Brokenarm and physio

[LucyJones]

Ds broke his arm a month ago and now the cast is off he is still holding it very fragiley, no straightening it etc
Went to physio and she gave us all this exercises and said we have to force it straight
So I tried tonight in the bath and he howled in pain
Is it really necessary?!!

what ???????

do not use force esp only a month post-fracture

I think you must have misunderstood the instructions

do you have another appt with the physio?

it's very normal for kids to not straighten their arms after a cast comes off. of course they do, it hurts to straighten it.
she probably meant stretching it straight rather than forcing it.
will not be comfortable but will need to be done.
try to get him to relax - only you will know what works for him
did the physio give you directions for the stretches; how many, for how long etc?

it is necessary as without stretching his arm he may lose the range of movement.

i suppose you could also get him to use that arm for a game of badminton or to eat his cereal to encourage him to use it. but you might want to run it past your own physio as he/she will know your DSs history better than I.

No I didn't misunderstand !!! She said to force him to stretch it - but he shrieks with pain when we try
she said it is completely healed
she said to throw a ball and encourage him to catch it but he just watches it fall to his feet!

can you distract him into using it more?
can you take him to a soft play place where he'll get stuck in?
how old is he?

he's 4.
She said to read his favourite book to him while he was lying down in bed to distract him and then start bending it etc but he yelped again. Thanks for replying Do ou think it's just a matter of time? It seems sad that he'll start school without being able to use it properly - we've been trying to get him to be independent wih dressing etc for school and now this has set him back

it will come back in time. He won't always carry his arm around like a handbag lol

swimming?

soft play place?

you need to do general activities rather than specific "forcing" activities that he will focus in on

thanks for the reassurance
I think I'm possibly a bit het up about this and starting school (he is my pFB). She suggested swimming which we do but he is so timid going there anyway (even before he broke his arm) I'm not sure what good it will do
God I sound like a waste of space don't I!!

aww dont worry lj

it is quite likely that with the excitement of starting school he will "forget" about his poorly arm

nightmare if he's 4.
not so easy to reason with a 4 year old.

i'd go for bribery.
games in the bath.
soft play.
carry on encouraging him to dress himself.
swingball.
take him down the park for some climbing.

also, if he gets lots of attention for not using it he might delay things for a while. it might be best not to make a big deal out of it.

he'll be fine. good luck

wot db said