UKC

I dislocated my elbow on Wednesday, bouldering and wanted to know if anyone else has suffered this injury, if so how long before you were able to climb and do you have any advice for getting back to full climbing ability.

In reply to climbingchica:

That sounds like a proper ouch! Hope you're on the mend soon

In reply to climbingchica:

Personally I'd consider seeing a physio who can help tell you if you've done any major damage, what exercises you need to help repair and strengthen the elbow, and what movement to avoid or take care with when starting to climb again.

In reply to climbingchica:
My wife managed to do this a few years ago. I agree with danm: it's crucial that you see a physio and be very determined to do the exercises. She managed to recover almost the full range of motion afterwards, though apparently she got funny looks when doing the exercises during office meetings...

In reply to climbingchica:

cheers guys, Im seeing the physio on Monday, I was just hoping somone might be able to share a positive story of recovery, there seems to be alot of negative stuff on the internet.

In reply to climbingchica:

Probably best to decide you'll be fine and one of the positive exceptions? Bodies are good at healing if given the right treatment, it's what they do (on the whole).

One can find gloomy things on the internet about everything.

Good luck

In reply to climbingchica:
Boo, sorry to hear the news. I dislocated my elbow doing ju jitsu about 10 years ago - hurts like hell, doesn't it?

The bad news - it can take quite a long time to heal up, depending on how far it popped out. I was in a hinged brace for about 3-4 months, with another 1-2 months after that until I felt confident to go back to martial arts. Pain levels sorted themselves out very quickly but I had joint instability and lateral movement for a long time until the damaged soft tissue recovered and I wasn't at risk of popping it out again. I wasn't climbing at the time but I imagine it would be a while until you are able to pull on that arm.

The good news - although the initial injury period was frustrating my elbow is completely back to normal. I have full extension and virtually full flexion (it's not restricted but if I bend both elbows and touch my shoulders I can tell I have a touch more movement in my other one). You'd never be able to tell I'd injured that one in the past. Also, although I couldn't train martial arts I could swim and run etc. very soon afterwards so it's possible to keep fit while it heals up, a definite improvement on having a cast.

Good luck with it, hope it heals up quickly and you're not too bored while it's getting better.