Broken arm at shoulder joint

[Fuschia]

Has anyone had any experience of this sort of injury?

[jimnem]

Hi, yes my husband broke his arm at the shoulder snowboarding back in January. It was a very nasty break that was operated on in France and then again in London when he got home.

He can recommend a good surgeon.

[sj]

My 12 year old did this over the summer. Not so severe as to require an op.

healed relatively quickly and although some limited movement at present, this is getting sorted by physio.

He's already back to sport etc.

Children mend fast!

[Fuschia]

It's me who has done this, am

Waiting for fracture clinic appt. but it's agony

[intexasatthe moment]

Blimey ,shoulders are such a complex joint I can well believe that you're in agony . And from experience you can't lie down comfortably and evry little movement hurts .Lots and lots of icing helps . Interspersed with heat ,but finish on ice ,if it's too painful to consider ice .

I hope you're on pain killers .

You're waiting for a fracture clinic appointment ? Surely this should be urgent ?

Masses of sympathy .

[Fuschia]

I am in herts now

Went to hospital by ambulance on Monday

Given morphine

Discharged later in the day with a fracture clinic appt 9 days later. And told to get painkillers via my gp!

I am

Missing kings!!

[intexasatthe moment]

That's terrible ! I can't believe it . Surely further damage could be taking place if the shoulder's not correctly treated/immobilised ? Or maybe it's not meant to be immobilised ?

Hope you have pain killers + movicol/prunes etc for the inevitable constipation they induce .

You have my sympathy in spades .

[Fuschia]

Now on tramadol AND cocodamol

Yes, it feels as if the bones are scraping together :-(

[jimnem]

We have a special shoulder ice pack/sling that you can borrow if you would like.

[Fuschia]

Thanks but I am not in ED any more

[sanity girl]

Wow I am shocked that they sent you away. My ex broke his arm just below the shoulder and dislocated his shoulder in a bike accident - he had to have surgery to have the break pinned and then physio to regain movement afterwards. He had the pins in for 60 days. Did they do an x-ray?

[intexasatthe moment]

Fuschia - I had the most awful withdrawal symptoms from Tramadol . Shaking and terrible dreams and thoughts . I don't think it happens to everyone and you'll probably be ok ,but I so wished someone had warned me of the possibility .

At the time I was too affected to realise what it was ,and I think being pre warned would have helped .

Could you ask fo an earlier appointment ? Does your GP think it's ok to leave it ?

For all I know ,it might be fine to have that delay and I do know that sometimes an immediate X ray doesn't show up the damage ,but one taken some days later does .So what seems like a delay might be good practice ? Clutching at straws a bit here !

[Fuschia]

I had X-rays on Monday

I know about tramadol, one reason I

Not happy at such a long wait

Although it is recommended to wait a few days then X-ray again

and decide if it is going to heal

Ok without surgery... Good practice is to be seen within 72 hours, not 9 days later!

[Pugwash]

Complain to PALS

[Fuschia]

We did, and got seem yesterday by the orthopaedic consultant and a face to face meeting and apology from a&e consultant

I now have a shoulder brace which makes the shoulder feel

More stable

Still on max pain relief

It looks like 3-6 weeks off work is standard

[intexasatthe moment]

Glad you've been seen Fuschia ,sorry you weren't dealt with correctly at the time .

Thank goodness you had the nouse to complain . You shouldn't have had to . What happens to those not up to complaining ?

Rhetorical question ,obviously .

[hazelnunhead]

Fuschia, I hope you are feeling better. I broke a bone in my wrist this summer and was prescribed cocodamol, which I see you are on. You probably know this already, but I had forgotten the horrendous side effect of cocodamol being constipation! If you are taking them remember this so you can eat some prunes, dried fruit etc.

Heres to a good recovery ....

[DagmarJ]

Hi Fuschia

Sorry to hear about your injury, hope you're coping ok with the pain meds you have. I broke the ball of my upper left arm five weeks ago, with surgery two days after the accident needing 13 screws and a plate and wiring all round as the ball was shattered into several pieces. I have to say we're in for the long run regarding recovery with shoulder fractures it seems.

I'm still in a sling at night (for another week only I hope) and doing my physio exercises several times a day (not allowed to lift straigt up or away from the body over 90 degree yet), not that I could do it yet anyway. I'm getting quite a bit of radial nerve pain down the length of the arm now the arm is out of the sling during the day, particularly round the elbow. Have got my six week check up at Kings next week so will confirm then, but sounds that that can be part and parcel of shoulder fractures as that big nerve can get irritated from the initial accident or the surgery.

Feel free to PM me if you want any further tips or just exchange with somebody going through something very similar. You probably know this already, but just in case not, sleeping with your upper body elevated makes sleep a lot easier. And pressure point massage (just yourself with your uninjured side) can take the edge off when the pain gets too bad.

All the best, Dagmar

[Fuschia]

Ooh dammar, that is dramatic!

I am sleeping propped up on pillows and wearing a shoulder brace 24h

I have managed to cut back to taking 1 cocodamol every 3h then at night a tramadol or 2

That seems to keep the pain at a manageable level, though it is constant pain

I cannot move my arm at all, even pushing it with the other hand

Loads of things I can't do

Dress children

Dress myself

Butter toast

Chop vegetables

Hang up washing

No driving!!

[DagmarJ]

Good Morning, Fuschia.

Yes, patience, patience, and being inventive if at all possible. I'm still putting my bra on initially back to front and then twiddle it round, and that's after five weeks. And not driving yet either as we've got a manual car and it's my left arm with which I can't move the gear shift.

In a way I had it easier initially as I spent the first week in hospital. In week three I was able to take the arm out the sling for a few hours at a time during the day, that helped a lot. And you'll be able to use your hand again pretty shortly I'd say. Although it might be a bit different for you as you haven't had surgery.

Can you try and get a home help somehow, even temporarily?

Have a good day, Dagmar

PS: I think I stopped the pain killers in week three. It's still painful at times but seem to be able to manage that with rest or movement/stretches, depending on what brought it on.

[Fuschia]

I have two au pairs so it's not a disaster, but I have 4 children as well, so I can't just do nothing

[Gooders79]

Fuschia you need one of these

http://www.completecareshop.co.uk/kitchen-aids/food-preparation-aids/kitchen-spread-board/

[Fuschia]

Oh I do!!

I had to tear. Chunk of bread off with my teeth earlier on and eat without butter