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Thread: Recovery from wrist surgery

  1. #1
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    Default Recovery from wrist surgery

    Hello all,

    Been here a number of years and have enjoyed the reading and so forth but now would like to ask if anyone has had a similar experience such as mine and what your outcome has been.

    Long story short, I fell a few years ago breaking my left wrist. Had it set, wore a cast a few months and all seemed relatively well until a year ago when my hand seemed to be numb and stiff more and more so. A recent visit to a hand specialist led to surgery a few days ago... I had a left wrist arthroscopy with debridement, distal radius osteotomy with iliac bone graft and carpal tunnel release. In laymen terms, he took a piece of bone from my hip and fit it into my wrist which is all held together with a plate and screws.

    I'm quite concerned as a performing musician and so I'm curious to know how others may have recuperated from surgery such as this.

    I'd also like to send a "shout out" and kind word of thanks to cafe member Steve Bollhoefer. A wonderful Violinist in the San Francisco Bay Area and Cafe member who is filling in for me on a number of shows that I'll miss.

    Thanks everyone, and I look forward to any responses.

    Steven Anderson

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  3. #2

    Default Re: Recovery from wrist surgery

    Steven--Not the same experience, but I have struggled with carpal tunnel issues over the last decade and only in the last few years have managed to get it comfortably under control to play again.

    The biggest benefit I saw was in wearing carpal tunnel wrist braces to bed, which completely eliminated all overnight numbing of my wrists and allowed them to rest and heal at night like they should.

    Not sure if that is in your therapy plan long term from your doctor, but I found that was the best course of action for me to keep everything as good as it can be.

  4. #3
    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
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    Default Re: Recovery from wrist surgery

    Everyone's situation is different, but if it helps:

    My fiddler S.O. broke her wrist a couple of years ago, in a fairly nasty way that required surgery with plate and pins. She was out of action on fiddle for about 3-4 months, but then made a good recovery (with some physical therapy) and is playing fine now. I've known one other fiddler who had similar invasive surgery for a wrist break, and she recovered.

    Not saying it will be easy, or how well this applies to your situation. But it doesn't necessarily mean a major change in your playing, aside from the time-out to recover.

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    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Recovery from wrist surgery

    September 2013 I fractured (my ortho surgeon used the term "shattered") radius and ulna in my left wrist when I totaled my Honda Element. (I love the Mass Pike, don't you all?) I had the wrist initially pinned until it healed, then the pins removed and, at the doc's recommendation, no plate and screws installed. I also had a carpal tunnel release at the second surgery, since he said there's inevitably bleeding into the tunnel in these surgeries, and I'd just need the release later; better to do it all at once.

    I had a period of numbness, but I think this was mostly due to the nerve block from the surgery; it wore off gradually. I went for a whole lot of rehab: a machine that rotated the wrist to increase range of motion, increasing weight training, an elastic web against which to open the fingers, medical putty to squeeze. I got a complete program of home exercise, which I followed religiously. My wrist is a bit crooked, and there's a bone chip left in there that so far hasn't given me any trouble, but I have 95% of the range of motion back, the strength has returned, numbness is gone, and I'm back to playing 200 gigs a year.

    IMHO, the physical therapy and rehab is the key. A good ortho surgeon will get your basic structure back, to the extent possible. Getting the use back is up to your physical therapist and you. I had the advantage of being retired, so the 30-45 minutes of daily exercise -- including heating the wrist before exercise, icing it afterwards -- weren't hard to schedule.

    My therapist told me that nerve tissue is the hardest to repair; it restores at the rate of "a millimeter a month," so numbness and nerve pain are the last to go. And now I find I get more cramps and "locked" fingers than I did before, though part of the cause is being 74 years old, on top of the injury.

    What really drove me to work my ulna off to get full usage back, was my refusal to give up playing. It's just too damn important to me, so I was going to get there if it was at all possible. I was gratified to find that, even in my seventies, I could adopt a focused, strenuous program of rehab, and get back almost everything I lost through the accident.

    Your case seems more serious than mine; I needed no bone grafts, and avoided installation of plate and screws. But I'd again state that, from my perspective, what you do after the surgery is the key. Good therapist with the latest equipment, willingness to stick to a daily schedule of home exercise in addition to office therapy, and, most important, motivation.
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    This Kid Needs Practice Bill Clements's Avatar
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    Default Re: Recovery from wrist surgery

    Inspiration, hope, support. Bravo, Allen.
    If I may add, be careful choosing a physical therapist and if you feel the person you find isn’t competent—go elsewhere.
    I won’t bore you with my story but I learned this lesson the hard way. Best of luck, Steven!
    "Music is the only noise for which one is obliged to pay." ~ Alexander Dumas

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    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
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    Default Re: Recovery from wrist surgery

    Quote Originally Posted by allenhopkins View Post
    IMHO, the physical therapy and rehab is the key. A good ortho surgeon will get your basic structure back, to the extent possible.
    I will mildly disagree with that, because I think the early diagnosis and treatment by someone who knows what they're doing is more important than post-surgery therapy. And unfortunately, at least for those of us in the USA, it depends on where you live, and how close you are to the really good orthopedic specialists.

    My fiddler S.O. got local care in our small town after her wrist break. She got VERY lucky because the local emergency room just put her in a cast. Then a visiting ortho surgeon from the "big city" saw from X-rays that her break wasn't mending with just a cast. He said, "you need surgery, like right NOW." And he did a great job, in a town an hour's drive away that had a big hospital and great ortho facilities. If we had relied on just the local town's doctors, I'm not sure she would have had as good a result.

    So I guess the recommendation here, as a musician, is to make sure you know what your local level of expertise is, so you can jump up a level and seek wider treatment if you need it.

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    Default Re: Recovery from wrist surgery

    Agree with folded path but now that the deed is done I agree that rehab is the next most important. You must dedicate yourself to it and it will most likely be a lifelong thing. Beginning in my early 20s I broke my ankle, tore up my knee, and blew out my back all involving the left side by the time is was 35.

    You don’t say how old you are but youth makes up for a lot of slacking in rehab. Now that I’m older I’m dealing with the after effects of the injuries themselves and a poor rehab ethic. I recently hurt my right knee - dove into rehab and recovered very well. So like allenhopkins said in his last paragraph...dedicate yourself and most likely you’ll recover close to if not completely. Best wishes, you’ll get back...keep us posted.

    Didn’t Sam Bush and Adam Steffy break their right wrists...? I would think that since you broke the left it’s not as involved in the constant motion the right wrist is when playing the mando, but it will be important to get your full dexterity and strength back.
    Last edited by bigskygirl; Jul-20-2018 at 8:17am. Reason: Rearrange thoughts
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    Registered User MissingString's Avatar
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    Default Re: Recovery from wrist surgery

    Good luck Steven! Had a major invasive elbow surgery a few years back (Tommy John type) and recuperating took about 6 months to be able to play and a year to start to feel “normal” to some degree. Good advice is already provided ... find a great surgeon (who has preferably performed similar surgery frequently) and work hard during rehab while focusing on love of playing/music. Keep us posted and check in for support! Positive thoughts headed your way. Chris
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    Default Re: Recovery from wrist surgery

    As the veteran of too much orthopedic surgery, I have found that just about everyone in the orthopedics and physical therapy field is a sports nut, and few of them know anything about the physical requirements of playing music.

    In a city the size of San Francisco, though, you may be able to find a rehab person or two who specializes in musicians' injuries. It would be worth seeking out someone who understands—and respects—what you are going to be doing with that wrist. The position you need for mandolin or violin is somewhat unnatural, and keeping your wrist comfortable while twisted for a few hours a day is probably not on their list of goals for patients after wrist surgery. At the first appointment, lay out what you do, how often for how long, and that this is part or all of how you make your living. I hope you gave your surgeon some of the same information.

    I have found PTs to be lovely people, genuinely interested in helping you get back to what you're used to doing. If your main concern was restoring your killer backhand, they would be all over it. "Mandolin" gets you a response along the lines of, "I had an old girlfriend by that name." Sit your therapist down for a come-to-Jesus talk if you need—just make it clear what you need out of therapy.

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    Default Re: Recovery from wrist surgery

    Good luck with therapy and recovery, and I hope you have good insurance. The Sutter Health system has sume superstar orthopods -- thus their high rates. For worst-case, I knew a SF guitarist whose fretting hand was irreparably damaged, worse than Django. He took up playing with a slide. But slide mando could be a bit tricky. Hope your hand works again!

  16. #11
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Recovery from wrist surgery

    Quote Originally Posted by foldedpath View Post
    ...I think the early diagnosis and treatment by someone who knows what they're doing is more important than post-surgery therapy. And unfortunately, at least for those of us in the USA, it depends on where you live, and how close you are to the really good orthopedic specialists....the recommendation here, as a musician, is to make sure you know what your local level of expertise is, so you can jump up a level and seek wider treatment if you need it.
    Good points. Living in Rochester NY, where the University of Rochester Medical School is one of the better ones nationally, and health care is the largest employer, we're "spoiled" to a certain extent. We can count on first-rate surgical treatment; I went to an ortho practice under the U of R's umbrella, and my surgeon had won national recognition, so I didn't need to worry that I wasn't getting top-rate care. Perhaps in Smalltown USA one would be at greater risk of getting a lesser doc.

    Plus, with the Eastman School of Music here, a lot of the medics are quite familiar with treating musicians, and their particular needs (for medical care, that is). I was very explicit about my music avocation, and the need to restore digital dexterity and overall mobility. I can say that, at any rate, I'm no worse a mandolin player, than before the accident.

    Patient: "Doc, will I be able to play the mandolin after surgery?"

    Doctor: "Yes, of course."

    Patient: "That's great! I've never been able to play one..."
    Allen Hopkins
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    This Kid Needs Practice Bill Clements's Avatar
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    Default Re: Recovery from wrist surgery

    Quote Originally Posted by foldedpath View Post
    I will mildly disagree with that, because I think the early diagnosis and treatment by someone who knows what they're doing is more important than post-surgery therapy.
    With all due respect, I would say orthopedic expertise and post-surgical rehab are equally important. My mother had an excellent orthopedic surgeon but she was not compliant with her rehab and never fully recovered.
    "Music is the only noise for which one is obliged to pay." ~ Alexander Dumas

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    Default Re: Recovery from wrist surgery

    Took me weeks in a wrist brace , being 70, , for just falling, and sticking my hand out to catch myself.
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  19. #14
    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
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    Default Re: Recovery from wrist surgery

    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Clements View Post
    With all due respect, I would say orthopedic expertise and post-surgical rehab are equally important. My mother had an excellent orthopedic surgeon but she was not compliant with her rehab and never fully recovered.
    I didn't mean to disparage the post-surgery therapy, it's important.

    But no, I disagree that therapy is equally important as finding the best ortho surgeon you can, for the initial diagnosis and surgery. Especially if you're a musician, but this should apply to all of us.

    My S.O.'s wrist break was considered just fine and healing in a cast by the local ortho office after two weeks, before the visiting surgeon took one look at the X-Ray and said "No, your wrist is bending way out of alignment and I'm scheduling your surgery for TOMORROW at our facility in another town." And then he broke her wrist again during surgery and set it with hardware. It was a bad diagnosis from a local small town hospital.

    I'm pretty sure that her recovery and being able to play fiddle again within a few months wouldn't have gone as well, if we hadn't been lucky enough to find a good surgeon who just happened to be on call in our small town hospital, when it was time for her checkup.

    Get the best ortho specialist you can find. Therapy is good too and shouldn't be ignored, but you can get a wide range of final results, depending on the expertise of the doctors diagnosing and treating the first cause. I'm old enough now to see this scenario played out many times. Don't elevate post-op therapy as equivalent to getting the right treatment from the start.

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    Default Re: Recovery from wrist surgery

    I broke my ulna in right arm last July. Spent 6 weeks in a cast. In October they determined that the ulna had let go. In late November they took the piece of hip and did a bone graft, with plate and screws. Today I can play for about 10 minutes a day before my forearm gets too sore. Still have pain in the area of the break, and tendonitis like symptoms at the elbow. Physio, massage and pain killers all help. And lots of ice. I am learning that patience is a virtue, but I really want my life back. It will take a lot longer than the doctor will say, and it may never come back 100%. Good luck. It's a long struggle.

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    Default Re: Recovery from wrist surgery

    Hope you are gaining in wellness with each day. Blessings!
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    Default Re: Recovery from wrist surgery

    Thank you everyone for your kind advice. I've taken note. Everyday now is one step closer to the end of this chapter and I'll be happy to see it pass.

    Take care.

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