Annoyed with Broken Wrist

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[Mary Eastland]

:( ok...this is already old.
i broke my wrist 5 days ago.
missed 2 classes this week and am going to miss 2 more.
the dr is talking weeks and maybe months.
any good ideas or stories or encouragement? :eek: :freaky: :grr:
mary

[Janet Rosen]

Let it heal and rehab or you will have a chronic problem on your hand(s)....
After several long breaks due to injuries/surgery/rehab, my best suggestion is to say to yourself "THIS is the training now" and actually come up with a plan related to your training for the "x" number of weeks to be filled. Plan to watch class a certain number of times per week and take notes about a particular phenomenon, aspect of training, or pattern you note. Find an aspect of the art you want to read/research/think about. Keep body and spirit alive doing tai sabaki plus walking outdoors.

[Chris Covington]

Dear Mary et al,

When I was about 16 I broke four of my metatarpal in my left foot in seven different places. I was doing some randori with a 12 year old who was 6'+ 220lbs (yeah huge for a kid). I was about 5'7" 150 lbs. I went to throw with a left tai otoshi and my foot wasn't planted correctly. He fell on top of my foot and broke it. The first X-ray in the ER only looked like I had 3 breaks and the Dr. said in a month I'd be back on it. When I went to a specialist he saw seven breaks and said 2 months or more before I'd be able to train again.

It was in the summer and very hot. I had the caste on for three days. The power went down for a night and there was no AC. I cut the caste off and just kept it wrapped until it healed. The caste was only there to keep stuff from falling on it breaking it further.

I took the first Dr. advise and got back on the mat after a month. Regular judo training was a little heavy for the foot so I took an aikido seminar since it was easier on the body. I was back to fighting form in about 3 months total.

During the month I didn't do any training I watched class, and read budo books.

Good luck with the wrist. After it heals I'm sure you'll notice when it is going to rain. Maybe practice one hand aikiage sort of stuff, katate jodan aikiken, etc?

Best regards,

[Mary Eastland]

thank you both....
mary

[Peter Goldsbury]

Hello Mary,

How did it happen?

One piece of advice I can offer is: Do not go back to training too early; obtain the very best physiotherapy (rehab?) you can.

I had a knee injury when I was about 30 and had surgery. I did not know at the time, but the physio I had did not allow the injury to heal properly. The doctor forecast arthritis (and general degeneration of the joint) later in life--and so it has proved.

Of course, when you are 30, life is too full to consider annoying things like aging, but when you are 65...

So I now add to my (reduced) training regime the researching and writing of long articles about O Sensei & aikido...

Best wishes,

PAG

:( ok...this is already old.
i broke my wrist 5 days ago.
missed 2 classes this week and am going to miss 2 more.
the dr is talking weeks and maybe months.
any good ideas or stories or encouragement? :eek: :freaky: :grr:
mary

[Mary Eastland]

thank you, peter.

short story...i fell off three steps trying not to land on my grandson.
best
m

[Chris Covington]

I would have fallen on him. He would have cushioned the fall!

[Guilty Spark]

:( ok...this is already old.
i broke my wrist 5 days ago.
missed 2 classes this week and am going to miss 2 more.
the dr is talking weeks and maybe months.
any good ideas or stories or encouragement? :eek: :freaky: :grr:
mary

A very dear friend of mine left to go overseas and came home missing both his legs above the knee and his left arm below the elbow. While not an Aikido student he was into Martial Arts.
Something (minor in comparison) happened in my life and I was bitching to him after I got home. He laughed a little and said hey buddy it could be worse. He was trying to cheer me up but he unknowingly made a pretty powerful point- gave me a real good perspective on things.

[Dan Richards]

thank you, peter.

short story...i fell off three steps trying not to land on my grandson.

You could take this opportunity to practice mindfulness and being present here and now.

[kironin]

Well, now, it's an opportunity for the most rigorous and hard training in you life. :D

one to eventually two hours of focused breathing practice a day.

add to it focused visualization and footwork practice.

Doing that well is harder than it sounds.

get going !

[Mark Uttech]

Onegaishimasu. Actually you do not have to miss any classes. You can show up at class and just do observation practice.

In gassho

Mark

[Mary Eastland]

I would have fallen on him. He would have cushioned the fall!

lol...he is only 2.......i would have smooshed him.

thanks for all the perspectives. i feel more right sized today.

i see i missed the classes in self pity.....now i must get ready to train as i can this morning.
thank you for great ideas.
Mary

[Chris Covington]

lol...he is only 2.......i would have smooshed him.

Even better. His bones are still soft. Less likely to hurt when you fall on him.

[Flintstone]

Even better. His bones are still soft. Less likely to hurt when you fall on him.
Maybe his soft tissues don't agree with you here.

[lbb]

:( ok...this is already old.
i broke my wrist 5 days ago.
missed 2 classes this week and am going to miss 2 more.
the dr is talking weeks and maybe months.
any good ideas or stories or encouragement?

I suspect that what you want is something to make you feel better. Sorry, I got nothing. I could spin you a story about all the worthwhile things you can do when you're not training, but I won't go there; you'll either find something useful in that time, or you won't. The fact is, it may be every bit as boring and frustrating as you think it will be, and more, for many months, so there's no point in sugarcoating it. It's a bitter pill, but if you're wise you'll simply swallow it. The alternative is much worse: that doesn't make the pill any less bitter, but then, it's not supposed to. Sometimes in life your best choice is still pretty damn bitter.

[Mark Peckett]

I mentioned this to Jennifer Yabut when she posted about her broken collarbone:

Having been there (with the broken collarbone) I'd say, don't go back too soon! I broke my collarbone when doing judo before I got into aikido many years ago, and went back to practice too early and three weeks in I broke my collarbone again (and I got a lot less sympathy the second time round). Wait until your doctor says it's ok before you go back. And do the physio that you're told to do!!

A few years back, after I'd discovered aikido, I developed a virus which completely incapacitated and hospitalised me. When I started the road to recovery, I took up t'ai chi. It's still a pleasure and I can bring what I learn from it to my aikido.

So, although you might be annoying, your injury is a detour into some interesting country if you'll let it be.

Get well

Mark

[Sarah Lothmann]

Hang in there Mary!! I empathize with your situation... currently on week 10 1/2 out of Aikido thanks to a fracture.... The good news is: Fractures/breaks heal stronger than they were before!!:D

[Mark Peckett]

Under the correct medical advice, a little weight training can help a break (when things are knit and the doctor says so!); I understand it helps realign the crystalline structure (or something like that) in the bone and helps make it stronger than it was before, like Sarah says!

[lbb]

Under the correct medical advice, a little weight training can help a break (when things are knit and the doctor says so!); I understand it helps realign the crystalline structure (or something like that) in the bone and helps make it stronger than it was before, like Sarah says!

Wolff's law? something like that? I think. It's not weight training per se, but stress of the correct kind.

[Anja Lampert]

Sorry, this is totally off-topic:
I read the title of this thread a bit wrong, instead of BRoken wrist at first glance it read BOKKEN wrist for me!!! :eek: :D Too funny!!!

I wish you a quick healing and hopefully you can be beack on the mat really soon (but first let it heal!)! Suffering from mat-absentism as well right now, have to learn for my last diploma exam....

Best wishes to you!

[crbateman]

Meditation. Breath control. Visualization. Footwork. Balance. Reading. Videos.

All these things are open to you. Do some stuff you might ordinarily not get time to do. Audit some seminars. Write about your progress. Do some book reviews. There is no need to put Aikido on hold (I know about this). Just stay within your limitations and give yourself time to heal. A wrist injury takes time. Ask your instructor about your leading some classes. This time may be perfect for you to hone your teaching and self-expression skills.

[Franklin Newby]

I know what you're feeling.
Speedy recovery to you! You'll be on the mat before you know it... :)

-Frank

[lbb]

I like Clark's suggestions, for a number of reasons, particularly the suggestion to write about your progress -- not necessarily here, but maybe in a private journal. One thing that occurs to me is that journaling is a good practice when you're injured -- it's good at other times for other reasons, but when you're injured, it can serve as a tangible record of your progress, setbacks, what you did and what effect it had, etc. I would also imagine that reading it over from time to time would give a good dose of perspective.

I also really like the idea of getting some reading in. Practice is out, maybe now is a good time to spend exploring some theory instead.

[Mary Eastland]

thank you...i am back on the mat training very carefully and teaching.
Mary