Playing tennis after ORIF surgery of wrist

[MarinaHighTennis]

Hey guys I had a bad fall playing tennis and shattered my left radius into multiple pieces and had to undergo an ORIF surgery. My fingers hurt to move and my left arm tendons quiver painfully. If any of you had this surgery, how long was it till you played competitivly again and is there still pain and loss of mobility?

Im a 5.0 but doubt i can play this level anymore.

 

[Cashman]

This is a question for a rehab physician

 

[roadto50]

Not quite the same surgery but I did have surgery on my wrist to stabilize the ECU (muscle and tendon work). Took me 6 months to be able to hit lightly and play mini tennis, 12 months to rally like I used to and over 18 months to actually play at my previous level. Mind you, my wrist has lost mobility - it is permanent.

I am not quite a 5.0 but I do hit and play competitive matches with 5.0 guys and honestly I wasn't comfortable going for volleys until 18 months later. If I mistimed it, my entire wrist would feel it and I would just want to stop playing right there.

Initially - a lot of it was just mental. Any mishit shots would make me feel like I torn something again. I think you can get back to it but will take time. I mean professional athletes can be out for more than a year...and they get round the clock treatment.

 

[MarinaHighTennis]

Not quite the same surgery but I did have surgery on my wrist to stabilize the ECU (muscle and tendon work). Took me 6 months to be able to hit lightly and play mini tennis, 12 months to rally like I used to and over 18 months to actually play at my previous level. Mind you, my wrist has lost mobility - it is permanent.

I am not quite a 5.0 but I do hit and play competitive matches with 5.0 guys and honestly I wasn't comfortable going for volleys until 18 months later. If I mistimed it, my entire wrist would feel it and I would just want to stop playing right there.

oh yikes sounds like itll be much longer for me given they had to cut the muscle off my bone to drill the plate to the bone fragments and then sew it back on...

 

[stapletonj]

def. a question for your surgeon/physician/physical therapist.

but...... when I had some much more superficial hand surgery (removed a benign tumor) the surgeon cut my palm from 1/2 way
up the pinky almost down to the wrist. I finally taped the heck out of it and adopted a Borg like grip with my pinky completely off the racket until healed

I would talk to my surgeon about when it would be safe to wrap and brace the wrist like crazy and at least try some stiff wrist hitting, understanding you are not going to be competitive at all

 

[silverwyvern4]

Did you damage any of the tendons or ligaments, or only the bone? You might need an MRI to see those, but it might not work with your hardware, so it'll probably just be guesswork for your doctor