So it's been four days since I went in for the elbow surgery. As you can see from the picture, I've developed a pretty good bruise from the procedure. Not really doing much but trying to keep my elbow elevated so that the swelling stays down. I was told that after the procedure I had full extension and 130 degrees of flexion. I can't wait to start being able to rehab it. I've heard it's pretty painful, but I just want my ROM and strength back. Anyone have any good advice on the rehabbing of the elbow?
Wow, that is a good bruise, get yourself on some EC matrix by metagenics...honestly works awesome to accelerate healing. Elbow rehab is like anything else when your looking at progressions but I would do lots of work in a pool, just enough controlled resistance. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteStart with lots of hand work; manual dexterity exercises. They seem simple but will accelerate your rehab when you are allowed/able to begin elbow ROM. Grip exercises, manual flexion/extension of the wrist, but perhaps most importantly things like passing a quarter over and under your fingers using one hand (you might have to progress to this). Isometric pickups passing an item using your thumb and the other four digits. A homemade rice bucket works great as well; You can perform active pain free ROM like resisted wrist flex/ext, pronation/supination and open and closed hand grips inside them. A dynaflex ball would likely be great for you as well; it's like a gyroscope that forces you to maintain constant movement while fatiguing the forearm musculature. We use it with baseball players (and it's a popular item for musicians as well like guitar players) to help maintain muscular endurance. Tough exercise, but incredibly useful! Happy Rehab
ReplyDelete