Broken Wrist Needs Pep Talk

[Isculpt]

Oh, Jayne, I've been wondering where you were. I'm so sorry this has happened just before your studio was finished. I know how you've longed for it. Even though this is a forced hiatus, I'm glad you'll be using the time to absorb ideas and are planning ahead for when your PT is over. Besides the sketch book, as your wrist gets better, you'll be able to make maquettes of some of your sketches. Time will slip by faster than you imagine right now, and you have a good group of supporters here on the forum. And, even if it is a hot summer, having a cat curled up on your lap will help you work through the pain. My best to you.

 

Shirley

 

 

How nice to hear from you, Shirley. I remember that you know a few things about not letting one's physical limitations get in the way of making art! I did buy a sketch book today, and I've already started sketching a design for a complex idea I've been carrying around for 2 years. However, maquettes just may be more than my limited patience can handle! On the other hand (so to speak) last week I had no thought of sketching my ideas during this hiatus, so perhaps a maquette or two might be in my future after all! Hope you're doing well....

[Barb Z]

I have been out of my studio for 6 months due to life issues and a major studio remodel that took waaay longer than expected. With advice from the good folks on this forum, I splurged on a Bailey 30" direct drive slab roller that I can't wait to try out. A week before the completion & christening of the new studio, I tripped and fell, saving myself from a broken nose by breaking the fall with, yes, my wrist. I should've sacrificed the nose, because 4 hours later I was informed that I'd broken 5 bones in my wrist and that I'd be having surgery the next day to put in a plate to hold the ulna bone together. It's been almost 4 weeks, the pain is incapacitating, and I'm told that the cast will come off & physical therapy will start in another week, and I'll be on pain meds for another month.

 

I am very grateful that it was not my dominant hand and that I have health insurance (the tab is at $18,000 and growing). And I'm fortunate that I sculpt and hand-build rather than throw, because I don't think this wrist is going to recover enough for me to take those throwing classes I planned on. I'm trying to keep a positive thought, but some days it's a challenge! What I could really use right about now is some words of encouragement from anyone who has been through this or knows someone who has. Any advice about rehabilitation would be really welcome, too.

 

Thanks, Jayne

 

 

 

I am sorry to hear of your misfortune. Perhaps I can contribute some information to help with recovery.

 

Five years ago I broke not a wrist but a leg (tibial plateau fracture), which they put together with a plate and screws. Having some background in herbal medicine, I used that instead of pain-killers. The bone healed fast and well, and I had essentially no pain to speak of. After 2 1/2 years, I insisted that they take out the plate, since it rubbed on a tendon when I used the kick-wheel, and that went very well also. My thinking is that pain means your body needs something, and if you give it what it needs, the pain goes away.

 

The three herbal extracts I used were comfry tincture, calendula tincture, and arnica oil. (Tincture is an alcohol extract.) I rubbed them into the skin all around the injury site, in the order listed, twice a day (three times if needed). Comfry promotes healing of bones and ligaments, calendula promotes healing of soft tissue and can act as an antiseptic. Arnica moderates the reaction to trauma. The extracts I used were from Herb Pharm, but you may find others.

 

And they are right about physical therapists. Good ones are worth their weight in gold. Follow their directions assiduously.

 

Barb

[Isculpt]

I have been out of my studio for 6 months due to life issues and a major studio remodel that took waaay longer than expected. With advice from the good folks on this forum, I splurged on a Bailey 30" direct drive slab roller that I can't wait to try out. A week before the completion & christening of the new studio, I tripped and fell, saving myself from a broken nose by breaking the fall with, yes, my wrist. I should've sacrificed the nose, because 4 hours later I was informed that I'd broken 5 bones in my wrist and that I'd be having surgery the next day to put in a plate to hold the ulna bone together. It's been almost 4 weeks, the pain is incapacitating, and I'm told that the cast will come off & physical therapy will start in another week, and I'll be on pain meds for another month.

 

I am very grateful that it was not my dominant hand and that I have health insurance (the tab is at $18,000 and growing). And I'm fortunate that I sculpt and hand-build rather than throw, because I don't think this wrist is going to recover enough for me to take those throwing classes I planned on. I'm trying to keep a positive thought, but some days it's a challenge! What I could really use right about now is some words of encouragement from anyone who has been through this or knows someone who has. Any advice about rehabilitation would be really welcome, too.

 

Thanks, Jayne

 

 

 

I am sorry to hear of your misfortune. Perhaps I can contribute some information to help with recovery.

 

Five years ago I broke not a wrist but a leg (tibial plateau fracture), which they put together with a plate and screws. Having some background in herbal medicine, I used that instead of pain-killers. The bone healed fast and well, and I had essentially no pain to speak of. After 2 1/2 years, I insisted that they take out the plate, since it rubbed on a tendon when I used the kick-wheel, and that went very well also. My thinking is that pain means your body needs something, and if you give it what it needs, the pain goes away.

 

The three herbal extracts I used were comfry tincture, calendula tincture, and arnica oil. (Tincture is an alcohol extract.) I rubbed them into the skin all around the injury site, in the order listed, twice a day (three times if needed). Comfry promotes healing of bones and ligaments, calendula promotes healing of soft tissue and can act as an antiseptic. Arnica moderates the reaction to trauma. The extracts I used were from Herb Pharm, but you may find others.

 

And they are right about physical therapists. Good ones are worth their weight in gold. Follow their directions assiduously.

 

Barb

 

 

Thank you, Barb, for the specific suggestions. How long did you use the extracts? My injury is 4 weeks old, and the cast will be removed in four days' time. When I can get to the wound site, I will try all three extracts. I'm especially glad to hear that removal of the plate went well, since I've been told that this plate on my ulna may or may not need to come out... eventually.

Jayne