Anyone had a broken arm and no cast?

[faith]

Married daughter has broken upper arm, and no cast.
Ortho chose not to.
She works for a small law office. They need her, so she chose to keep working.
She is right handed, and that is the broken arm side.
If you did have no cast, did it heal properly?
Thanks.

 

[mom2rtk]

My son broke is elbow a few years ago and they immobilized it for a while, but did not cast it. It did heal fine. My dad broke his arm many many years ago and did have it cast and he has never been able to fully extend it since then. I'm guessing that's sort of what they're trying to prevent now.

The hard part is really just keeping it protected from being hurt again. I was glad it was the last week of the school year so I didn't have to worry about him hurting it again at school. (The initial break was done by another kid picking him up and throwing him down on the playground).

 

[HelenePA]

Ummm no. Never not been casted from a broken arm.. in fact I almost had to have surgery when I broke my humerus (upper arm bone) because it wasn't healing as fast as they thought it should. it was a clean break.. not a fracture. Funny enough my dd10 is at the ortho being casted for a broken wrist right now..

 

[Malibustyle23]

My 5 year old DD just got over this injury. Her upper left arm was broken when she got knocked down by a black lab. Because of the placement of the break if they chose to cast it it would have been a huge cumbersome cast that would of been awkward. Since the break did not go all the way through separating the bone they did not have to do surgery either. She stayed in a sling for a month. I did use an ace bandage to secure the sling to her torso so that her mobility was severely limited.

We just went to her follow up last week. The xray showed that her callus has already grown around her broken area. Although the broken splice is still shown on the xray it is shown so covered and protected that she was given the all clear. Her orto dr even pulled, pushed, tugged, bared weight, etc on the arm to verify that she had no pain and the break was not going to be a further issue. She said that in the future if she has any further xrays it will not be noticeable that anything ever happened to her.

 

[laughinplace199]

DD14 had fractured both of her arms (thankfully not at the same time) and she had a cast both times.

The first time, she wasn't in much pain and we didn't even know it was fractured until about 10 days after her initial fall! Where do I pick up my Mother of the Year trophy?

The second time, she was in a lot of pain. It happened in the late afternoon and by the time we had it xrayed and they confirmed the fracture, the ortho dept was closed. DD's ped gave us 2 options: #1 Wait hours in the ER, picking up who knows what colds & viruses, to eventually get it put into a cast, or #2 Give her a nice big dose of Motrin and put it in a splint for the night and get an ortho appt the next day. We went with option #2, but DD was really miserable until the cast was put on.

 

[faith]

Thanks for telling your experiences. I feel better.
She does go back later this month to be checked.
She'll know more then.
Glad everyone had success healing.

 

[MichelleVW]

Broke my shoulder (upper humerus) in 2004 and no cast, and broke my elbow in 2011 and once again no cast.

 

[fortwildernessishome]

Five years ago, my son broke his upper arm in a hockey game. The ortho did not cast it. The break was so high up, near his armpit, that the Dr. said the cast wouldn't help. If the break was lower, he would have put a cast on it. My son was in A LOT of pain for the first week (It hurt just to cough!) and was in a fair amount of pain for the second week. It progressively got to be less painful as time went on. It healed just fine and he has never had any problem with it. Best of luck to your daughter!

 

[Tinkerbell53]

I broke both my arms as a child about a year apart. One at the mid humerus and the other the forearm. Both were surgically set and casted. My DS broke his arm at the forearm and was casted. So I was surprised when DH fell on the ice a couple of winters ago breaking his elbow and was not casted. They put him in a sling for a while but no cast. He has healed fine but has pain with cold/rainy weather. Hope your DD heals well!

 

[minkydog]

My son, Christian, fell and broke his upper arm when he was about 14. The orthopedist didn't cast it but he did put him in a stabilizer for 10 weeks. It fit around the chest like an ace bandage and kept the arm and hand close to his body. It healed without any difficulty.

 

[DisDance]

I broke my upper arm, as in so upper I almost dislocated my shoulder, I am very lucky I didn't. I did not get a cast because the break was too high, instead I had this odd wrap that i wore around my stomach, it velcroed at my stomach, wrist, and up towards the break

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I had 3 fractures in my wrist and 1 on the elbow. Dr opted not to cast the elbow as he was afraid it would heal in such a way I'd lose mobility. It was very painful

 

[abbyreads]

I've broken my arm on two separate occasions and neither time were they casted. I had a brace the first time and a sling the second time. They healed just fine without a cast.

 

[PollyannaMom]

My son broke his elbow a few years ago and they immobilized it for a while, but did not cast it. It did heal fine. My dad broke his arm many many years ago and did have it cast and he has never been able to fully extend it since then. I'm guessing that's sort of what they're trying to prevent now...

Yes, I think that's exactly it. I had a slight break in my elbow, and the same treatment as the boy above - a sling but not a cast. I had to go to some PT afterward, but it worked. I can extend that arm just as fully as the other one.

 

[palmtreegirl]

My daughter broke her upper arm a few years ago and they just had her use a sling, it healed fine.