![]() ![]() Under the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018 we are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of any information we hold about you. ![]() Should you require further advice on the issues contained in this sheet, please do not hesitate to contact the clinic: telephone: (01482) 674378. Take greater care when walking about, especially when coming down stairs. Use baby wipes or a well wrung out face cloth.īe aware that your balance may be seriously affected. ![]() To wash the injured side lean forward and let your arm swing forward from the shoulder. Keep the plaster dry – no baths – no showers. If you find you have numbness or are unable to move your wrist, please contact the hospital immediately. To help reduce the swelling and stiffness in your wrist and hand you must keep moving by rotating your wrist, clenching your hand into a fist and then stretching your fingers out. No putting your injured arm in the sleeve of your clothes, just let your arm hang.No resting your arm on a chair or table.The best way to manage your fracture is to let your arm hang in the collar and cuff provided. A fractured humerus can be very mobile and you may feel and hear the bone moving in the plaster, this is not unusual but by letting the arm hang loosely from the shoulder you could prevent this from happening. Your arm will be very swollen and bruised for the first couple of weeks. The plaster that is applied for this injury is heavy, this is to help the fracture to stay in the correct position and you must adapt yourself and your lifestyle to get used to this. This is a very painful injury so take your pain relief medication regularly as prescribed by the doctor. It will take a minimum of 12 weeks to heal. When broken it needs specialised care so that you can cope with the problems it brings. The humerus is the long bone in your upper arm. Need some help choosing a language? Please refer to Browsealoud Supported Voices and Languages. On the image to the right, you can see plates have been applied to the humerus and the olecranon has been wired back on after utilising an osteotomy to access the joint.You can translate this page by using the headphones button (bottom left) and then select the globe to change the language of the page. Some stiffness is unfortunately inevitable. Early movement is aimed at preventing excessive stiffness of the joint. It is then time to start moving the elbow through a gentle range of movement. Normally you will be allowed free from both plaster and dressings at that stage and you could get the wound wet. At that point you will see a member of the surgical team in outpatients and have the plaster removed and the wound checked. You will be in a plaster cast supporting the elbow and this will usually remain for 2 weeks. It usually heals without any problem.Īfter the surgery you will remain in hospital for at least one night. This gives very good access to the joint and then after the plates are applied the olecranon is reattached, often using metal wires in a ‘tension band’ technique. This is where the olecranon (tip of the ulna) is carefully broken-away and lifted off. In order to access the very end of the bone, sometimes an olecranon osteotomy is required. ![]() The muscles are moved to one side and plates are applied to the bone to hold the pieces in position while they heal. The surgery involves a general anaesthetic and an incision (cut) down the back of the arm from about mid-way down the arm to just beyond the elbow. For anyone with even moderate demand from the elbow joint, ORIF (fixation with a plate) is recommended. The problem is this will heal in a poor position and the lead to very limited function at the elbow joint. The point at which the shaft changes to being a flat plate is a weak point and so the bone tends to break here. If the patient is quite elderly and frail with low demand and high risks of anaesthesia, the fracture can be managed in a plaster. If you imagine the end of the humerus to be shaped like the end of a spade, where there is a round shaft that becomes a flat plate. Old or young, if you fall onto the elbow there is a possibility of fracturing the end of the bone into several pieces. The end of the humerus furthest from your head is called the distal end and this forms a joint with the forearm, at the elbow. ![]()
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