Wrist Injury - Return to Motorcycling
 

Having suffered a serious accident on my motorcycle when returning from Armenia and left me with a seriously damaged right wrist, in that there is little movement, particularly up and down in relation to my arm. This prevents me from operating a throttle or front brake lever.

I have yet to begin physiotherapy, but the prognosis is for me to have a stiff wrist. I appreciate every injury is different but I am aware of racing motorcyclists being back in the saddle after only a short period away (albeit with the best medical care money can buy).

Has anyone suffered anything similar that could offer guidance for hand/wrist exercises, reasonably easy modifications to a machine to enable me to ride please? I may be fantasising but is it possible to reduce the rotation of a throttle to an absolute minimum, specially shaped brake levers to reduce travel, etc.

The thought of not being able to ride again is an utterly depressing prospect.

Many thanks.

Shoulder not wrist but I would say --

It's early days; trust the physio and do as you are told, exactly as you are instructed (don't invent things for yourself).

Work with the physio, show interest, question what is happening but in a positive way (lots of UK patients of the NHS think that miracle cures are on hand and they don't actually have to do too much to be fully cured - maybe they have been watching too many BS movies wherein the hero always stands up and walks away?).

Don't accept that the physio process is finished until you are content that it is finished - by which I mean that you have to decide what % recovery you want to achieve (connect this point with those above).

Good luck; you will be riding again sometime in the future if you really want to do that.

I had bad accident in Indonesia with a truck.
My left wrist was in 6 pieces, both hands had 10 fractures and long bone between wrist and elbow was completely cut.

My wrist was so badly damaged that I had to fly to Europe to get it operated.
Roughly 3 months later I had fixed my bike and I continued my RTW.

Now 2 years later I still have titanium support and 10 screw in my wrist. Wrist is a bit stiffer than other one, but does not cause any bigger problems.

After surgery I trained my wrist around 6-8 hours every day. Lot of twisting to get as much movement back as possible. Also squeezed rubber ball all the time to get strength back.

Just do not give up and do all kind of trainings with your broken hand.

In 2008 I had a high side on a back road in Tennessee that destroyed my left wrist. I had a couple of surgeries and rehab, which was painful. The accident was in October and by April I was back on my bike. The first time I got in traffic, my hand locked up from the constant clutching and declutching but that went away. You need to keep up the therapy and continue to move your wrist around, Even now, I feel like it gets stiff If I don't move it around. Good luck.

Many thanks for your replies with words of encouragement. My physio begins next Wednesday, so I hope I will be given more exercises to carry out and get some flexibility back in the wrist.

Yup, entirely possible to relocate the various controls.
I ride with one arm, my left so have the throttle, front brake and clutch on that side. I have a Suzuki Sv650s. In a sense it's good physio riding anyway. Good luck

I hope you've not waited too long to begin Physio ... the sooner you can begin the better. As time passes it becomes impossible to break down scar tissue and to restore 100% flexion and strength.

You'll get back from Physio what you put in ... see what Hemuli says about doing 6 to 8 hours work a day. Work hard at it and don't give up. But if you've waited too long to begin ... it will be a tough long road back.

My Doc's had me into Physio as soon as I could hobble into the facility and I had home visits before that.

Good luck, heal fast! bier

There are plenty of mods that can be done that will enable you to keep riding. If the therapy doesn't work out or you are unable to operate the controls with that hand you could try several different mods. Here is a great site explaining different mods that can done.

Motorcycle Amputee.

Apolgies for resurecting this post. Unfortuntely the bones in my wrist “have not healed in a correct enough position”. The surgeon is now advocating I undergo a radioscapholunate fusion, which I believe (thanks Google) is pinning bones into place. The benefits appear to be, less pain and more strength and the disadvantage is a possible loss of movement or not regaining any more movement than I have already achieved.

Has anyone undegone such a procedure and what effects did it have for you, good or ill?

Many thanks

To elaborate on my info from Aug last.
I had metalwork in my shoulder for 3-4 years and then had it removed for further medical reasons.
The UK medics I came across were not keen to reverse an earlier operation: it is almost akin to an admission that errors were made first time around.

You will need to listen to the surgical advice and what they are saying based on all the evidence that you/they have and we don't know.

Get 2nd and even 3rd opinions if you possibly can.
I actually got Mick Doohan's guy (Dr. Kevin Louie/DR. Arthur Ting) ... Louie said the guy I had in mind was his teacher when at med school. My operation was 110% successful ... previous 2 attempts had totally failed.

There are lots of docs literally practicing medicine ... don't let them practice on you. All the best ... say your prayers. I do know that the more times they go in and screw around the more chance you have for long term, permanent damage.

All the best!

Some good advice has been given here. What TheTraveler said might be a good way to go depending on how well you rehab.

You might seriously consider a foot clutch and hand shifter ... with the throttle and front brake lever relocated to the left side. This would make the only requirement of your right hand to be holding on to the grip. Another good option, considering the use of a foot activated clutch lever/cable would be an auto-clutch which lets you put both feet down at idle and in gear. EFM Auto Clutch is a good place to start looking.

I have full use of my hands and feet, and I still have a foot clutch and hand shifter on my Shovelhead ... just cause I really dig it. Right side of handlebar is just a grip and nothing else. I have been thinking about adding the EMF autoclutch as well this coming summer.

best of luck . . .

Thank you for the replies. Not sure how one makes an informed decision as to who can offer a valid second opinion, as all the experts in the field appear to have glowing reports on their skills (as does the leader of the surgical team who is treating me).

Correct. This is especially so, traditionally, within the UK NHS.
I saw a consultant, a registrar and other more junior doctors while within the hospital system i.e. under their care specifically rather than signed off from the hospital service.

I believe that you do have the right to go back to your GP at your local health centre, at which point you are looking for candid views on who can provide the wider, second, opinion.

The obvious alternative is "to go private" via insurance or other i.e. pay your own way.

Ultimately, the medical "world" is small - they all know each other.
One attempt in the UK to open up the flow of information is the move toward publishing data online about such things as surgical success rates.

Even more ultimately, only civil engineers and doctors bury their mistakes.

Hi Embee
First of all hold on and :mchappy: soon.
I had no real "expertise" about the wrist brake . Once I broke my arm ( last year of college) and the fixing was not so good so the surg' told me I would maybe only recover around 80% ( problems of metal inside and so on , in 71) .
With training and youth now my wrist is more flexible than the other .

Of course I have to train everyday for old wounds ! that is life .
Like some said, take another advice , at least .
And there are plenty of people that recover more , a contrario of the authorized advices of surgeons , riders in races( Neveu broke both his legs and keep on riding the full day :oops2:), climbers( Desmaison, Messner and so ) and martial arts .
take your time for decison but start physio anyway
best wishes :thumbup1::palm: