How to treat stiffness after elbow fracture

Joint stiffness after fracture is an undesirable symptom, and patients with post-fracture joint stiffness need to undergo some muscles, tendons, ligaments and other soft tissue recovery exercises, in addition, there are some important things to alleviate the bad symptoms.

In real life, due to accidents, many patients will have the adverse symptoms of joint stiffness after fracture once they are injured and suffer fractures, which brings harm to the patient's health, so what should I do if the joints are stiff after fracture? Find out below.

Generally speaking, joint stiffness after fracture is a relatively common symptom, which is a relatively difficult to prevent, and patients have complications induced after fracture. In general, the degree of joint stiffness after a fracture has a lot to do with the degree of fracture damage suffered by the patient and the cause of the fracture injury suffered by the patient.

The most important thing is that on the premise of not affecting the reduction and fixation of the fracture, some training should be carried out as soon as possible, so that the muscles, ligaments, joint capsules and other soft tissues of the fractured limb can be restored. In addition, this can also prevent the possibility of muscle atrophy of the patient, the tendon fascial contracture of the patient, and the osteoporosis of the patient, which can lead to joint stiffness, and can give activities across the fractured joint, such as forearm fractures, and can give early finger and shoulder joint movement.

Elbow fractures are generally divided into conservative and surgical, conservative refers to manual reduction and fixation by braces, plasters, etc., this method is mostly for mild fractures; Surgery** refers to surgical reduction followed by fixation with steel plates, rivets, etc. The specific method to be used should be determined according to the patient's condition. The best training after elbow fracture is mostly carried out after the removal of the plaster, which is divided into passive exercise and active exercise, and the specific methods include joint flexion and straightening.

It is important to emphasize that the training must be carried out under the guidance of a professional doctor and follow the principle of gradual progress.

After elbow fracture, it is often necessary to fix and reduce the elbow joint, and the maneuver should be as gentle as possible to avoid contusion of the surrounding soft tissues. Because soft tissue contusion will cause edema and congestion of the surrounding tissues, and finally cause joint adhesions, if it is long-term, ossifying myositis will be formed. A splint or cast is also needed to immobilize the joint, and some of its function is lost.

After a long time, osteoarticular ankylosis will be formed, and osteoarticular ankylosis will have a great impact on future function, which can be relieved by traditional Chinese medicine or surgery.

If the early fixation time is relatively long, and the hematoma has not yet formed, or the ossifying myositis has not formed, external application of traditional Chinese medicine, physiotherapy, and massage can be used to promote local blood circulation and relieve limb swelling and adhesions. However, once the joint is stiff, there is no way to change it through conservative **, and the joint ankylosis can also be solved by minimally invasive arthroscopic surgery to achieve functional recovery.

Joint stiffness after elbow fracture can be managed in the following ways:

1.If there are no mechanical factors limiting joint mobility, such as healing of fracture malunion, dislocation, and heterotopic ossification, non-surgical ** should be considered first, especially within 6 months of injury. Specific modalities include brace fixation, sustained passive movement, and manual release under anesthesia.

It can also be combined with physical methods such as acupuncture, hot compresses, and massage.

2.Surgery should be considered when non-surgical **6 months has failed and there is persistent impairment of range of motion or insufficient improvement in activity after enhancement** and **. Surgical methods include incisional release, arthroscopic release, artificial elbow arthroplasty, etc.

The best methods for stiffness after elbow fracture can include hot compresses, physiotherapy, massage of hard soft tissues, and moving the joints to gradually increase the degree of flexion and extension.

Suggestions: After exercising is ineffective, it is necessary to consider surgery to loosen adhesions, pay attention not to carry heavy objects after surgery, but also rest more, and eat more protein foods to promote body recovery.

It depends on the specific situation, if the physical therapy can be relieved, it is okay, otherwise it is necessary to have surgery to tighten.

We need to understand several situations: 1. Time after fracture, generally speaking, the longer the time after fracture, the more complex and the worse the effect. 2. The location and severity of the fracture, the closer the fracture site is to the articular cartilage, or the severity of the articular cartilage destruction, the flatness of the articular surface, the more serious the recovery effect, the worse the recovery effect.

3. The soft tissues around the elbow joint, especially the joint capsule, muscles, and ligaments, are not damaged or damaged. 4. Malunion of fractures.

**Based on the comprehensive analysis of the above situation, the prognosis should be predicted and the ** plan should be formulated.

There are mainly surgical** and conservative**. Among them, conservative ** accounts for the majority or should be conservative**, even if the surgery **, there must be surgery and training.

There are various physiotherapy in the hospital, including manual therapy, muscle strength recovery, hyperthermia, electrotherapy, equipment, etc.

If you want to exercise at home, the main thing is to strengthen flexion and extension activities, mainly intensity and amplitude, and the frequency should not be too high. Plus a warm compress. Household equipment**.

If the effect is not good, the elbow joint should be restored to normal function or close to normal.

One of the equipment training.

After surgical internal fixation of the fracture of the upper end of the shareholding.

Physiotherapy, plus limb function exercises, if the local tissue adhesion is severe, surgical release.

If your elbow is stiff after a fracture, you should consult your surgeon. Don't do it yourself, because there has to be a recovery process.

Stiffness after a fracture of the elbow joint, you should ask the surgeon how the **** is, you can't come casually by yourself, because he has to have a recovery process.