Healing Broken Arm- Need Reassurance And Feedback

[Carla]

Update and need a little reassurance!

My daughter broke her forearm learning a back handspring. She’s 8 yrs old. Her long cast came off this week and she was put into short cast for two more weeks. (Total 8 was). Doctor said she will wear a brace for four weeks after this. When we saw her arm it still had a little deformity which we expected I guess because the bone alignment/ angle was off about 17 degrees. The doctor said that there will be a small improvement in the next twoweeks, more so when the cast comes off and the muscle builds up but should be totally unnoticeable within 6 months. Has anyone experienced this and was that theoutcome? I’m praying over here that she is not left withthis deformity and that it doesn’t look like this for a verylong period of time. Hope there is some positivereassurance out there!!

 

[retiredl5cheer]

Update and need a little reassurance!

My daughter broke her forearm learning a back handspring. She’s 8 yrs old. Her long cast came off this week and she was put into short cast for two more weeks. (Total 8 was). Doctor said she will wear a brace for four weeks after this. When we saw her arm it still had a little deformity which we expected I guess because the bone alignment/ angle was off about 17 degrees. The doctor said that there will be a small improvement in the next twoweeks, more so when the cast comes off and the muscle builds up but should be totally unnoticeable within 6 months. Has anyone experienced this and was that theoutcome? I’m praying over here that she is not left withthis deformity and that it doesn’t look like this for a verylong period of time. Hope there is some positivereassurance out there!!

This probably isn't the story you want to hear, but it's relevant. A good friend of mine broke her forearm almost 15 years ago after putting her arm down falling out of a stunt. Unfortunately, hers never got better. :( The broken arm is about 2 inches shorter than the other and she has a lump where the bones healed together improperly. I really hope, for your daughter's sake, that this is not what happens to her.

ETA: I do think that doctor messed up royally. There have been other complaints against him since.

 

[Carla]

This probably isn't the story you want to hear, but it's relevant. A good friend of mine broke her forearm almost 15 years ago after putting her arm down falling out of a stunt. Unfortunately, hers never got better. :( The broken arm is about 2 inches shorter than the other and she has a lump where the bones healed together improperly. I really hope, for your daughter's sake, that this is not what happens to her.

ETA: I do think that doctor messed up royally. There have been other complaints against him since.

Oh my God! No not what I wanted to hear. Do you know what may have gone wrong? Was she not going for follow up visits or was it same story where doctor said it would straighten out on it’s own? Our doctor has been in business over 20 years specializing in kids sports medicine but this is a huge fear now...

 

[retiredl5cheer]

Oh my God! No not what I wanted to hear. Do you know what may have gone wrong? Was she not going for follow up visits or was it same story where doctor said it would straighten out on it’s own? Our doctor has been in business over 20 years specializing in kids sports medicine but this is a huge fear now...

I think her cast ended up being loose after the swelling went down and they never fixed it. I'm positive that this was an isolated case and the doctor didn't seem confident that it would go back to normal after he took the cast off, so you're probably in the clear!

 

[Copyright4Cheer?]

If you're not sure about your doctor, get a second opinion. Find someone who works on athletes and respects the kind of stress her arm will be under if she continues to stunt and tumble. I snapped my arm in half as a gymnast and underwent multiple surgeries to get it better. Some of which probably could have been avoided if we had been more aggressive in treating it from the jump. Your daughter is just a baby so you want to make sure that arm will continue to grow. The arm I broke has a 12-year old size hand and the other one is larger. I don't have a lot of pain with it daily and other than a big scar there aren't any "deformities", but it took a huge chunk out of my childhood. Definitely recommend seeing someone else if you are able and have reservations. A good doctor will welcome you getting a second opinion. Wish you both all the best and hope she can get well and back on the mat soon!

 

[Carla]

Thank u for sharing your story and I’m so sorry you had to go through that. He is a sports medicine pediatric orthopedic that has been extremely responsive and calls to answer any/all my questions as often as I have them. He has been great with her in that sense. His daughter also broke her arm like my daughter and she was a gymnast so appears he knows this from a personal perspective as well. He has over 20 years experience and the director has known him for all that time as she’s been there for 30 years. She trusts him with her own kids. He’s welcomed a second opinion but I do feel at least point maybe I should’ve done sooner as she’s almost out of the cast now. He says because of her age and the amount of angulation. (Angle being off) is within reason he is confident it will straighten on its own within 3-6 months. It’s just hard to hear that and know that things are not perfect right now and God forbid bcuz I’ve never gone through this. Just scary for her. I’ve told him about the bad stories I’ve heard and he says that those are rare and could be because of lack of follow up or due to age of the patient being older or other circumstances and that I shouldn’t worry. He has seen her weekly and done a X-ray each time u til after four weeks when the visit became two weeks in between. I’m grateful for all of the feedback just wish someone that had this outcome could share a success story for piece of mind... what kind of break did u have? How old were you? My daughter thankfully did not need surgery but it was initially disclocated and they put it back in place with sedation. Hence the slight bone movement during the healing process. However apparently within reason to self fix.