Busted elbow

[Bro. Noble]

I was going to send Doctorb a PM, but decided to post this here so The Texas Ranger, Magicman, Jeff, and any other clu----er ah accident prone old codgers could tell their stories too and maybe even post some gross pictures. ;)

My daughter who is young and healthy, fell and recieved a nondisplaced radial head fracture.  The Dr. told her to take it out of the sling and exercise it four or five times a day and to not lift anything at all for probably six weeks.  The problem is she has a three year old very active boy and a two month old (13#) baby.  She is wondering what the chances are of getting back to motherhood sooner.

[customsawyer]

Sorry to hear about all of that hope it gets better soon.

[Gary_C]

How do you put your head in a sling?  :D :D

With a couple of kids that age, I could understand wraping your eyes and ears so you could not see or hear, but that could be a good thing.  ;D ;D

From another just kidding old fart. Ya, I know what the fracture really is, but I didn't have any other stories to post. And the only advise I can offer is maybe grandpa may have to do the lifting for the daughter. It would be a good way for you to sleep better at night too.

Your probably thinking that PM would have been a better idea after all?    :D :D :D

[fishpharmer]

Hate hearing your daughter was hurt. I'll pray for her speedy recovery.  
The upside is grandpa spends more time with youngins.

[doctorb]

Radial head fractures are very common and usually do quite well.  If they are relatively non-displaced they are treated without a cast and with early range of motion.  The likelihood of your daughter causing more damage to her radial head and shifting the fracture into a position that might require surgery is remote.

She will have pain if she overdoes, hence the directive not to pick anything up that's heavy.  The key treatment issue is early range of motion.  She should try to regain full straightening of he elbow within a few weeks of injury.  The only usual residual is the loss of a few degrees of complete straightening.  Most women can slightly hyper extend their elbows, and she may lose that ability.

Causing pain by picking up her child will only prevent the maximum return of elbow motion, so I agree that, especially in the first 3 weeks, working on ROM and not lifting anything more than a cell phone, tea cup, or paperback is the best advice.  As her elbow feels better, again around 3 weeks out, lifting her child will become more tolerable and will be OK.

Tell her to take a pic of her x-rays with her cell phone at her next MD visit so I can see the fracture.

[Brucer]

Vitamin C is known to promote healing. (My dentist several years ago used to recommend 1000 mg per day following a major tooth repair -- since I was already taking 2000 mg per day I just doubled my normal daily intake).

There are other vitamins and minerals that will speed up the healing of a fracture, but she should discuss this with her doctor -- it's important to maintain the proper balance of mineral supplements.

[doctorb]

Brucer-

I must respectfully disagree with your post.  I know of no scientific evidence that any vitamin or mineral, in an otherwise healthy person, can change the rate of fracture healing.  If a patient has a vitamin or mineral deficiency, then certainly correcting that deficiency may get that patient back to more normal healing.  But normal patients can not get their healing abilities supercharged through ingestion of large quantities of these supplements. 

While I am all for investigating alternative and nutrient forms of medical treatment, these uncontrolled substances have not undergone the rigorous testing to make some of the claims they do, and the manufacturers don't want to do that testing. 

I realize that this shift in topic can lead to a much greater morass, but taking oral calcium or drinking tons of milk doesn't get your fracture to heal any faster, unless you are calcium deficient.  I don't argue with taking a vitamin supplement or even some vitamin C, but to do so with the expressed belief that your fracture will heal faster is unproven.

[Bro. Noble]

Thanks for the well-wishes and Doctorb's assessment.

Carrie is doing fine and feels much better after Doctorb's response.  She has one week behind her, can bend her arm more with less pain,  and is relieved that the recovery will likely be shorter than she thought.

I did get to spend the past two days with my daughter and grandsons because they stayed with us.  They have gone home for the weekend as her husbands family will be able to help out with the kids.  Our son-in law is a great SIL and Dad and originally said that he would be able to take care of them.  With haying and his forest service job, he decided that he didn't have tome to be a Mother too ;)

[Brucer]

...  I know of no scientific evidence that any vitamin or mineral, in an otherwise healthy person, can change the rate of fracture healing.

I've read several studies that show that increased vitamin C supplements improve healing of injuries in general. I've also read some that show a similar effect on fractures.

Note that I suggested that patients should consult with their own doctor before taking supplements.

It's not my intention to hijack this topic with a discussion on the healing benefits of vitamins and minerals. I'd be happy to carry on the discussion privately, or in another thread.

[Warbird]

Hey Noble.  I've been real busy and just caught this topic.  Sorry to hear about her broken elbow but am glad it wasn't any worse.  We will be praying for a fast and full recovery, so she can get back to mommyhood.