UKC

Don't know whether there are any sports based health professionals on here but my 14 year old son broke his arm just below the wrist 6 weeks ago in a ski accident. Prior to that he was getting pretty strong in his climbing and is keen to start back asap. He had his cast off this morning after 6 weeks and the doc told him he can't even think about climbing for another 6-8 weeks. The doc apparently wasn't all that helpful or interested in discussing sport rehab etc.

Does anyone have any experience of getting back climbing after a broken arm and if he can look to safely start light training sooner?

In reply to Julian W: One (no) handed slabs are good for improving footwork. A method often used by coaches. The difficult part is to prevent the accidental use of the arm. Maybe strap it to his chest/side or into a heavy duty splint.
Not the same, but with care I have climbed within a few days of breaking a leg, a collar bone, and a finger. All separate non-climbing accidents. The loss of use of the limb made me think about technique, and the collar bone actually improved my footwork and also stopped me using my huge reach as I couldn't lift the arm.
Good luck for his rehab, hope he is back to full strength soon.

In reply to Julian W:

Typical NHS there...they fix broken bits but have no interest in getting people doing sport again...

Not a broken arm, but I spent a while climbing slabby 4s and low 5s one handed with a broken finger?

Neil

In reply to Julian W:
Go to a sports physio and get their advice. I've broken/dislocated various things in my time and the orthopaedic docs have never had much of a clue about aftercare, it's the physios that do your rehab and whatnot. I've had mixed experiences with NHS physios - some superb and some downright dangerous and ill informed - so I'd always see a well recommended private one first/as well.

ETA I'd be very surprised if he wasn't automatically referred for physio as that seems to be the standard practice when you're discharged from the ortho/fracture clinic. Chase it up if not.

In reply to Julian W:
I did the same, and bought a Metolius Gripsaver / Gripmaster to get my hand and fore arm muscles stronger again, and followed the advice of taking it carefully for about six weeks. Though thinking about it my wrist was in a cast for longer than six weeks.

I went by 'feel' and waited until my wrist stopped feeling stiff and felt generally more normal and stronger again in the muscles used in everyday life.

Six weeks isn't long for him to wait or take it steady. (:~))

In reply to Julian W:

How bad was the break? Just a crack or was there displacement?

I had a crack without displacement to my elbow joint (radial head) and was doing some tentative climbing after 8 weeks.

My rule of thumb was if it doesn't hurt, carry on.

In reply to Julian W:

I'd suggest taking him to a sports physio. There will likely be lots of exercises/stretches that he can do right now. His wrist will be pretty stiff after 6 weeks in a cast and pretty weak too. However, the strength and movement will come back quickly. The important thing is he that doesn't overdo it or do something daft as right now his bone whilst partially healed will still be very easy to re-break and he really doesn't want to do that!

FWIW, I broke my thumb in 2008 and was in a cast for 4 weeks. I remember being really shocked at how withered my wrist looked after being in the cast and how much my hand/arm shook when I tried to lift a tiny weight. I had to wait 6 weeks after the cast came off (i.e. 10 weeks post injury) before returning to climbing. I saw a sports physio and followed their advice which included going to the bouldering wall and initially just holding holds, gradually working up to fully weighting them by the time my non climbing time was up. I was climbing perhaps half a grade less than pre-injury on my return.

Wishing him all the very best with his recovery. Being injured is crap.

In reply to Julian W:

Broke both arms near the wrist in 2011, one a nasty one, both bones in several places. Since the break was quite bad and I was early 20's (post bone growth) I had both of mine plated which helped healing at first and meant no cast. Unfortunately I had to have one plate removed 18 months later due to persistent low level pain.

Bouldering indoors was my rehab, I don't remember the timescales but it was at least 6 weeks after accident and took it steady, built up over time. One thing I remember my physio saying was that soreness after using it was not a bad thing as long as it was gone by the next day. If pain persisted to the next day then I had overdone it. Due to the plate messing me up it took around a year to exceed pre-accident strength but in your case it sounds like it will be much shorter. Aside from a slightly reduced wrist flexibility I am now much stronger than I was before.

I'd say ignore doc and build up carefully and slowly at his own pace by feeling.

In reply to Julian W:

Thanks for the replies. Yes it was displaced and he didn't half yell when the Italian staff grabbedhis arm to traction it back into place with no painkillers. I believe the phrase they used in broken English was "for a brief moment you will feel extreme pain". Hopefully the memory will reduce the size of his jumps in the snow park next time!

Looks like we will have a word with a good sports physio and go from there.