Spiral Fracture of Humerus - Week 9

It's now been two months since my second break and three months since my initial injury. I'm still reasonably paranoid about breaking my arm again as is my wife. The occasional nightmare brings it all back. That being said, I'm doing reasonably well. I've been working on stretching the elbow very carefully. I went from being able to point at my nose to actually touching it without too much issue. I'm hoping within the next week I'll be able to scratch my nose with my left hand without thinking about it. Extending my arm is another story. It seems to be stuck where it's at. Sometimes it feels pretty straight but when I look at it I get a little depressed. That being said, it doesn't hurt when I extend it anymore. If I ever want to get back into yoga though, I'm going to have to either get it straight on my own or have it surgically corrected. I can deal for the time being.

Changing diapers is fairly easy now. I still have to lift his legs with my right hand and slide the diaper underneath with my left but at least I can do it. I still don't have the muscle in my arm to lift him up.

TREATMENT
I still have a few more weeks in the brace before I can start physical therapy. In the meantime I'm working on curling my invisible weights and getting my elbow to bend a little more each day. I've been focusing on the elbow since that's the oldest injury that needs rehab. My shoulder is very stiff and has a tendency to pop when I try reaching for my right shoulder. This means putting on deodorant with my left hand will continue to be a bit of a struggle and washing will continue to be a one handed ordeal.

I'm not doing any strength training save for lifting incredibly light things. I can manage stuff under 2lbs so that's what I do.

SENSATIONS
Muscle discomfort under the brace is pretty rampant since I have to find a balance between supporting the bone with the brace and allowing room for the muscles to do their thing. I still have a little bit of pain in the elbow which comes from stretching. Every few days I take a break to let things calm down. I'd rather not take ibuprofen just because it makes the pain more pronounced when it wears off. I've been uncomfortable for three months now. A little soreness is easy to ignore. Straightening my arm is pain-free.

CHALLENGES
There aren't too many challenges. After three months I've gotten pretty good at doing everything with one hand. Keeping things moving is tough since I'm pretty stationary all day at work. I'd like to be able to pick up my son but the wife and I have adopted a better safe than sorry policy and I won't be picking him up until I can do it without discomfort.