Anyone ever break their shooting wrist before?

[SteelJM1]

I broke my wrist on the 12th of december in a motorcycling accident and had to get surgery on the 23rd to fix it. Plate and six screws on the radius. Not fun, I'd not recommend it.

Anyway so here we are, almost march. I'm currently doing PT and regaining range of motion and strength back in my hand and arm... i'd say i'm about 75% there. Bending the wrist back i'm a few degrees away from where I was... forwad is a lot more limited and painful. I can take push and pulling stress (such as pulling a wagon) no problem.

Anyway.. for anyone who's been on the same boat... when did you go back to shooting? I've been itching to go but obviously don't want to mess anything up OR drop my guns in the dirt.

 

[k4swb]

I broke my right hand in a motorcycle accident in 1986. I kept the cast on for about 4 weeks and never did feel like it healed correctly. I wasn't shooting anything heavy at that time and most of my shooting was done with .22lr and shotguns.

Another X-Ray and it was confirmed the bones had never healed correctly but I wouldn't let them rebreak them to try again. Decided to just live with it.

About two years later I decided I wanted to hunt deer with a handgun and bought a .44 magnum. I started shooting about 100 rounds every afternoon after work and immediately new I was in trouble. Instead of stopping, I just taped my hand up and kept at it. After about a month of this I noticed my hand was feeling better than even before I started. Another month or so passed and my pain was almost completely gone.

One more X-Ray and it was confirmed that I had aggravated the bones to the point that they had finished knitting on their own.

This probably is no help at all to you but I thought you ought to know you're not alone and I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

Consult your Dr. and pray he isn't anti gun. Shooting a .22lr handgun might even be benificial to you. Just be careful.

 

[Blackshirts]

Shooting a .44 Magnum cures everything.

 

[SteelJM1]

I guess in a few weeks I'll borrow my buddies .22, .32, and my sp101 with cowboy loads then standard 38 loads, and see how it goes.

 

[Skans]

The closest I got to this is when I sprained my wrist shooting my AMT .45 Backup. I was running a bunch of drills shooting this thing repeatedly over the course of 4 hours. The trigger pull is harsh and the recoil is fairly harsh as well. After putting close to 200 rounds through it, I suddenly felt a very sharp pain in my wrist. That was it, couldn't pull that trigger even one more time. Couldn't hardly hold the gun. I tried to use my Glock 17 instead, but even that was killing my wrist. So, I had to shoot left handed for the rest of the day.

It took about 3 months to heal, and I still feel a twinge every now and then.

Snappy recoil + heavy trigger pull X (4 boxes of ammo) = dead shooting hand.

 

[k4swb]

I guess in a few weeks I'll borrow my buddies .22, .32, and my sp101 with cowboy loads then standard 38 loads, and see how it goes.

Please don't go too much too heavy too soon. Let the pain from rehab help guide you.
I way overdid it and was darn lucky.

 

[Glenn E. Meyer]

I did - fell butt over teakettle and broke my wrist, ribs and badly sprained my ankle. Interestingly, I was signed up for an injured shooter class. Luckily, I was out of my shoulder to wrist caste and just had one from wrist to forearm by the class. I shot it with my nondominant hand and my ankle in some rig!

Later, I took LFI-1 stress fire with the wrist in a strapped removable gadget. When finally out of it, I did the PT recommended with the therapists. I lifted significant weights before and continued , starting from scratch and built up.

So, my advice - practice with your nondominant hand - it's a good skill. I carried a 9mm and manipulated it one handed.

In about 6 months, I was pretty good. I've lost about 5 degrees of rotation and the doc said I'm at risk for arthritis in the wrist.

For some strange reason, folks think I'm a tough guy for doing the training while injured. Haha! FOG, is me! :

Shoot with your other hand, get the hand strengthener putty, etc. Lift weights. I was back to benching what should (haha) be my body weight quite a few times in a few months time.

PS - I'm such an idiot after the fall, I said I didn't need an ambulance but drove to the hospital with one hand and one foot - in a stick shift. I'm a dope.

 

[SteelJM1]

Thanks for the advice guys. When I go out in a few weeks I'll take it easy and practice with my left. I'll let yall know how it goes. :/

 

[mikejonestkd]

My father did a double whammy on both his right wrist and right shoulder - he fell off a ladder onto a concrete floor. He now has a wired together shoulder and a plate installed that fused his right wrist in one position. Thankfully his trigger finger still works. His days of large caliber rifles and magnum handguns are now strictly behind him, however he does well with smaller calibers. I suggest following the PT exactly and do all the exercises to regain strength and mobility. Glenn's advice is spot on.

 

[youp]

I am 55, I broke both wrists when I was 16. 3 breaks left and two on the right. No plates or screws. I went through boot camp doing finger tip pushups, I could not bear the weight on my palms. Discharged and splitting wood with a maul when I was 24. That hurt plenty. Pushing a snow scoop was bad. I never used a large pistol until I was 45. Had carpal tunnel syndrome surgery at 46. They seem to be able to get accustom to new and strenuous activities. I own a 41 mag. If I shoot fast 210s it will cause some discomfort the next day. Prior to carpal surgery a 454 casull would cause numbness after a couple of rounds. If I slept with the wrist in a splint they would feel ok the next morning.

If your experience is anything like mine, I would say you may have experienced a life altering injury.

Best of luck.