Fractured Wrist

Nolan

Hi-I fractured my left wrist in 2 places almost 8 weeks ago and they operated and inserted 2 metal rods.Tomorrow (at last!) the plaster will come off and I will begin to strengthen the muscles to begin playing again.Has anyone any experience or tips in this from a guitar players point of view?
Robin

Josh Hegg

Robin,

Oh man that sucks! I wish I could give you some supper enlightening advice but I can not. Take it easy and I hope you get better soon.

Josh
(from Washington)

Jack

Hi Robin,

Hope all goes well with the recovery; the only real advice I've seen is a bit obvious: take it slow, and if you're dealing with a physical therapist, try to find one who deals with musicians. I did read somewhere that calcium supplements might not be a bad idea.

You might have a look here for exercises: http://www.musicianshealth.com/
And there's a wrist exercise here, though it isn't specifically for guitarists: http://home.mindspring.com/~shin-on/handcare.html

Hope that helps!

All best,
Jack.

Carter O`Brien

ouch, bummer, Robin.

as someone who has broken *both* wrists, what I can tell you is definitely take it slow, and if you can find any of those (chinese?) stress balls that are solid, they are a great way to get the circulation and muscle tone back. rubber bands designed for physical therapy help as well.

best of luck!

Carter

MontereyJacques

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Charlie Ayers

Good luck, Robin.

As a physician, I deal with a variety of fractures, but fortunately I have orthopedic specialists, and good physical therapists, available. You will need to work on both flexibility and strength, in the intrinsic muscles of the hand, and, probably more significantly, the muscles of the forearm. The forearm muscles control the flexion and extension of the fingers, thumb, and wrist.

If you saw an orthopedist who specializes in the upper extremity, you should get good guidance on exercises from him or her, and a good phyical therapist will be very important, to direct therapy.

Charlie

Phil

Hey Robin - sorry to hear about your injury. Hope you recover in time for DFNW. The only advice I can give you and I'm not sure where you're currently living, as your location says everywhere, is that as I handle medical claims in Washington State, is that one of the top Hand Specialist Groups is in Seattle at Seattle Hand Surgery Group, where they also have a top notch hand therapy clinic. So even if you're not in Seattle now, but come over while rehabing and getting ready to play, you may consider hand therapy there, where they can tailor your therapy to the specific physical requirements of guitar playing.

best of luck,

Cheers

Phil
(once upon a time from Leeds!)

RKatz

I broke my wrist four years ago, the only advice I would give is just to take it easy, gradually strengthen the wrist with pyhsio once the break has healed, once you get back to playing make sure you listen not just to the music but also to what your body is telling you, i.e. don't strain, if it feel awkward or weak stop.

Best of luck with it, I understand how fustrating it can be to be injured in this way.

All the best,

Robin

tommaso

Robin, I am very sorry to hear that!
I know how one feels in such situation since six years ago I had a leg crash while skiing and it caused me to be operated 2 times (insertion of 10 metal rods and a plate, now eliminated).
I completely agree with Charlie Ayers regarding the importance of a good physical therapist to direct the therapy.
Hope you will be back soon to music.
All the best
Tommaso