Hi again,
A couple years ago now, I made a post about an arm injury I had received at camp. I didn’t realize at the time that I had fractured my elbow. I just kept moving it, working-out, doing push-ups, attending Karate classes, etc, hoping it would self-heal. (For any who may scold me for not going to a doctor, I did make an appointment a couple weeks later, but I guess my doc dismissed me because I wasn’t whining enough, so no official diagnosis was ever made). I didn’t even put ice on the darn thing! Now I’m frustrated because it aches and cracks frequently, and certain movements (such as wiping a table or waving my arm) can at times be somewhat painful. At this stage in the game, does anyone know if there is anything I can do? (I don’t mean official physical therapy; let the people with real problems go). I mean something I (personally) can do: some movement to strengthen the joint, or something I can cut out of my diet…? I’m very tired of having this problem.
If you’re looking for some kind of magical treatment or cure that doesn’t involve a medical professional, I’m pretty sure you’re out of luck.
You’re going to need to see an orthopedist. They’ll likely do x-rays. If it healed wrong, they may have re-break it and set it correctly, possibly involving surgery and pins, plates, or screws.
If it was broken and didn’t heal properly then you have bone in the wrong place or messed up ligaments. Diet and exercise aren’t going to fix that. Talk to a doctor, I’m pretty sure you need an X-ray and then the doctors can see what’s wrong and if it can be fixed with surgery.
I had all the symptoms that were posted online… a huge, rock-hard , blue lump under the joint that was hit (some guy hit me at the joint, that’s what caused the break), my fingers swelled until they touched, I was in shock and staggering around like an idiot, I couldn’t raise my arm past my chest without it shaking uncontrollably, I couldn’t brush my hair, I couldn’t even put any pressure on it (like play the piano) without incredible pain, I just wanted to keep it bent at my side… there may have been more symptoms, but I forget. It seemed fractured to me.
As someone who did have a broken elbow, I seriously doubt it was broken and you were still doing workouts and pushups. For 1, a broken elbow won’t lock, so unless they were 1 handed pushups, it wasn’t broken. And it’s my understanding that the bicep will contract a broken elbow to a T-rex arm.