NWR: Have you broken any bones?

I haven't, but I just wanted to say I am wishing you a speedy recovery!

Ahh, thanks FME!

I broke the middle finger on my left hand when I was in 5th/6th grade. no issues.

My neighbor's son broke his FEMUR when he was about 10. He was an an almost body-cast for 8 weeks below the armpit to the toes, with the exception of the leg that wasn't broken. He was tentative getting around at first, but quickly got back into the groove of running, jumping and playing.

I won't lie - your arm will be stiff as all get-out when the cast comes off, and you won't have full range of motion right off the bat, but it should come back over time.

When I was 16, I had surgery on my foot that turned out to be more extensive than we anticipated. I was in a cast for nearly 12 weeks and couldn't move my ankle at all during that time. When the cast finally came off, I couldn't put my foot flat on the ground or flex it very much. It took a little time to stretch the tendons again, but it did happen, and I had full mobility within a week or so.

Good luck, OP, and speedy healing!

Ahh, yes. I broke both of my arms, wrists, and my back...

I fractured my pinky when I was in the third grade, but that's obviously much less of an inconvenience than what you're dealing with. I hope the healing process is quick and not too difficult!

Oh my, thanks for the words of encouragements! and the well wishes!

Oh no Kristine!- I hope you are all healed up and back to using them!

I've broken my collar bone, wrist, and my elbow. I've broken some fingers and toes too. My arm was bent when I broke my elbow, due to that and the nature of the break I had to go to physical therapy to be able to extend my arm again. I still don't have full range of motion. Hope you recover quickly! That does't sound fun.

Broke my collarbone of my left side (i'm right handed thank god) when I was 13. Fell off a chair 1 week into having a sling and re-broke it, so I have a nice little bump now. The only really annoying things were like you said; getting dressed, showering, the like. The worst was probably trying to button and unbotton my pants with one hand though. Good luck!

I've never broken anything that required a cast, but I did fracture my hip in 10th grade during dance class, and later tore the cartilage in the same hip. Required months of crutches, PT and surgery, after which I had to wear this massive brace across both of my hips and down my left leg. I was super stiff when the brace came off and it took some time to strengthen the muscles again.

I broke my arm when I was 8 or 9. I also broke my collar bone when I was 2 by falling out of bed. So I was pretty young in both instances but I second Zaz, your arm will probably be pretty stiff and recovery may be slower or faster than doctors predict. Don't push yourself.

ETA: Obviously wishing a speedy recovery for you as well!

I dislocated my arm when I was a baby / learning how to walk

I broke my big toe when I was about 6

I chipped a bone off my pinky finger when I was 8 or so

I jammed my other pinky when I was 17, but I don't really count that as a broken bone

Since I was a kid when they all happened, I don't really remember much of the healing process!

Wow- we have some strong people in here who had some tough injuries! I hope everyone had a speedy recovery, It's nice to hear that things can go back to normal eventually. (or close to it)

@OP, oh yeah they're all back to mostly normal use. This didn't happen all at once lol.... My arms were very stiff when they were taken out of the casts. It will feel weird for a while and having full use of your fingers again takes a bit to get used to. It felt like someone was tickling my arm when the cast was taken off, that was the nerves and feeling coming back. Showering, brushing my teeth, and brushing my hair were very difficult. I wrapped my arm in a trash bag for showers lol.

I fell down a flight of stairs and broke my nose. I got kicked with a soccer ball and broke my wrist protecting my face. No biggie. Part of life.

Walgreens (a local drugstore/pharmacy) has a waterproof sleeve made to go over casts that suctions on to your arm. It was about $20 and totally worth it for the shower!

Yup, my right ulna and radius once, then had it reset to correct a deformity the fracture caused about 4-5 years later.

Your elbow will be fine, I promise. Your arm will feel really weak at first but it'll come back quickly. There will be a ton of dead skin under the cast though - it's both gross and cool.

If you're itchy under the cast, use an unsharpened pencil to scratch. EDITED: nvm, you found an even better solution for the shower!

And the doctor gave so many rules with this cast- no sweating, no exercising, no going in/near/ or around water, no going outside for longer than 30 minutes.

I couldn't imagine going through this as a kid during summer. My heart goes out to all the little kids who dealt with this!

In order of nuisance

The collar bone I broke playing soccer because it can't be casted so every movement hurt like a bitch

The pinky I broke playing intramural kickball senior year of college. Ranks this high in nuisance because I broke it a week before my honors thesis was due and typing with it hurt like hell

The wrist I broke in the summer in middle school and the cast got very very smelly and I couldn't swim at camp

The toe I broke kicking a goal post at a bad call. Not too bad. Kept playing the rest of the tournament

I broke my arm right below my elbow when I was younger, so I had a cast up to my armpit! I don't really remember much other than having to trashbag my arm to shower and all of the dead skin after it was taken off! So gross.