Scaphoid fracture

[JBird]

Read: [ame="http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=199773"]Broken navicular Q - Teton Gravity Research Forums[/ame]

Scaphoid = Navicular.

I healed up but it took one surgery and 9 months in a cast.

Seems to be a lot of these injuries, lately.

Good luck and vibes!

[AKbruin]

I healed up but it took one surgery and 9 months in a cast.

I've had the cast on for less than a week and I already hate it.

[powbmps]

Any "my scaphoid healed quickly and properly" stories?

I broke mine at the end of last September (on the good side where there's a bit more blood flow). 8 weeks out I was skiing with poles. Probably would have healed a little quicker, but I went with the brace instead of the cast.

Bit strange when it hurt on my first bike ride in April. However, the soreness was gone the next time out.

[goldenboy]

Broke mine about 8 years ago. X-ray didn't show it but the doc put it in a cast anyway and I'm glad he did since the X-ray after cast removal showed the break. I'd say it took 2 years for it to be pain-free, but with that said it only hurt when I screwed up (for example, picking a bad line in a rock garden on the bike). Normally it didn't hurt much at all, even right after the 6 weeks in a cast. Never notice it now.

[AKbruin]

^^^Good to hear. Thanks guys.

[JBird]

I didn't add, I really have no problems once I healed. I even learned how to do certain things left handed. Good times, Good times.

[jimmyjimjims]

Broke my left scaphoid yesterday biking to work. Damn Chicago paths have too many potholes to possibly avoid them all. Honestly the way I fell I'm lucky to have only broken one thing.

In an intense thumb spica until the abrasions heal, then I'm in a cast for 6-8 weeks unless I end up needing surgery. Lucky to have broken the well-vascularized side.

Just hoping to be up and running for skiing come January.

[auvgeek]

Okay, so bumping this old thread. Over a month ago, I pre-released at a pretty good pace and fell hard. Skied the rest of the day no problems. Waited 3 weeks and it was feeling good (no pain during my daily routine), so I went rock climbing in the gym. Was planning to take it easy, but it felt good, so I did a few V4 onsights, etc. Little more pain with the harder routes, but nothing particularly concerning. Was pretty sore the next day. That was a week ago, and it's still kinda sore. I think I just sprained a ligament, but reading this thread makes me I'm worried about a scaphoid fracture. Do I need to make an appointment with a hand surgeon or sports-medicine doc? Or just get an x-ray at a walk-in clinic. I've had it examined by both a PT and CHT, and neither are super concerned about it, but I've been burned by that in the past (hip labral tear went undiagnosed for four years).

Thoughts?

Editing this to add that I have no tenderness in my anatomic snuffbox. The pain is slightly more ulnar than that. I'm hoping slightly ligament sprain, like maybe scaphoid-trapezoid or maybe lunate-capitate. Anyway, made an appointment with a hand guy. Takes two weeks to get in, unfortunately.

[flyman683]

Disclosure - riddled with ACL/meniscus recovery drugs, so I didn't read back through everything BUT....

I did have a scaphoid fracture that was NOT found via x-ray and the PT/Trainer (happend playing lax) and ortho doc were not concerned for awhile. Stayed "functional" for a bit, but eventually once I started getting some shooting pain with hitting golf balls I went back to the Doc.

X-ray was negative, and they didn't want to MRI, but I insisted. That ended up finding the problem (along with the necrosis issue). Long story from that point trying to avoid surgery, but basically ended up getting surgery to get blood in there and some titanium.

I highly recommend getting an MRI done if thats at all possible. So much stuff is interrelated in there (plus all your day to day use) it can be really hard to tell what the issues are based on some "poking" and X-rays. I had my hand in various forms of casts, pain, and splints for nearly a year before I got the stuff figured out, when an early MRI could've kept me from the necrosis stuff & got me back to normal faster w/ proper treatment.

[auvgeek]

Wrist is starting to hurt pretty badly. Tenderness in snuffbox, etc. X-rays tomorrow but couldn't get in with the doc until next Thursday. After taking three years off of skiing for injuries, this was entirely unnecessary.

Fuck everything.

[Nimro]

Fractured both of my Scaphoids three weeks ago. The fractures aren't too bad, and are luckily towards the top of the bone. I have two removable, waterproof braces with thumb spicas that I honestly might be taking off too much. I take them off after I shower so that I can set them on a table and dry them with two blow dryers, and the doctor didn't really say that I could take them off. Since the fractures aren't terrible and are towards the top of the bone, do you think that they'll still heal properly? Am I slowing my healing time by removing my casts?

[Tosylate]

Add me to the scaphoid club. I guess I should feel lucky as my fracture is on the "good" end and doc says no surgery. Still don't like being handed a 6-10 week sentence tho.

Damn beer league races...

[stillcole]

This bone is a nightmare. I broke mine about 10 years ago playing high school football. Didn't get the xray and surgery until about 6 months later. The bone healed but I am still having a lot of problems. It seems to get worse every year and the doctors can't really tell me whats going on. Can't lift weights, play tennis or even really volleyball at this point. I'm hesitant to even wash dishes because I know I'll have to deal with swelling and inflammation for the rest of the day. Sucks because I am only 27 and this is preventing me from doing 80% of things that I used to love doing.
X-Rays are inconclusive so the doctors are only really saying its probably arthritis but it hurts so bad I am almost sure it is something more. I don't really know where the hell to go at this point except to yet another doctor for another opinion. Has anyone had any similar complications after the non-union surgery?

[AKbruin]

As a follow up to my 2010 posts, I think I had my cast on for 6-8 weeks. It felt stiff for the first week or two after the cast came off, but seems to have healed up completely. I haven't had any problems since then. In fact, I'm not even sure which wrist it was that I broke.

[GBB]

I broke my right scaphoid last year breaking horses at a friend's ranch. The initial X-rays were negative but the PA recommended casting it as a precaution. When they removed the cast 4 weeks later, the X-rays showed healing in the bone indicating a break. A year later I have no residual issues.

Long story short, it's worth getting casted to be safe.

[stillcole]

Following up on my post a couple of months ago,

Saw doc in georgetown who looked at the same xrays and said I only had a partial union of the scaphoid. Don't know how the last 2 doctors missed something that seems so obvious, but this diagnosis seems consistent with the paid I am having. I am getting a CT scan and MRI this week to get a closer look.

I am hoping that a vascularized bone graft is feasable as it seems to be the best option to preserve range of motion and strength. I'll try to follow up as things come a long.

[boarddad]

Adding my experience to the broken scaphoid thread;
I broke the scaphoid in my left hand 3 months ago (slid into a tree @ June Mtn.). The day of the accident it didn't seem that bad and I kept riding the whole day. By the end of the day I couldn't put any pressure on it and I was nauseous from the pain. The ER in Mammoth couldn't see the break in the x-Ray but did a forearm cast anyway ( wanted to do a full-arm cast but I wouldn't let them). The doc in Long Beach had better equipment and could see it clearly. It was a full, non-displaced break.

Did 4 weeks in a hard cast, thumb spica, then x-ray'ed again. Not ashamed to admit I felt like crying when the doc put the second cast on. Another 4 weeks, another x-Ray. It was getting better but you could still see the break. I begged him to let me have a removable cast which he did, reluctantly. BEST MOVE EVER! The removable cast allowed me to résumé a lot of activities - it's really surprising just how often you wash your hands in a typical day. I get another x-ray tomorrow. I'm hoping I'll be done but could live with the removable cast a lot longer if needed.

Lessons learned;
Scaphoid breaks take 3 months MINIMUM to heal! That's if you cast immediately and the break is non-displaced. In other words, best case scenario. Don't fool yourself into thinking it will be less, you will only be disappointed. With that in mind;

Find a doctor who will consider what it is you are giving up. I get it, you are better off with a hard cast early on, but the removable cast is just as good if not better as time goes by. There is nothing like getting back to what you want to do to improve morale and speed up the healing process.

For God's sake do not let them do a full-arm cast! It's not necessary and I can only imagine how miserable that would be.

[theshredder]

i joined the scaphoid fracture club today (bone fragments)... got a cast and a tetanus booster for road rash; sprained ankle again (can't even feel it though because of the wrist pain); hoping I dont need pins/surgery for the scaphoid but thats probably happening this week. Bike needs work. Im not in any shape to get on that. fucking potholes.fuck everything.

[boarddad]

+ vibes. Sorry to hear. You got on it early so chances are good you'll recover. Lots of horror stories out there from tough guys who guessed it was only a strain. Re-reading my previous post makes me really glad I documented what I had gone through. Hope it helps you find the right path to recovery.

[boarddad]

Deleted double post

[theshredder]

thanks. normally im of the attitude that if aint really really broke, itll heal with ice/rest but this time i knew something wasn't right as soon as the adrenaline started to slow down and it was obvious on the xray apparently theres 1 mm gap. got an xray on the ankle too and thank god its alright. coulda been a lot worse i suppose.

[jon gaper]

[QUOTE=boarddad;4249636]



For God's sake do not let them do a full-arm cast! It's not necessary and I can only imagine how miserable that would be.[/QUOTE
Why do you think hand expert would put you in a longer cast if it was "not necessary"?

[boarddad]

^ because that's the old-school way of doing it - if in doubt, immobilize everything. My Ortho laughed at the size cast that Mammoth ER put on my arm (up the the elbow and the doc wanted to do a full-arm cast). He re-cast it with a thumb spica that only went 1/2 way up my forearm. The latest research indicates that even that is overkill and a wrist brace (I.e. removable cast) gets better results, especially with kids. Reason being you re-adjust and tighten it every time you put it back on whereas a cast will get loose as the swelling goes down and the padding is worn in. Also, and I can attest to this, the patient has better morale and is more likely to follow through on check-ups etc.

[theshredder]

Well they didn't end up performing surgery afterall even though I needed it, as it turns out.

I spent the following 8 weeks after the injury in a cast (given to me in Vancouver) and was told I was good to go and sent on my way at the end of July. Over the next month and a half I did stretching and strengthening exercises even though the bone was still broken, thinking the pain would subside eventually. It got a little better at first then slowly got worse and by the middle of September I went back to emergency in my hometown where I was told I have a nonunion with avascular necrosis and put in yet another cast, with hopes it would heal on its own. This 2nd doctor said if it didn't heal I would need surgery and a bone graft from my hip.

Fast forward to this week and a genuine orthopaedic surgeon I saw in Vancouver (where I moved for work fall 2014) says it still hasn't healed after nearly 3 months in a 2nd cast. He said I should have had surgery back in June even though 2 consecutive doctors just put me in a cast (one in June, then again in September) and now I need a bone graft from my radius. He took me out of the cast because if he did surgery next week "I'd never move my wrist again" because of the stiffening due to the 2nd 3-month cast (which was on way too long according to him) plus surgery. So he wants me to sretch as much as possible before surgery, hopefully in about a month, followed by 6 more weeks in a cast.

If all that weren't bad enough he seems reluctant to perform the surgery in a month because this isn't my home town and I'll need followup - although he is helping to set me up with a good ortho in Alberta. I've said I can stay here to get the surgery if necessary, but haven't heard back yet. I could see about getting the bone graft from my hip from the guy who casted me the 2nd time in my home town, but I'm not too sure about the docs you get through the er any more (they are apparently "plastic/reconstructive surgeons" i.e. more general).

It's been more than 6 months now - I'm out of the cast, I'm not working, in lots of pain, and I'm starting to lose hope of ever living a normal life again. I'm in limbo between vancouver and alberta and no one seems to want to do what's necessary to help me. Any advice would be appreciated. My latest thinking was to head home and try my best to get a referral to another orthopaedic surgeon, encase the last ortho here can't find anyone or refuses to do the surgery because its not my home town.

Anyone in canada reading this who broke their scaphoid should definitely get a referal to a real orthopeadic surgeon as soon as possible. Don't just settle for the general plastic/reconstructive people you get through the er. Two of them didn't do what needed to be done, and worse yet they gave me false hope (who wants surgery), which I think prevented me from seeking out real help sooner.

[boarddad]

Damn that sucks. I'd happily give you the name of my Ortho and could find another down in Newport Beach but that's not going to help. I don't know what you do for a living or if this is even an option, but I think your instincts are good - If it were me I'd put the job on hold, get home, find a good Ortho and do the surgery, sooner rather than later.