UKC

Firstly the bone that is broken is a small one and the break was clean and should heal well. I need some advice on what I could do for the time being to aid recovery, avoid re injury and what I could do to possibly stay fit?

Could this have a long term impact on my climbing?

Cheers,
Martin

In reply to martinmckenna:

I'd be more concerned about your sex life.

In reply to martinmckenna:

Hi Martin,

I broke my right wrist very very badly when I was 28 (not through climbing) , it required a external fixation and carple tunnel operation at the time (totally facing in the wrong direction) .
The external fix was 3 months in scaffolding and plaster. It was a horrendous experience.
I began climbing when I was 32 and had occasional problems with pushing to hard , it was later found that I had a osteomyelitis bone infection. This required another bout of surgery and 6 weeks of the bone being packed with antibiotic beads and strong antibiotics tablets.

I've always worked out at the gym a couple of times a week before climbing and still do and also mountain bike alot, I climb less than ever but that's not through lack of strength.

The bottom line is that if like you say it's a small bone and should heal well I can't see you having any problems.

Mat

In reply to martinmckenna:

Nae luck, heal up soon.
When you get fit again you'll be more determined than ever.

In reply to martinmckenna:

I reckon youll be fine (broken my wrist twice). Once the cast is off take it easy cos itll be feeble - much more feeble, I was able to climb crimpy things with a cast on, and not with it off for a little while. Work on getting your range of movement back first, then just take care and don't go pushing grades for a bit. Try it out at an easy venue or indoor wall to find out how it feels and what is sensible. "Listen" to what feels ok, and what doesn't. Don't do the latter. It will remain weak for a while but will soon catch up - my wrist rehab involved learning to do pois. Good fun and not dull.
Staying fit for climbing in the meantime? Use yer imagination! Core work ad infinitum, meditation/visualisation practice, running, spinning, reconnaissance at crags (wear a heavy pack), stretches/yoga...

In reply to martinmckenna:

Sorry to hear that Martin, worst possible time of year for injury. My suggestion would be to keep climbing but to significantly reduce your leading grade and essentially climb one handed to keep the rest of the body in shape. Tweaked a finger on one hand years ago and still managed to keep climbing at a lower grade and when ready gently got back to my (lowly) leading grade.
Mr D(!)

In reply to martinmckenna:

Aye its a bit of a shit time to break it. Apparently 6 weeks time it should be good to climb on lightly. Another 6 weeks and it should be back at full strength. Going to try building it back up in the boulder wall in 9 weeks time, maybe some easy mountain trad just to get out and focus on training for the winter season

In reply to martinmckenna:
If it heals okay it shouldn't have a long term impact on your climbing or be more likely to reinjure.

I bought a gripmaster/gripsaver after my cast came off to rebuild my hand and forearm muscles again, the Metolius thing which is the squashy ball with the elastic finger loops.

You might find your wrist won't move a far as usual at first, but that doesn't last. If you take it gently-gradually it should be fine.

My wrist has been after quite a while in a cast, 2 months or something. ()

In reply to martinmckenna:
My wrist was in plaster for the standard 6 weeks and never having broken anything before, I was stupidly shocked by the state it was in, so be prepared for this. I'm such a twit, I actually cried that night-"Boo hoo, I'll never climb again." I was offered physio over the following few weeks where grip strength was measured so I could see improvements occurring week by week.
It took a full week before I could touch my thumb with the tip of every finger, working hard on each one at a time and worst of all was getting the wrist to bend at all. Palms pressed together and forcing the affected wrist backwards was painful and very slow progress.

They gave me physio putty for exercises at home and I also measured my improvement by using cams. Initially I could only trigger a size 2.5 and slowly worked my way up thru 3, 3.5 and finally the 4.

Just work hard at the exercises they advise and you will regain full use and strength but it won't happen overnight. Good luck.

In reply to martinmckenna:

The likelihood is you'll be totally fine but make sure you do your physio and don't try to do stuff before you are ready. In fact make sure you push for physio you may not be offered this straight off.

I did my scaphoid nearly 20 years ago and did nothing about it, beer and painkillers for 6 weeks. Result, only about 90% movement in my right wrist now.

In reply to martinmckenna:
Turns out its not broken. They did another xray on it and its completely fine. The consultant and radiographer think that A&E may have looked at the wrong xray?! How does that even happen?? All good news though

Its a bit stiff though since it was in a cast for 8 days!