Proximal humerus fracture pain and outcome

[sandy16]

Anyone had experience of proximal humerus fracture, I sustained injury after fall onto outstretched hand nearly 8 wks ago and still in a lot of pain taking morphihe and zapain also very limited movement, had a couple of physio sessions. Any comments on prognosis for this injury. I am a 58 year old female and as a result of injury had bone scan and been diagnosed with osteopenia

[RibvanRey]

Hi Sandy. osteopenia as you probably know is just an earlier form of osteoporosis which is one of the conditions that I was diagnosed with decades ago. Your bone density is just not low enough to be called full blown osteoporosis. The bones are more likely to break and when they do they can take a bit longer to knit. Broken bones tend to ache more in the damp weather. I am like a barometer only more accurate.

Once your bone has finished healing you will be able to finally move it about. You will get less pain and less cramp in the restricted muscles. The joints either end need a good bit of exercise to loosen up and built back their strength and flexibility. This doesn't mean going mad with it. It means a steady gentle increase in the amount of exercise. Your physio will probably clue you up as to what to do.

Generally the fitter you are the better you are going to be in dealing with osteopenia. Shedding any excess weight if you have any and eating a healthy diet with regular exercise will all help you avoid getting worse. Plenty of sunlight or Vit D is good for bone strength as is calcium. Speak with your GP practice about a Vit supplement.

Hopefully you will avoid osteoporosis too.

Regards Rib

[jhebden in reply to RibvanRey]

Thankyou progress seems slow

[RibvanRey in reply to jhebden]

Unfortunately it can be. 10 weeks for fractures that sportsmen heal in 5 weeks. The fitter you can get the quicker you will heal. Especially if you are unfortunate and get any future broken bones. Rib

[Hidden]

Unfortunately this is well known as a very painful fracture, I broke mine 3 years ago at the age of 52,and I knew about it ! It took a good 12-16 weeks to heal and the pain lesson,you must do your exercises to strengthen the bone and to decrease the muscle shortening which is where an awful lot of the pain comes from.I had a full recovery,no pain,no muscle cramps,no stiffness in 3.5 months. I think you may be being a bit hard on yourself,if you swim I recommend getting in the pool and supporting the arm and move it around in the weightless environment to ease the stiffness, the less you do with it the longer it will take to heal. I wish you a speedier recovery.