbutton to turn on/off.
Small roll of cheap, multi-purpose non-slip mat - brilliant to give you extra grip for opening bottles and jars.
Pair of left handed scissors - 'cos usual scissors won't work if used in left hand.
Good luck. You will get there - eventually.

My Dh suggested left handed scissors originally(!) and trying to use scissors in my bad hand and left hand was impossible. Luckily I can use scissors now!!!