# 6 weeks post-op Head of Humerus shattered



## ar1981 (Oct 11, 2006)

Hey guys,

It's been just over 6 weeks now since I shattered the head of my humerus bone; My surgery involved pinning everything back together.

I feel like I'm hitting a wall as far as physio goes.

My PT corrected my movements today; something that tends to happen with shoulder injuries I guess... Because of the stiffness in the joint, you tend to compensate your outward and upward arm movements by moving the whole shoulder upward instead of using your ball and socket joint.

It's getting me a bit down, because if I correct my movements my basic movement is absolutely pathetic; pain has surprising got worse which I don't understand (so my ortho surgeon scripted me 2 weeks of Codeine and Paracetamol) the pendulum movements are really painful now (wasn't the case when I first started them) seems to be a exagerated movement in the circle, especially clockwise (at the top of the stroke) which is where the pain hits...

Need to get in the physio pool more, because that did help me get my movements up...

Is this pretty much normal at this point? I have improved a lot... basic movement and usage of my arm again, but nothing major...

Surgeon ruled out me riding for at all for another 6 weeks, said it would be disastrous if I had another accident... This really sucks!


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## Rabbit19 (Jun 29, 2008)

Stick with it.


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## burnsey (Mar 31, 2008)

*Rehab and Therapy*

When I busted my humerus up, it took six weeks before I was able to begin any sort of PT, and all I could do in the mean time were those pendulum swings. My surgeon had me doing those to keep everything from freezing up. I broke the knob, as well as the bone.
When I finally started PT, it took over two months before I was able to ride, and even then, I could only ride my road bike, and I started riding without the docs knowledge, not to mention, I was a little gun shy. 
Stick it out, that is a tough injury, and the boredom of PT will drive you nuts, but you gotta follow the plan if you want to regain the full use of your shoulder. Getting the motion of lifting (not swinging) your arm from the elbow takes time, and for me, it was the key that unlocked some real progress. I had to use this T-shaped contraption to make that motion happen. I kept it as a reminder.
Again, stick with it, and yes you will ride again. I still do, more than ever before, even though it is still a little stiff. The docs told me to expect full recovery of motion, the PT guys said be happy with 85%, but 90% is possible.
All the best, and a full recovery.


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