Brandt – Southlake, Texas (PGA professional)

In 2003 I shattered a bone in my hand while on the PGA tour. It was a rare injury that occurred while swinging at a golf ball. As a professional golfer it was very important to me to have it fixed and fixed right. My father, who is a radiologist worked with an orthopedic hand specialist to review my x-rays and develop a treatment plan. It was decided that surgery was my only option to reverse the damage.  My orthopedic surgeon removed the fragmented bones and smoothed away the damaged area.  The surgery went well but the area became weak and I broke my hand a second time the following year. I had a second surgery and began physical therapy.  I completed the treatment after having two additional surgeries to repair the injury. Overall everything went well and according to plan.  The most important thing was that I followed my doctor’s recommendations on things to do and avoid and followed my physical therapy routine to a “T.”   I went back on tour with the PGA in 2005 and had the best year ever.

Christy, Indianapolis

In December I fell and suffered a complete transverse fracture (a break straight across the bone) to my left upper arm.  I’ve never broken any bones before and I played high school and college volley ball, so this was a new experience for me. The bone never broke through the skin but my arm was completely out of commission. I could shrug my shoulders but my arm wouldn’t move. It was the eeriest feeling.

Typically with this kind of fracture doctors do not recommend surgery as the first course of treatment, as was the case with my doctor.  He wanted to give my arm time to heal on its own, so my arm was placed in a brace and a sling, and I was given a bone stimulator to help the healing processes.  This portion of the recovery was very difficult. I needed assistance with virtually everything and I was under extreme pain. About five months after my injury I began physical therapy. This was a great asset to my recovery. I regained full range of motion in my shoulder and elbow, and my orthopedic hand specialist was extremely impressed with the amount of strength I regained in my arm.  In August I was given a full release to return to work without any restrictions.  I still have some pain when I try to twist or reach with my left arm, and I still haven’t recovered complete strength. My doctor believes it will take about five more months to fully recover – one year after the fracture took place. My main advice to someone that has suffered from a similar injury would be rest! You need to give you body time to heal because if you don’t you will only increase the amount of damage and its impact on your overall recovery.

John Covington (former Indianapolis Colts Defensive Back)

I played in the NFL for four years. Regular wear and tear and a few injuries left me with loose bone fragments in my elbow.  The fragments caused so much discomfort and pain that it made it very difficult to play golf or do other physical activities involving my elbow. Extremely cold weather would also trigger pain. At one point the pain became so severe that it began traveling down my arm and into my hand. Eventually I spoke with my orthopedic surgeon and realized that surgery was my only option if I wanted to regain proper extension and flexibility in my elbow.  I went through surgery, which was more involved than my surgeon anticipated, and began physical therapy the following day. I’m still undergoing therapy but I’ve regained my mobility and am no longer in pain. I only wish I had surgery sooner. I feel that because I waited other complications will eventually present themselves, such as elbow arthritis. I’m thrilled with the results of my surgery.  If I had waited much longer I know my injury would have gotten progressively worse, if not completely debilitating.

Chris, Muncie

I was building an addition on my house and I fell from the scaffolding.  I put my hand down to brace my fall, pulverizing the bones in my wrist on impact. The following day I consulted with an orthopedic specialist about my injury and possible treatment options. The break was so severe that extensive surgery was my only option, which included bone grafts and the use of external fixation to keep the repaired bones in place. In the end, the entire process required five separate operations over the course of a year and a half. My doctor admitted that this was one of the worst breaks he’d ever seen and was hopeful that I would regain at least 20 percent movement in my wrist. After all the intensive surgical procedures and extensive rehabilitation I’ve recovered almost 90 to 95 percent movement. I couldn’t be happier. I owe it to the surgical expertise of my orthopedic surgeon and my frequent interaction with the physical therapists.  From the use of casts, to braces that stretched my tendons and ligaments, to grip strengthening exercises, the entire medical staff pulled out everything in their arsenal to assist in my recovery.

Nancy, Indianapolis

Over time I noticed that the quality of my penmanship was gradually getting worse. As a teacher I take great pride in my handwriting so when I noticed this subtle change it concerned me.  I was losing strength in my grip and I also noticed that when I spread out my hand it felt like the tendon in the thumb was stretching. I lived with these changes for sometime because they were not painful but as they became worse I knew that it was time to seek medical attention. I had arthritis in the thumb joint which required a replacement. This was done by taking a tendon from my forearm to replace the arthritic joint. During the consultation, my physician told me that I could have avoided surgery if I had cared for my condition years earlier. Unfortunately I had waited too long. I found the surgery to be relatively pain-free.  Nine days after my surgery I went on vacation but when I returned I began physical therapy. I was able to return to teaching eight weeks later. Initially I had some limitations such as turning a door knob or lifting certain objects but after 12 weeks of recovery I was almost hundred percent. Today I’m still working on building up my strength but I feel great.  I would recommend this procedure to anyone who might be considering it.

Jacob, Greenfield 

I was playing in a high school football game and used my arm to break a fall after being tackled. As a result, I broke my wrist, but initially I didn’t realize I was injured.  I had several x-rays and none of them showed any visible damage, so I went on to play five more football games. After the fifth game my wrist still hurt so the doctor took an MRI and determined that the injury was not healing on its own due to the lack of blood flow, so I underwent surgery.  He placed a screw through the bone in my wrist to reverse the damage, which was very painful.  After surgery, I went through six weeks of physical therapy doing resistance and squeezing exercises.  I did exactly what my therapist instructed and it paid off. I was able to play baseball that year and have since had no problems using my wrist. 

Theresa, Indianapolis 

I suffered from medial and lateral epicondylitis, also known as golf and tennis elbow. My physician diagnosed the condition early and tried therapy and cortisone shots to reduce the inflammation.  Unfortunately neither of these treatment options worked and surgery became my only option.  My recovery after surgery was fairly easy.  I did all of my physical therapy on my own and was back to most everyday activities in about a month.  I had the surgery in February and I was back on the golf course in May. I’m glad that I didn’t jump right into surgery, but in the end I do feel like it was the best thing I could have done.

Megan, Indianapolis 

During a basketball tournament my index finger got caught in my opponent’s jersey, forcing it to dislocate. I continued to play for a short period of time until I noticed that I had no feeling in my finger and it began to turn purple.  It looked as if it was bent at a 90 degree angle.  I notified our athletic trainer and he immediately stopped the game.  He popped my finger back into place and taped it so that no further damage would occur.   I had some discomfort but I went on to play five or six more games during the tournament. A few days later I saw a physician, who performed some x-rays and determined that I had some ligament damage. He recommended that I perform some basic hand exercises and showed me how to use the “buddy” taping method, which consisted of taping my injured index finger to my middle finger. While I still have some swelling around the joint, I do have my range of motion back, which only took about four months to accomplish.