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jax
Mar 18, 2005, 3:00 PM
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Not sure how to spell scafoid (scaifoid/skafoid?!) anyway it's the major bone in your wrist. Im off to have it pinned next week :? ! Couple of climbing friends have said its a pretty common injury (one of them has broken his 5 times) but the doctors recommend no climbing for several months, im not impressed. Anyone out there got any thoughts?
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burp
Mar 18, 2005, 5:52 PM
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Howdy,
Any ligament damage along with the break?
Just curious.
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reno
Mar 18, 2005, 5:56 PM
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Scaphoid.
Follow your doctor's advice. Too soon a return to activity can land you right back in the OR, for another surgery.
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mbez
Mar 18, 2005, 6:24 PM
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Be careful of this one. I broke mine and spent 2.5 months in a series of casts. The blood flows one way into this bone and if the blood flow is disrupted the bone could die. Good luck.
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cbare
Mar 18, 2005, 6:56 PM
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Jax, listen to Reno and mbez. Do not try to climb until this bone is healed and you are cleared by your doctor. The scaphoid bone is also called the navicular bone. A navicular fracture is one fracture that you do not want to take lightly. As mbez stated there is a small artery that feeds the navicular bone, if the artery is damaged or compromised, the bone will loose it's only source of blood. The bone will die and become necrotic, this will lead to serious complications, surgery, and very slow recovery. Take care, cbare.
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jax
Nov 17, 2005, 3:32 PM
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Hey, got some good advice from you, Reno and mbez when I broke my scaphiod little while back so thank you all for that.
Spent five months in plaster after the op, but I'm out now and heading back to the rocks. Had loads of physio and now they've cleared me to climb again :D
leading HVS again now, so everything's cool.
Thanks again y'all
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hillbilly
Nov 20, 2005, 2:28 PM
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Howdy, welcome to the I broke my scaphoid club. I found myself in a similar situation a few years ago. The biggest problem with scaphoid injuries is the poor blood flow and resulting slow healing process. The recovery time post op is also extended leading to arm atropy. A loss of 10% muscle mass for each week of imobilization is common. As my break had little displacement, I chose a managed physical therapy. A thumb spica splint not cast was used, allowing for massage and hygiene. My down time was five weeks of massage and boron supplements. Then simple light hanging. Tears are optional. At ten weeks I had recovery a majority of my strength with some loss of fexibility and a slight bump. It also helps you work on your footwork. Tim
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htotsu
Nov 20, 2005, 4:08 PM
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I prefer not to join this club (no offense) but I wonder how everyone broke this bone.
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philbox
Moderator
Nov 20, 2005, 9:16 PM
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I`m also a member of the "I broke my scaphoid bone" club.
Typically people break this bone when they naturally put their hand out to prevent a fall onto ones head. The break comes from hyperextending the hand. In other words your hand is doubled back. Try this, put your hands together in prayer and lift your elbows, see how there is some resistance at your wrists. Now if you were to fall and you had your arm outstretched and the butt of your hand is the first thing that connects with a hard object you will likely break your scaphoid.
I broke mine falling some 25 to 30 metres down the side of a mountain upside down with my arm out in front of me like superman. I hit several things on the way down. Not a good feeling when you pull up 3 metres below your belayer.
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talus_
Nov 30, 2005, 12:20 AM
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you are going through the trouble of letting someone cut open your wrist and put a piece of metal in a little bone in your hand...and you are willing to deal with all the risks of having this done. good. don't screw up all that work and risk to start climbing a few weeks earlier.
i will choose for you: video games and frozen pizza until you are healed.
you won't get strong again until you can go full out, anyway so chill. a scaphoid non-union is a one way trip to life-long misery (pain) that can not really be fixed by anything that would allow any climbing (even 5.7). take -er slow post-op and let it heal.
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jred
Nov 30, 2005, 12:55 AM
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Listen to your doctor, get maximum physio, take your time. I too have broken this bone and it's healing is quite fickle. You will climb again, be patient or you will regret it.
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mingleefu
Nov 30, 2005, 1:48 AM
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I think I like the word "navicular" more than "scaphoid". It sounds like "tubular" but revised for the 21st century. Even as I was reading cbare's post, I got a bit more excited each time I came across the word. True story: I was disappointed when it stopped after 3 uses.
I'll be replacing the word "sweet" with "navicular" from now on. Maybe I can even get others to believe it's the latest slang and then they'll pick it up.
Edit for the grammar gestapo.
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climbinginchico
Nov 30, 2005, 2:17 AM
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I broke my scaphoid in 3 places, along with a total of 17 fractures in my wrist.
I healed up completely in 3 weeks without surgery, which the docs say is a minor miracle. They really wanted to do a bone graft if anything deteriorated into necrosis. It was still a long time until I could do normal activities, and to this day it still pops. A lot. Loudly. I also tore most of the ligaments but there wasn't a lot they could do with surgery so they let me heal up and see how it went. I have full strength and use of my left wrist, it just pops and shifts around sometimes.
I broke it playing soccer. I'm a goalkeeper and a guy shot at me from about 15 feet away. I parried the ball, but thought I had sprained my wrist doing so. I taped it and finished the remaining 75 minutes in the game. Went to the health center after the game because it was super swollen, and black and blue from my fingers halfway to my elbow.
Short story: don't fuck around with a scaphoid injury. You're lucky enough to get it repaired and that you don't need a bone graft. Don't injure it worse by trying to get back a couple of weeks early.
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iltripp
Nov 30, 2005, 2:29 AM
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Spent 5+ months in a cast with a scaphoid fracture...
Let that shit heal and don't do something to jeopardize it.
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climbingbetty22
Nov 30, 2005, 3:24 AM
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In reply to: Jax, listen to Reno and mbez. Do not try to climb until this bone is healed and you are cleared by your doctor. The scaphoid bone is also called the navicular bone. A navicular fracture is one fracture that you do not want to take lightly. As mbez stated there is a small artery that feeds the navicular bone, if the artery is damaged or compromised, the bone will loose it's only source of blood. The bone will die and become necrotic, this will lead to serious complications, surgery, and very slow recovery. Take care, cbare.
Yeah, dude, avascular necrosis is a bitch.
Fun facts:
The scaphoid is the most commonly fractured carpal bone.
The scaphoid is also the most common site of nonunion is the whole skeletal.
The scaphoid the most common bone to have an occult fracture.
The lunate is the most commonly dislocated carpal bone and the carpal bone most likely to develop avascular necrosis.
Thank you for this opporutnity to review for my upcoming radiology exam. :lol:
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e_free
Nov 30, 2005, 9:03 AM
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This is my left wrist's creditials for posting:
The Pin
http://www.rockclimbing.com/...p.cgi?Detailed=53372
Healing
http://www.rockclimbing.com/...p.cgi?Detailed=52468
Temporary Brace
http://www.rockclimbing.com/...p.cgi?Detailed=52469
the scaphoid has a backwards blood supply & a break can sever or damage it, leading to necrosis (death) of the bone, which leads to arthritis and other general nastiness.
my doc sent me to a specialist who told me the options: pin or cast. i did my own research 2-4 hours a day for about 10 days prior to the surgery to be sure it was really what i wanted to do. I'm a former emt.
pin is to ensure the bone fragments join together. a cast will immobilize your joint, but it doesnt hold the bones together. I asked the dr, "If it were your wrist, and you wanted to climb again - for the rest of your life, what would you do?" He said, "Surgery without question." Mom's a nurse & climbed; she agreed.
also, surgery entails about 6 weeks of decreasing imobilization, whereas a cast would have been on for double that time. also, the brace you get is removable after surgery, so you are able to work the arm a bit and prevent all the atrophy that can occur with a cast on.
so i did surgery, then i did therapy. one evaluation, one training session, home program. learn to love squeezing putty 15 different ways 5 times a day and doing forearm curls.
3 months post surgery no climbing (so the bone could finish healing together) ...after that i was cleared to do whatever i want.
As for climbing, I'll say this, my grip strength now is BETTER than it was before, as a result of the therapy. However, control of the joint at certain angles while bearing my weight isn't at all what it used to be. i think taping it will help.
In any case, I have no regrets as to my decision and would recommend the pin over the cast as a result of study (because of the high numbers of necrosis that occur in all other treatment methods) as well as my personal experience.
Hope you get well soon! Prayin for ya :D
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papounet
Dec 1, 2005, 11:43 AM
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I had a scaphoid fracture (as part of a much bigger damage to my wrist and body) which did not repsond well to a cast. After 7 weeks, I had the choice of having a pin or a bone graft. I felt more confident with the second surgeon, I choose the bone graft. Thanks to heavy PT and climbing, I have now recovered most of my hand function.
Good luck
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tinsoldier510
Dec 2, 2005, 7:02 PM
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I'm not gizmo-savvy.. And I didn't want to pay for 15 copies of my x-rays, otherwise I'd share my bone-art with all of you, too. I can't remember the exact names (there are so many!) that the doctors used to tell me which carpals I shattered, but I completely shattered the proximal row (including the scaphoid) and, I believe, the capitate.
Maybe the extensiveness of my injury made my situation different from most of yours, but the timeline goes as follows:
- Dani go boom, shatters right wrist and breaks/shatters 7 other bones.
- Surgery, sleep, surgery, watch Illini football :roll:, surgery... More surgery.
- Doctors put three screws in my wrist and two pins criss-crossed to keep it immobile.
- Doc tells me I have three options, because I damaged that thin little blood vessel to my scaphoid all of you guys mention and it was healing almost imperceptibly:
1. Leave the wrist as it is and hope for the best
2. Carpalectomy- take out three carpals, retain full range of motion
3. Fusion- putting a plate in there, losing all range of motion
I chose option number one, and we monitored my scaphoid.. I now call it the Little Scaphoid That Could, because no one believed that it would heal. I did, however, lose 50% range of motion and a large percentage of grip strength. I've only climbed once since then (a year ago, I know!) and I don't recall having any problems with it, but keep in mind that that was sixth months after the accident and after the doctor told me that it would take a pretty serious whack to do any damage to my new, titanium-enhanced wrist.
So, you guys who can still move it and such, I'm happy for you :D The message is, love your scaphoid, and it'll love you back.
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jonathanyang
Oct 15, 2006, 4:59 PM
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hi there. unfortunately for me, i joined this "club" in july.
i was hoping to seek advice from you guys regarding how you have managed your injury and how has it affected, if at all, your climbing now.
a little detail on my fracture. well, a freak basketball accident. the fracture wasn't displaced, and i was casted for 3 months. 3 different doctors refused me surgery despite my pleas, saying that it would be better to go with the conservative approach first and if complications arise, then they'd go in and operate.
anyhoo, they finally removed my cast last week and it's been an entire week of being cast-less now. i've been doing the light physio exercises as taught to me by my physiotherapist, but i've got a few worries.
now, i fully understand that after being placed in a thumb-spica cast for 12 weeks, my wrist and thumb are bound to be stiff. weakness and highly-limited range of movement is expected too.
however, i would like to ask you guys if you experienced pain after the cast has been removed and if yes, for how long did the pain last? i mean, my pain is starting to not seem like the usual "stiff muscle pain", like when you get a stiff neck. i cannot bend my hands much, be it forwards or backwards before being jolted by a sharp, acute pain in the general area where my scaphoid is located. my thumb, too, is extremely stiff, in pain and weak too and pinching anything is completely out of the question.
i mean, my idea of pain from general stiffness is more of blunt pain spread out over a, well, general area. it's this localized pain directly over my scaphoid area which scares me so much.
basically, i just wanna find out from people like yourselves, who have gone through a scaphoid fracture, whether my experiences are normal and if i have anything to worry about.
thanks in advance, and my sincerest apologies for going on so long. i'm just quite freaked out right now.
jonathan
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climbingaggie03
Oct 15, 2006, 5:54 PM
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Jonathan, I broke my scaphoid in may of 2002, I got 2 small pins to hold it together, and 3 months in a thumb spica cast. The pain you are talking about sounds the same as the pain I had, it was really a sharp pain around my scafoid especially if I moved it very much. My advice is to take your time in therapy, and make sure you work on your exercises outside of therapy, there's alot of stretching that has to happen, and that probably is the reason behind most of the pain.
I'm not sure if you have a splint or anything, for a while after they removed my pins and cast, I had a splint that I wore at all times at first, then only when I was active. That helped mine hurt alot less, you might ask your doc or therapist about something like that to give you some support, also don't be afraid to get your doc to re-exray your hand if you are worried about it. Scaphoid fractures have a high chance of not healing properly, so you and your doc should do everything neccessary to fix it.
just to make sure, you did go to a hand/wrist specialist right? if not you might go and see one just to get a second opinion.
I was climbing again about 6 months after I broke mine, but it took probably 9-12 months before it really felt as strong as the other hand.
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