Open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) Distal Radius Recovery

Have you tried wearing a compression sleeve? I had an ORIF of distal radius in July. I still have some occasional pain and sometimes at night. No words of wisdom, but I have been told it is a long healing process. I will sometimes take pain medicine at bedtime.

Greetings! I am 2.5 weeks post surgery for a distal radius fracture. I was started on OT 1 week post surgery and it has been extremely painful and my progress is slow. I was told to do the exercises 3-4x/day but when I do this I get intensified pain for up to 16 hours. The PA who works with my doctor is not concerned about this and advises that I keep doing the exercises 3x/day. This feels like boot camp in that neither the OT staff nor the PA seem to want to adjust the intensity or frequency of exercises based on my pain level. Is this normal or is my situation a one-off?

I was told I would be healed enough to be able to type within 2 weeks of the surgery and I just became able to touch each finger to my thumb a few days ago. I have significant pain in the palm of my hand near my thumb, around the site of the incision, around my wrist, and along a bone on the outside of my wrist. I can't bed both knuckles on my thumb at the same time. And I can only bend my hand back from the straight up position about a half inch. I'd like to know how my progress compares to others that have had the same surgery.

Arghh! I am 7 weeks post-op with plate and 11 screws in my right radius. My surgeon told me my radius was “dusted” and 8/10 on a severity scale. I also fractured my ulna, which did not require hardware. 10 days ago, I was released to start wrist exercises. My issue is swelling and inability to sleep. During the day things are pretty good. Range of motion continues to increase and I can manage the swelling with ice and heat. At night, my wrist, palm and back of hand swell up. Nothing I do can prevent this. I wake up with painfully stiff and swollen fingers with all range of motion seemingly back to square 1. I’ve been told that finding the right balance on home PT can help. I tend to be aggressive with my PT because I want a full recovery. I still can’t make a fist, and have very limited ability to grip. X-rays look fine. Anyone else have a similar journey?

Did you get the second opinion? If so, what did he/she say? I'm thinking of getting a second opinion as well just to ease my mind about not being able to do supination.

Update (in case you didn't see this already):

I got a 2nd opinion and this surgeon only does surgery on hand/wrist/elbow and is rated as a top doctor locally.

He knew something was wrong right away and set me up for an ultrasound the day of the appointment. They determined that I have a compressed median nerve (which has caused acute, severe carpal tunnel symptoms). This is apparently common in fractures that result from forceful falls.

He said I would not benefit from OT until this is resolved. I tried a 5-day trial of steroid pills, but this did not work. I could have tried a steroid injection, but positive outcomes from injections don't tend to hold over time, so I am going to have carpal tunnel release surgery which releases the compressed median nerve.

I am so glad I did not follow the advice given to me by the PA who worked with my surgeon and instead sought out a 2nd opinion. I would recommend this to anyone who is concerned about their recovery and/or care plan.