Stretching after fracture (with plates and screws)

[dailyPT]

When should I start applying active and passive stretch for post op mid-distal humeral fracture (plates and screws)?

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[physiobob]

Well if you are stretching holding the humerus proximal to the fracture site then passively you could be doing that rather early in the process. The main thing on the dynamic stretching would be to assess fracture healing which would need the followup x-rays at 6 weeks or so (if in fact they had any). Any dynamic stretching would begin with no more that the weight of the arm though and look to the effect it has on pain levels the following day as that may give some insight into who the movement is being tolerated.

In all cases I think that the first person to ask for guidance following an operative stabilisation would be the surgeon. They know first hand how stable the repair was at the time of surgery and would therefore have a much more educated opinion on how much and how soon based on the techniques and materials they used.