Wrist Injury

[Geordie]

Chipped a bone in my left wrist following a fall when running. Feels minor but have been given a padded splint by medic and told to ‘take it easy’. Clearly no heavy lifting but I’m wondering if holding my Olds Recording would be a step too far. Anyone had any learning from a similar experience?
Unless I’ve been defeated by the technology there should be a picture showing the splint and a picture showing my normal left hand grip.
Thanks.

[SimmonsTrombone]

My injury was to my right wrist, so I can’t comment on weight. Those braces really help with healing. I sometimes still sleep in mine to avoid pain.

[timothy42b]

I had a left wrist injury two years ago. A splint was critical to playing. I used an over the counter one from Walmart and it did fine, took enough stress off that it healed and i could go back to playing without.

Mine was probably an overuse rather than a chipped bone. As I age I seem to be more prone to that kind of thing.

The left shoulder gives me a lot of grief, impingement and arthritis, but six months of daily rehab exercises and I closed the car door this weekend with the left hand for the first time.

[Doug Elliott]

That should be a specific question for the doctor who knows what and where the problem is and what the healing process requires.

Maybe you could use a different grip
Maybe you could play left handed
Maybe you could just practice in 1st position and not use your left hand

[Bach5G]

I find that wrapping my wrist or using a splint provides just enough support to allow my wrist to heal. Wearing the splint at night prevents me from jamming my wrist in an awkward position while I’m asleep.

[robcat2075]

Chipped a bone in my left wrist following a fall when running. Feels minor but have been given a padded splint by medic and told to ‘take it easy’.

How long are you expected to have that on?

[Geordie]

Thanks for the replies. The estimated time with the padded splint is 6-8 weeks. It’s definitely helped and I wear it 24-7, apart from hand washing. I’ll try the horn and some of the ideas here today. Happily I’ve got increased function since it happened, for example, I can now rotate a door knob without discomfort, so I’m cautiously optimistic that this is relatively minor and not too disruptive. Let’s see.

[robcat2075]

Six to eight weeks. That sounds like a serious prescription. That sounds like the doctor didn't just give you that brace to make you feel attended to.

I would call that doctor or his staff back up and get more specific guidance than "take it easy."

I've had two relations who had minor injuries but for unclear reasons didn't deal with it right and they became permanent impairments.

[Geordie]

Snip

I would call that doctor or his staff back up and get more specific guidance than "take it easy."

Good advice. I did that earlier, and have also received some more specific guidance. Feeling positive, especially as pain has gone and swelling has subsided.

[baileyman]

Seems the problem would be that holding the horn stresses the fracture before it has healed. I think I would try to bridge the fracture with a splint I could experiment with. Something like this:

A strap or velcro or tape around the metatarsals. Another strap close to the elbow. A splint from under one to under the other along the outside lateral side of the arm. Then somewhere in the middle, something under the splint to hold the splint up a bit. This will extend the wrist some and take lots of stress off all those little wrist bones.

I suppose you could modify your factory splint by adding a strap further out the metatarsals, because its strap does not really get much beyond the little bones. And could slip something inside on the forearm before the wrist.

If that doesn't help, I'd play opposite handed for the few weeks or till the knitting gets far enough along.

[soseggnchips]

If that doesn't help, I'd play opposite handed for the few weeks or till the knitting gets far enough along.

Playing back-to-front can be really interesting... I find it sounds completely different, although I'm not sure if it's a 'real' change or just the novelty of hearing it in the wrong ear.

Makes you realise how cumbersome the slide feels to a beginner as well. And how much work the other hand has to do to stabilise the horn.

[glenp]

An alternative might be to not use your left hand at all. You can cross your left leg over your right, and rest the bell on your knee, and your left hand can rest on the bell section to stabilize it.

I had to do that in high school when I broke my left arm and had a full cast from upper arm to fingers. I had no other option. It wasn't ideal because I had to slouch a bit which affected my breathing, but I adapted and was still able to play all the rehearsals and concert that way.

I also wanted to continue using my valve, so I tied a string from my thumb to the lever and was able to use it effectively.

It's temporary. It doesn't have to be perfect. Give yourself time to heal.

[CharlieB]

A key detail here is that the instrument is an Olds Recording; a very front heavy horn that works the left wrist pretty hard. It might be helpful to remove some of the strain from the injured wrist by adding balance weight to the horn, at least temporarily. (Cable ties and D-cell batteries?)

[baileyman]

A key detail here is that the instrument is an Olds Recording; a very front heavy horn that works the left wrist pretty hard. It might be helpful to remove some of the strain from the injured wrist by adding balance weight to the horn, at least temporarily. (Cable ties and D-cell batteries?)

Excellent point. I had assumed the wrist would complain merely at the weight, but perhaps it's the rotation or torque. Putting some rear weight on a stalk as in balancing an archery bow can balance out those rotation forces.

[Doug Elliott]

Makes you realise how cumbersome the slide feels to a beginner as well. And how much work the other hand has to do to stabilise the horn.

Absolutely.

But generally I think you should be more concerned with letting it heal than in playing, which could potentially cause a delay or further injury.

[Geordie]

I had a counterweight made for the horn, a couple of years ago. Same weight and dimensions as an original counterweight. This helps with balance. This, and the padded splint, mean that weight is less of an issue than the wrist twist and grip. I’ve had a couple of playing sessions and not had any pain or adverse reaction. The medical advice has been to use the hand only as much as can be tolerated ie stop any activity if there is any discomfort or pain. Caution is the name of the game in the coming weeks.