Scaphoid fracture

Hey all, I always seem to hurt myself as summer begins, this time it was a scaphoid fracture in my left wrist. No surgery needed but out for 7+ weeks In a cast. I want to know about others experience, How did you do it? when did you fully heal and Did it effect your climbing after? Anything else you want to add, I’m curious about it and would love to hear. 

Following as I'm heading to my 4 week follow up appointment this afternoon for the same. I did have to have surgery to place a screw in it and have been in a cast since. I'll edit to update any details I get from the Dr. on progress.

Edit: Broke it being a dumbass on a rope swing. Everything is healing well. Cast removed after 4 weeks and I'll have a removable splint for four more. Should be close to 100% by the end of July and hopefully back to pushing grades by sending season? 

Will Haden wrote: Following as I'm heading to my 4 week follow up appointment this afternoon for the same. I did have to have surgery to place a screw in it and have been in a cast since. I'll edit to update any details I get from the Dr. on progress. 

Hey man thanks! We’re in this together lol, how did you do it? 

Broke mine in my right wrist about 12 years ago in a crashing into a frozen creek bed on my mtb. Process follows:
First month did not get it checked out just woke up in crazy pain each day but kept climbing and jumping my mtb
Then got an x-ray showing I had broken it so one month in a cast still riding and jumping the mtb with cast on since I was a idiot in college at the time
Follow-up visit doctor was pissed about the broken palm of my cast from the handlebar but x-ray was good enough to  get the cast off
Went back to full force climbing/dh racing but had some pain in general for 4 years or so or even now if I do a pushup style position of that wrist with force. 

Robert Monjure wrote: Broke mine in my right wrist about 12 years ago in a crashing into a frozen creek bed on my mtb. Process follows:
First month did not get it checked out just woke up in crazy pain each day but kept climbing and jumping my mtb
Then got an x-ray showing I had broken it so one month in a cast still riding and jumping the mtb with cast on since I was a idiot in college at the time
Follow-up visit doctor was pissed about the broken palm of my cast from the handlebar but x-ray was good enough to  get the cast off
Went back to full force climbing/dh racing but had some pain in general for 4 years or so or even now if I do a pushup style position of that wrist with force. 

Geez Robert, did you do any rehab for it?

Hey Mike,
I broke my left scaphoid several years ago, before I really got into climbing. At the time I didn't handle it well - the two halves broke apart with lots of fragments in between; I thought it was a bad sprain and I'd just wear a splint and be fine - not my wisest choice.
6 months later I went to a doctor and the distal fragment had necrotized due to lack of bloodflow.
I had a surgery to insert a vascularized bone graft and repair ligaments; also got 2 removable pins and 1 permanent screw. Surgery went fairly well, but a month later the graft had moved, so I had a second surgery after which things were stable.
Had a full-arm cast for some months, followed by progressively smaller ones that could be removed.

Finally after removing the last cast, I was OK to do light duty activities unsupported but was cautious about having the graft get dislodged again. Gradually it got better and today I have similar strength in left and right wrists, although the left one gets achey sometimes. I'd say it does not affect my climbing a ton, but it's hard to say given that I can't really compare. Activities like volleyball, climbing, monkey bars, handstands (which I suck at, but can try without pain) are all fine.
The most lasting difference is loss of range of motion - probably 30 degrees less than my other wrist. My surgeon recommended not to do physical therapy and just allow everyday activities to gently build back strength and ROM. If I had to do it again, I would insist on building in a gradual PT regimen in order to regain flexibility. Ten years later, it seems unlikely to ever regain the ROM from before the accident - but it's a heck of a lot better than it was just afterwards.

No formal re-hab for me but that has been the case for everything I have broken/torn on the mtb. I also ditched the brace after one day as it was hard to ride with.

Wow, 6 months is nuts Grant.

I fractured mine back in January of 2015 and had surgery to screw it back together. My doc said it might have been fine without the screw but due to my age (21) and activity level, it was a safer bet to put a screw in. I think I did 2 or 3 weeks in a soft cast post-op and then 4 more weeks in a hard cast. By the time the hard cast came off the bone was completely healed. Probably took another month or two to regain full strength and range of motion with light stretching and rehab exercises. I dislocated my wrist pretty badly when it broke so its hard to say if that slowed the recovery down much, but I was back to mountain biking and climbing as usual by mid April. Today I don't even notice it and have full range of motion.

As a contrast, my roommate had a very similar fracture a few years later and never had surgery. It probably took him 4 months to get to the same place I was at 2 months into recovery with a lot more pain and worry about getting the bone to fuse back together. He is also back to normal as far as I know, it just took him quite a bit longer without the operation. At a minimum, I would recommend you fairly frequent follow up x-rays to track the healing progress. As noted above, the bone has pretty poor blood supply and things can go south if you aren't paying attention.

Best of luck!

Nik Benko wrote: I fractured mine back in January of 2015 and had surgery to screw it back together. My doc said it might have been fine without the screw but due to my age (21) and activity level, it was a safer bet to put a screw in. I think I did 2 or 3 weeks in a soft cast post-op and then 4 more weeks in a hard cast. By the time the hard cast came off the bone was completely healed. Probably took another month or two to regain full strength and range of motion with light stretching and rehab exercises. I dislocated my wrist pretty badly when it broke so its hard to say if that slowed the recovery down much, but I was back to mountain biking and climbing as usual by mid April. Today I don't even notice it and have full range of motion.

As a contrast, my roommate had a very similar fracture a few years later and never had surgery. It probably took him 4 months to get to the same place I was at 2 months into recovery with a lot more pain and worry about getting the bone to fuse back together. He is also back to normal as far as I know, it just took him quite a bit longer without the operation. At a minimum, I would recommend you fairly frequent follow up x-rays to track the healing progress. As noted above, the bone has pretty poor blood supply and things can go south if you aren't paying attention.

Best of luck!

Interesting, my scenario seems opposite of yours. I’m 23 and my doc said due to my age it should heal properly without surgery. I’m now in a hard cast for 5 weeks then a soft cast after wards. My break was not displaced so I was given the ok for no surgery. Perhaps yours was a bit worse. Thanks for sharing! 

I stupidly opted out of the surgery (i was a dumb 23 year old back in the day) and it healed wrong so I can't do pushups on that wrist. I can still pull hard but the doc said I'm due for arthritis when I'm older.

I broke my right scaphoid (among other things) biking when I was 13. Casts for about 6 weeks, x rays looked fine, did PT, didn't return to strenuous activity for another few months because of the concussion. The next summer I rode with a brace on my right wrist. Put a hairline in my left scaphoid, was just in a brace for a week, went back in, x rays looked fine, that was it. Didn't do formal PT but kinda sorta tried to follow the program from the last one at home. Returned to activity within a few weeks, brace on each wrist for that season, then stopped using them. 

I'm 25 now, the left is mostly ok, the right kinda sucks. Have to do pushups on my fists.

I broke mine 3.5 years ago playing basketball, fell directly onto my left palm. No surgery, I don't notice pain anymore. I was back climbing after 4 months of recovery (I did toprope stem corners in the gym, I got got quite decent at elbow scumming) and it took another 4 months before I felt reasonably strong again. As far as ROM goes, my left wrist does bend quite as far back as my right unless forced to. The biggest noticeable difference is the strength imbalance in my body as a whole. Last year was the first time I actually felt that my left (shoulder, bicep, forearm, and fingers) were finally catching up again. 

ollieon wrote: I stupidly opted out of the surgery (i was a dumb 23 year old back in the day) and it healed wrong so I can't do pushups on that wrist. I can still pull hard but the doc said I'm due for arthritis when I'm older.

I did the same thing, still cannot do push-ups, still sore every day.  Had x ray the other day and do have arthritis from bone on bone contact, surgeon said the only fix at this point is remove the some of the wrist bones which he assures me will affect climbing/cycling.  No rehab is recommended as it’s physically the bone touching the other bone that’s limiting movement.

I broke my scaphoid about 4 years ago, playing soccer in the park. No surgery, but it was painfully slow to heal. Took 3 recasts and like 7 months total in a cast. Rehab afterwards was about average, the biggest hindrance is that I feel like being in a cast that long shortened and stiffened all my tendons, making me more prone to elbow tendonitis and the like on that arm. Otherwise, no lasting impacts and a complete recovery.

Misha Sweeney wrote: I broke my scaphoid about 4 years ago, playing soccer in the park. No surgery, but it was painfully slow to heal. Took 3 recasts and like 7 months total in a cast. Rehab afterwards was about average, the biggest hindrance is that I feel like being in a cast that long shortened and stiffened all my tendons, making me more prone to elbow tendonitis and the like on that arm. Otherwise, no lasting impacts and a complete recovery.

Pretty much my experience. 6 months in a cast ( 2 of those above the elbow ) and wrist that has somewhat reduced range of motion + elbow and biceps tendinitis on that side. 

Maybe I was lucky, bit I've got a nice screw in mine and was back sending it on a mountain bike in 12 weeks. Climbing maybe took a little longer, but only because the strength and some range of motion was decreased. Doesn't bother me at all now, 2 years later.  I didn't do any rehab other than going and using it. 

17 weeks in a cast after breaking my hand in 5 places. Scaphoid being  most crucial.
Motocross accident at the track. Air to chair as we call it. Took a year before I could touch
Pinkie finger to thumb. Constant muscle spasms in hand as nerves reconnected. Not fun scaphoid break is no joke. I got lucky and didn't need surgery (most need to be pinned).
Blood flows through the bone and feeds your hand. If it doesn't heal guess what happens
Your hand slowly dies and you lose it. 2 plus years for *full* recovery.

lsdclimber Ellis wrote: 17 weeks in a cast after breaking my hand in 5 places. Scaphoid being  most crucial.
Motocross accident at the track. Air to chair as we call it. Took a year before I could touch
Pinkie finger to thumb. Constant muscle spasms in hand as nerves reconnected. Not fun scaphoid break is no joke. I got lucky and didn't need surgery (most need to be pinned).
Blood flows through the bone and feeds your hand. If it doesn't heal guess what happens
Your hand slowly dies and you lose it. 2 plus years for *full* recovery.

Dewwwww, hope you recover from that brother. 

Mike Gelles wrote:

Dewwwww, hope you recover from that brother. 

I did make a some what full recovery. I had no idea how long it would take. Most bones take 6 weeks not 17. Live and learn. From break to full recovery was a little over 2 years. Looked and felt like I had someone else's hand when the cast came off. 

Broke mine in a bouldering fall. Healed 100%.

The Doc casted my arm up to my armpit in what he called the wine pourer's position: 90 degrees at the elbow, elbow rotated externally (palm up). The scaphoid has a deficit in blood supply, a primary reason it's hard to heal. The other thing I did which I'm convinced helped a lot was hard core aerobic exercise. That included a lot of peak bagging in the Sierra. Day trips with a fanny pack; a thin compressible outer shell, some food, and a water filter. Water bottle hung of the belt. One time I biffed it screeing. Came to a stop sliding backwards. The Doc was a bit tweaked by the gravel in the upper half of my cast.   

Circulate blood through that puppy.

Bump for a big bump that fractured my right scaphoid five days ago. Mountain biking is an inherently dangerous activity!

ISO one-handed training regimens! Spray me down!