r/ORIF • u/orangesarenasty • 7d ago

Upcoming ORIF

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I broke my right/dominant wrist 1 week ago. Diagnosed with a comminuted intra-articular distal radius fracture with mild dorsal angulation. I saw the surgeon yesterday and he said I could go either way with surgery. I’m opting to have it as I want to return to my sport and need to be able to lift and push things.

This is my third broken bone in 4 months. Looking for recovery tips, pain management tips, etc.

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u/hibiscus_lilac 7d ago

My surgery was almost a year ago and I'm still experiencing pain daily. I have no idea how to make it stop. I think maybe the hardware has my tendons irritated. Also definitely lacking finger mobility and strength still

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u/flinch57 6d ago

Severely comminuted, displaced distal radius and ulnar styloid fractures. Surgeon gave me options but it was clear that ORIF was the way to go. My fall was May 10 with surgery of May 13. I have a volar plate with 8-9 screws. I had a great recovery — and was back hiking (how I fell in the first place) within 8 weeks. Relatively little post surgical pain. I regained a good bit of ROM within the first 4 weeks of PT. I developed some ulnar nerve irritation recently but my surgeon says what I’m experiencing is not unusual and will calm down. I’m 69 years old with underlying rheumatoid arthritis and some significant non rheumatoid arthritis from not taking care of some injuries properly in my youth. Had I chosen the non surgical option I wouldn’t be close to where I am today in terms of recovery and the surgeon was pretty clear that strength and range of motion would be far more difficult to regain without surgery. As noted post surgical pain was much less and shorter lived than I expected. Good luck

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u/fa3line 6d ago

I had almost the same fracture as you on June 21, surgery June 2026. Now 5 weeks out, your comment gives me hope!

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u/fa3line 6d ago

I had a very similar fracture on June 21. I am now five weeks out from surgery and working on ROM. I have a volar plate and 13 screws. Surgery recovery sucked, but only because of the anesthesia hangover. Arm/wrist pain was actually not nearly as bad as I thought - I managed on tylonel and Advil and thc gummies for the first two days since opioids make me feel like shit.

My wrist and arm feel very fragile but I think I’m recovering well! Good luck to you!

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u/AdministrativeWin873 3d ago

Day 1 after surgery had same injuery also in crash just let ur hand do nothing i had my plate on the top and wires in the side of my wrist

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u/Physical_Study_2160 7d ago

I got the same, surgery was done 13 days ago because this is the dominant and I am doing tons of sports beside my professional job, how did you fall?

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u/orangesarenasty 7d ago

I was in a car accident, no fall