Women Elbow Fracture - Looking for info on what to expect

[bar princess's mom]

My DD (8) fractured her elbow last night at gym. Having surgery and pins put in place today. The surgeon has said 6-9 months before she can go back to gym. I haven't discussed in detail with him yet since I'm more concerned with getting her through the surgery and having a working elbow at this point. However, I am interested in what we should expect over the next few months especially from coaches/doctors/physical therapists who have experience with this type of injury. Thanks in advance!

 

[Quadqueen]

no advice...just wanted to say I'm sorry your DD has to go through this! Six-nine months is a LONG time!!!

 

[gasrgoose]

My DD (8) fractured her elbow last night at gym. Having surgery and pins put in place today. The surgeon has said 6-9 months before she can go back to gym. I haven't discussed in detail with him yet since I'm more concerned with getting her through the surgery and having a working elbow at this point. However, I am interested in what we should expect over the next few months especially from coaches/doctors/physical therapists who have experience with this type of injury. Thanks in advance!

Sorry to hear this and hope her pain isn't too intense.

A close friend fractured her elbow and had a pin inserted but was only out about 4 months. Clearly not as severe as your daughter. She did physical therapy and is back competing and doing well. She was not allowed to run, leap or really any activity for 3 months. That was probably the toughest part. She felt fine but Doc said no activity for fear she might stumble or fall and aggravate the healing process.

 

[krisnkids]

We had a girl at one of the old gyms who had two fractures, pins, etc in her elbow. Tiny little thing, she came back strong and is now a level 8 I believe.

 

[Sparky]

When my DD did this (also at age 8, she is now 14) she was out for 4 months. She had two pins placed during surgery (bottom of humerus was completely displaced) and re-location of ulnar nerve (new funny bone location), then casted shoulder to fingertip. Cast came off and pins out at 5 weeks, followed by two weeks of doing nothing with it - then physio for approx. 6 weeks (2X week) to regain range of motion. Cleared to full training at just after 4 months, when full range of motion was achieved. She was monitored every six months via xray and examination as there was growth plate involvement - when it became apparent (after 18 months or so) that her arm was continuing to grow normally, monitoring was stopped.

Other than a slight disfigurement (arm appears slightly crooked at elbow, due to the "elbow bump" protruding a bit more than it did before (purely cosmetic), her arm is as good as new. Regaining range of motion was definitely the most stressful part of the experience.

One of the most difficult things for my DD was that she thought (and so did we, or I should say, we didn't really even think about it) that when the cast came off, she would be good to go. In fact, when it came off, she couldn't even straighten her arm - hence the (at times painful) physio. From what I have seen/heard since then, this is very typical.

Hope this helps - Sending healing thoughts to your DD.

 

[iwannacoach]

It's going to depend on the exact type of fracture, how complete the fracture, and the degree of success in surgery. Expect a refined prediction after the surgery, and after each post surgery appointment. Last bit of info......a good Doc knows they can't predict beyond a narrowed generality until it heals, as only idiots and extremely gifted med pros are capable of that.

Good luck,went through this with my 16yo (skateboard...ouch!) a few months back. His doc held out very little hope for a complete recovery, and had warned us that he could end up losing a part of the "ball".......which really would be a bummer. He went to his last appt. three weeks ago and we were told he'd mended almost "good as new".

 

[bar princess's mom]

Sparky- It sounds like our daughter's have very similar injuries. Everything you posted was pretty much what the doctor told me last night. Headed to surgery now. Hoping for as good of an outcome as you have all had...

 

[2gymmies]

My dd broke her humorous near her elbow when she was 5 - it was displaced and rotated - they did a modified closed surgery (ended up opening her skin about 1 in. to place the second pin because of nerve issues). If they didn't do the surgery immediately your dd probably didn't have nerve issues. My dd was immediately admitted to the hospital and they did the surgery on a Saturday night. She had "pins and needles sensation" in her thumb, index finger and tip of her middle finger for about 13 weeks. She had pins in place for 24 days with a soft cast only and did months and months of therapy to regain her range of motion - she still cannot quite touch her shoulder with her elbow against her body and she is now 12. I think she was out of everything about 5 months. She is now a level 9 gymnast. By the way, she wasn't doing gymnastics when she did it!

Good Luck to your dd - I'm sorry that you are going through this!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

that sucks. if all goes well, and because of her age, it will be closer to 6 months. and hopefully everything stays in tact so that they don't have to go in a 2nd time. Spark's explanation of post surgery is definitive. and don't be concerned if she can't touch her shoulder a year later. a gymnasts doesn't need to do that to do gymnastics. it's more important that the arm can get near straight. yet, it doesn't need to be perfectly straight. she'll be okay.

 

[my4buffaloes]

Just wanted to say sorry your dd is going through this. I hope the surgery goes great.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

yes, let us know she is out of recovery and all things good.

 

[gymmom14]

My non gymnastics daughter had something very similar to what you and sparky are describing. Took the head of the humerous off, displaced and rotated. I believe it was called a Supracondylar humerus fracture. Very close to the nerve. She was 7 then and now at 12 has a fulling functioning, although misshapen right arm. It has full range of motion. She was casted from shoulder to fingertips in an angle about 90 degrees. A huge and uncomfortable position. She now loves all "her" sports. Basketball, softball and soccer. Did you daughter fall and land with her arm straight? Best of luck on your recovery.

 

[bar princess's mom]

She's out and we are home. Dr says alignment on post op X-ray looks good. Thanks for your well wishes and information!

 

[Danica76]

I shattered the olecranon in my right arm in a skiing accident when I was 20 (also tore my pcl and mcl in my right knee - what was that tree doing there, anyway?). I had surgery and had screws and pins placed. I was in a brace at 90 deg. for some time, and they gradually adjusted the angle while I attended PT. They never gave me a definitive prognosis, but I did get full range of motion back. I've never had any issues with it, just a big ol' scar and no pointy part of my elbow She is young and should heal quickly. Sending her lots of healing thoughts for a quick recovery. Keep us posted on how she's doing!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

She's out and we are home. Dr says alignment on post op X-ray looks good. Thanks for your well wishes and information!

so glad to hear that. and she's home! whatever fairies you want i send them your way.

 

[bar princess's mom]

so glad to hear that. and she's home! whatever fairies you want i send them your way.

Can I have the insurance will cover all of this fairies? Just kidding!!!

 

[pinkos98]

Hope she gets well soon, what was she doing when she fractured it?

 

[bar princess's mom]

I wasn't there but apparently she was tumbling like a madwoman. She went for her RO BHSBHS layout but tried to pull out of the layout. She says she lost herself and didn't think she'd make it. She's an extremely powerful tumbler (pretty sure dunno would call her fast twitch) so my guess was she was pretty high when she fell straight to the floor.

 

[Sparky]

LOL, she sounds like a great kid - I love the ones with attitude (good attitude, lol) - so happy to hear that the preliminary reports look solid - here's hoping for an uneventful recovery, and many more years of making her momma's hair go grey!

 

[tntva2]

My daughter is also 8 years old and we just went through this in September. She had a supracondylar humerus fracture - basically broke her humerus bone right above the elbow. Emergency surgery, 3 pins placed and was full arm casted. Level 5 at the time. Cast and pins stayed on 3 weeks exactly. At that point, pins came out and instructions were no activitiy except for gentle range of motion exercises at home. From reading here and talking to many people, I prepared her that she would not be able to straighten her arm immediately or for awhile. That in between stage was definitely the hardest part. At the 8 week mark, she was cleared to do very light exercises and non weight bearing conditioning. Although physical therapy was not recommended, we decided to do it anyway. It helped TREMENDOUSLY. In just a few sessions, the percentage of range of motion improved signifigantly and we were given things to do at home as well. Cleared completely at exactly 12 weeks and she was beyong ready by then. Tumbling came back immediately, as did beam. Bars were a little more slow going as was vault. There was a mental aspect as well. She just competed her first meet post injury at the end of January and did amazing! You would have never known she had such a severe injury just a few months back. 6-9 months sounds like a really long time, but of course I am not a doctor and I don't know the extent of the injury. Wishing you and your daughter best of luck and lots of healing fairies. please message me if you have any questions or anything as I just went through this and people on here were so helpful with all my concerns.