Elbow stiffness ?cause

[christopher lendrum]

Hi 4 months ago i fractured my radial head and was treated with a sling and early ROM,i now have reduced rom especially into extention of the elbow but am getting most of my discomfort on the medial side/cubital tunnel region which is confusing to me.Do you think my elbow will be constantly stiff or are there any specific exercises i can do?p.s no x-ray was taken 6 weeks post fracture which i found a bit strange

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[danmc]

i have the same problem and would be interested to know if you got it sorted out. its 4 mnths since i fractured my radial head. had an x ray 3 mnths post f# and theres no problem with the bone so it must be soft tissue. physio is v painful and doesnt seem to be increasing range. currently studyin physio so i asked my lecturers advice. they reckon the medial collateral ligament at the elbow was also ruptured and is full of scar tissue which is causing pain on stretching. am curently massaging the ligament with a marble after applying heat to break the scar tissue, and stretching but rom is not improving. its very frustrating.any help would be greatly appreciated.

[kalacoconut]

2.5 months ago, I had multiple fractures in BOTH my upper arms & elbows following a fall from a cycle (as well as a fracture in right shoulder & 3 cracked ribs). Some of the humerus pieces had even "jumped". I had extensive surgery (plates, pins, screws, wires), but I have the same problem as you guys, i.e. lack of movement in the elbows. I have only about 110 deg flexion & 110 deg extension in both arms. I'm having physio 3 x a week, but progress seems to be very limited.
BTW, as a lay person, I am unable to understand your medical terminology. I would be most grateful if you could explain it in layman's terms.
Thanks

[shasadah]

As per your description ,you underwent open reduction with internal fixation. 115 degree flexion is not too bad this stage.but all depend upon what they did during surgery.
which part of ur forarm bones(radius and ulna) fractured and how they fixed it.
likewise there r many things to be assessed like endfeel of rang etc.
your physio can assess these things and could tell u whether u achieve normal rang of motion or not.
If we have proper information we will give you gud sugessions.

feel free to ask any further question
gud luck

[kalacoconut]

Thanks. It was the upper arms (humerus) that had the fractures, although one of the lower arm bones (don't know which one) were also cut during surgery to move the elbows out of the way for the surgery to the humerus, which were put together with plates, screws & wires.
I am not a medical person, so I am not familiar with the medical terms. Both the physio & orth. surgeon are unable to say how much movement I'll get back.

[shasadah]

Actually its realy hard to tell you that how much rang of motion will you achieve, without physical examination.
The best option you have your physio.
keep doing exercises to get the maximum possible rang and to avoid any contracturs to develop.Some times it takes more time because of internal tissu scars. So dont give up and carry on with physiotherapy.you can put ice just after the streatching exercise that will controle the inflamation.
in which area you are living in ?? may be i could suggest you some gud therapist in your area.

gud luck

[kalacoconut]

I live in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, UK. Nearest big towns are High Wycombe & Maidenhead. London is about 35 miles from here. BTW, what is "contracturs"?

[Fiona B]

Hi

Just wondering how you guys are all going, interested to hear your progress.

5 weeks ago I fractured radial head and capitela (?) - had open reduction with 2 pins. Was only in cast for 2.5 weeks as due to have a baby in a couple of weeks!!

Have been in ROM brace for 2 weeks - can get to about 100 flexion and 110 extension at a push with the brace on (think I'm reading it right) but can only slightly turn wrist face up and face down Feels very stuck and I feel very miserable - does anyone have advice. My baby is due in about 2 weeks and I need some movement to be able to nurse properly.

Everyone's telling me the elbow joints hard to heal so some positive advise would be good to hear

[kalacoconut]

Hi Fiona
Yes, unfortunately regaining ROM in the elbow is a real problem. I shattered the humerus at the elbow into multiple fragments in BOTH arms 6 months ago & recovery is very slow & limited. I have been advised to carry on with physiotherapy, but not too aggressively as this can cause bone growth into the muscles which is a non-reversible process. I find that massage helps a little.
What is a ROM brace? Is it like a dynamic splint? Can you explain what this is & how it works. It appears braces are not popular in the UK & I can't understand why not.
Kalacoconut

[Dancecraft]

Hi,

It's great to find this thread because my boyfriend fractured a bone at his elbow, possibly the ulnar but I'm not sure as I didn't see the xrays, and now has quite bad stiffness. That was over a year ago and he still can't straighten his arms fully, it's very frustrating! He actually has permanent flexion of about 30 degrees! Apparently he only fractured on of his arms but both of them restricted.

I will keep looking into what may help and try and work something out on my physiotherapy course, and will watch this thread with interest.

Best wishes

[mmm115]

dear sir,

I had a capitellum fracture on june 2 , 2010. Open reduction Internal fixation with 2 herbert screws. I have limited ROM , I had good extension after 6 weeks of Physiotherapy. Later I have developed myositis ossificans which is causing me limited extension movement.

Suggest me anything to get rid of this and to get the extension back.

Almost 3 months have been past but still the stiffness is as usual. Doing physiotherapy at home 2 times a day for 1 hour. Still how much time will it take to get back normal ROM. Flexion is 110 after Physiotherapy. Extension is 160 after physiotherapy.

After finding myositis ossificans my doctor prescribed medicines Indocap 25mg and Prorab 20 for 10 days 3 times a day.

Will these medicines, help in absorbing my myositis ossificans.

There is very slight improvement in my flexion. So how to increase that.

Please suggest me .

Iam from India and planning to go abroad in a week. So kindly suggest me earliest.

Thanks in deed.

mmm115 at gmail dot com

mmm115

[[email protected]]

well friends
you everbody has elbow injury but somehow in different aspect; yeah post surgical stiffness is common so i'll first advice every1 exercise plan will be diffrent.for myositis, for ulnar f#,for ROM of 113..,etc etc.....
simply one should know elbow joint is very fragile joint so it takes time for recovery and should know never go for hurry on it mean doing stretching of joint and trying to pull the ROM never do that EVEN MASSAGE,PLEASE MY LAYMAN FRIEND AFTER ANY INJURY OR ANY REHAB MASSAGE IS NOT GOOD BUT WORSEN THE CASE,USE ICE IMMEDIATLY AFTER INJURY
well i have mentioned in bold so please this note for everyone, now i'll speak something about regime of post surgical stiffness pronation and supintion is the very difficult components to get but flexion and extension can regain by simply doing active movement for instance take wooden log of 1-1.5 lbs and do bending of your elbow along with it go for overhead shoulder movement thats for bending and for extension keep your arm in overhead position keep your elbow bend then tell you physio to assist you for extension but don't let his/her help you you ur self use you muscle power to lift ur extrimity, its necessary to use your own muscle power for elbow stiffness rehab.
gud luck

[catrionak]

Hi,
I Shattered my radial head 14 weeks ago due to a fall. I went to our local hospital in Ireland and it was not diagnosed properly i was told i broke my elbow but it would repair itself within 6 - 8 weeks they sent me home in a sling. After my 3rd visit to hospital a month later finally a doctor noticed the extent of my injuries.. By that time fragments of my elbow actually moved down my arm.. I went for a 2 hour operation and had the largest piece of my radial head that came off screwed back together. I have been going to physio for the past few months i cannot straighten my arm nor can i touch my right hand to my face properly. I have been doing my exercises religiously also supernation is still extremely painful.. Any movment even trying to eat is very painful on my wrist and elbow. I have since been back to the specialist and he advised that over it being a month undiagnosed the bone shrunk and he was not able to align properly. He did however say that he got a full range of movement during surgery.
Also had a splint made for during the night but this is also too painful to sleep with. I have since went for an MRI on my wrist waiting to hear results.
I am at my wits end at the moment.. The surgeon advised that i will never get a full range of movement again but i should be able to get 1 or 2 more degrees in regards to straightening my arm. He did say that he could replace my elbow altogehter but this would casue trouble in years to come...
At the moment i am holding a bucket with around 2kg of weights in it but this is not making any difference.. also i lie on the floor while my partner holds down my shouldher and i push my arm against his arm hold it and then retract to try and lengthen the muscle..

Has anyone any other ideas ? I am at my wits end

Thanks
Cat