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Broken scaphoid and pubic ramus (pelvis)

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 rachelpearce01 10 Jan 2017
Hi there ! Wanting some advice about broken bones. I recently had a climbing accident (start of December 2016 at Orihuela) by taking a big pendulum swing into the rock while taking a fall leading off route to avoid a wet patch.... (lesson learnt). I hit the rock with the right side of my body, and hurt my hand and butt!

Went to the hospital near alicante and they said i had a fractured pubic ramus but my hand wasn't broken. Nothing they could do for either, just rest. The pelvis wasn't too bad, and I have been using poles and its still a bit stiff but getting better.

When I got back to the UK at the start of January I went to minors to get everything checked out. Turns out I had broken my scaphoid and it wasn't looking too great. Sent me for a CT scan and they said it doesn't look like i should get it pinned just yet, and when i return from sri lanka in a month I will get it x rayed again. Pelvis is still a bit stiff but they didn't seem too worried about that.

Soooooo... if anyone has had these injuries could you let me know how it all went for you. Want to know how soon I can climb again, and if range of movement was affected and did you ever return to full strength? Im only 22 so hoping I should be ok. But wanting to plan my next climbing trips and wondering when i will be able to pull some routes down again!!!

Thanks
 Andy Nisbet 10 Jan 2017
In reply to rachelpearce01:

You'll get some personal experience on here, but I believe the scaphoid can be reluctant to heal. So you may have to be patient and see what happens. Once it's healed, I'm sure you'll be fine.
 Xavierpercy 10 Jan 2017
In reply to rachelpearce01:

I fractured my pelvis. I couldn't do too much for the first month but after about about five months I was back to full strength.
 ericinbristol 10 Jan 2017
In reply to Xavierpercy:

What route did you do that on Guy? Or was it not climbing?
 Nige M 10 Jan 2017
In reply to rachelpearce01: There has been much written on broken scaphoid bones on this site over the years:
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/info/search.php?forum=0&dates=1&na...

I broke my right scaphoid back in 2002 and here is what I wrote back in this thread:
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=266914&v=1#x3942729

"I broke my scaphoid bone in 2002 and two separate doctors told me that I would need an operation and probably a plate inserting; an appointment for the operation was made. Then, after reading a lot about it on the internet, I sought the advice of a wrist specialist who informed me that I didn't need an operation at all. I did, however, spend three months in plaster. Once the plaster was removed I was back climbing within two weeks, though it took a further year to get back to where I had been. I broke it falling about a foot off the end of the Pinnacle Traverse at Froggatt."

In the 15 years since breaking my scaphoid, I have not had any problems, though I read that it is quite common for the blood supply to this bone to never fully recover. In some cases the bone can die and progressively disintegrate, causing problems later on.

 Xavierpercy 10 Jan 2017
In reply to ericinbristol:
I decided to do a marathon soloing spree in the Forrest of Dean and on route 37...I think, slipped off and fell 20 feet onto my side. The route was Feather Light Slab at Huntsham. My foot slipped on some moss.
After five months I was fit and well until I decked out again and broke my ribs.
Post edited at 18:44
 gethin_allen 10 Jan 2017
In reply to rachelpearce01:

The scaphoid is the one I'd be concerned about, I've broken the one in my left hand twice in different places, one good one bad, and if I do too much it hurts for a week after. I'm only 34 so god knows what it will be like when I'm old. I was 20 when I broke it the first time and 29 the second time around, both cycling accidents.
I was quite pleased that the second break was in a different location to the first indicating that the bone had healed correctly the first time.
In the USA the standard treatment is to pin the parts back together as the potential cost of further complications outweighs the extra cost of the initial treatment.
In the UK you'll be put in a cast for ages and your hand will be as weak as a puppy, the length of time will depend on where the break is as the blood supply is only from the one end and a good blood supply is vital for quick repair.

 Dale Berry 11 Jan 2017
In reply to rachelpearce01:
I fractured the Superior and Inferior Pubic Rami on my left hand side and both Scaphoids, along with a few other bones back in 2011. Pelvis was just hairline fractures, but right Scaphoid required a pin. When in hospital, one of the many doctors I saw had broken his Scaphoid as well and recommended getting as much movement back in my wrist as soon as I could. My left, unpinned wrist has a full range of movement now, as I could push my hand against the wall at the time, where as my pinned right does not as it was in plaster longer and unable to get that force into moving it about quickly. I was off climbing for 10 months after my accident, but that was more down to my other fractures rather than these. Now I have no problems with my pelvis, and the reduced range of movement in my wrist only really gets annoying when placing or retrieving an awkward cam placement. For actuall climbing moves, it affects me a lot less than I thought it would.
Post edited at 19:28
 HappyTrundler 13 Jan 2017
In reply to rachelpearce01:

I broke the scaphoid in both wrists, about a couple of years apart, playing rugby, in my 20's....I was only in plaster for 6 to 8 weeks, fully recovered quite soon afterwards, never had any problems since....different for you though, you ain't getting any treatment, it's bust, they say it doesn't look great, so just leave it a month and get it x rayed again, 6 weeks after it broke ??!!...they don't pin a scaphoid, it is a tiny bone at the base of your wrist ?!....it will have tried to mend itself after 6 weeks, probably badly that could lead to problems down the road....if it is broken, you need it put in plaster, not a DIY mending exercise....go back to the hospital and get it plastered / immobilised, or you may regret it.....
Tomtom 13 Jan 2017
In reply to rachelpearce01:

Scaphoid fracture are not only insanely common, they will very regularly be misdiagnosed as a sprain. Delayed diagnosis then causes a delay in healing what is already a difficult bone to heal. Depending on where your scaphoid fracture is, will vary healing times. If it's distal pole (closest to thumb) you're in luck. If it's proximal (closest to wrist) prepare for a tricky one.
I went 5 weeks post deck out before a return to hospital actually showed fractured scaphoid. Did one month in cast and had a follow up which showed the bone to be dying so was refered to a specialist, who put me back in cast for two more months and ordered MRI and CT.
Both showed signs of healing, so was taken out of cast, told to do no exercise with it, and was given an ultrasound zapping bracelet thing. 3 months of a daily zap and I was back for a CT, which showed clear.
Broke in April, clear in November. It's now jan and I've got a follow up X-ray in a month.
I actually started gentle climbing as soon as my cast came off. Once a fortnight or a weekly, easy bimbles, and it was ok. Wrist still hurst occasionally now, especially at hyper extension either end, but that's probs gonna be for life now. I'm starting to train again now, and it feels fine, no dramas that stop me climbing. Mantle moves aren't ideal, but so far so good other that that.
You may be in for a long one, but it will get better hopefully. Good luck.
 gethin_allen 13 Jan 2017
In reply to HappyTrundler:
"...they don't pin a scaphoid..."
They do in some places

youtube.com/watch?v=ypeazOhGfT0&

Have a watch if you like surgery and aren't squeamish, and this is a break in a relatively good place.

 RupertD 13 Jan 2017
In reply to rachelpearce01:

As others have said it's a tiny bone that has the possibility for incomplete healing leading to long term problems. I don't know who you have seen on the NHS but if it's anyone other than a consultant hand/wrist surgeon I would recommend paying for a private second opinion on treatment options and whether anything (even just immobilisation, possibly) needs to be done sooner rather than later. My experience with wrist injuries has led me to believe that they are not always managed optimally within the NHS. I can recommend Mr Mike Hayton in Manchester. Not cheap, but like you say, you're young and have to live with it for a long time.

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