Any one had Special knitting problems afte a cast came off ?

Mirjam, I thought you meant a cast on coming off, and I was thinking, well, I just re-cast on. Now I realize you mean a cast for a broken bone! Is yours off? I hope your healing went well.

No, I've never had a cast. I broke my leg once, but they used pins on the inside instead of a cast on the outside. I imagine your arm will be weak and will need time to regain strength.

My best to you on this USA Thanksgiving Day!

Hesira

I was too excited to be able to knit and spin again that I do not remember any problems :D

I broke my arm while walking on ice, in the days when they still used plaster casts, must have been forty years ago, I was collecting a child or children from school. My arm was encased in the white stuff but after a few days it didn't stop me doing anything, in fact I re-upholstered the chaise longue, including the button back. I did have help with stretching the banding under the seat though.

Knitting, crochet and sewing continued as ever - but I did get out of washing up :-) The worst thing was the itching - modern methods of immobilising a limb are much better these days - but you don't have the fun of people writing and drawing on the cast.

My arm seemed thinner when the cast came off, it functioned as normal though.

Mary

All I can remember is itching and peeling skin. But take knitting and crocheting easy the first few times. Don't jump in for the long haul at once. Coggie

I never had a cast on a wrist. The one on my foot made my ankle weak for a bit. Had to be careful not to come down wrong on it. Does that count for anything?

I hope none!!! Dennis

Mirjam Bruck-Cohen wrote:

I didn't want to poke my nose in Mirjam in case my information was useless to you - but here goes. :-)

Last year both my wrists had heavy dressings on and I couldn't move them for a week until the stitches were taken out after they were operated on. My specialist said we had to build up the strength in my hands and wrists again for the muscles that had remained unused for that time, plus any longer time before the operations when it was too painful to move them much.

He gave me simple exercises to do such as just "waggling" my fingers to begin with, gently at first and when that felt all right waggling and stretching them at the same time.

Another good exercise was stretching your fingers wide open and then, slowly, beginning to close them - all the time trying to stretch them so you can feel the muscles working - until they form a fist. Hold that position for a few seconds and then slowly relax the hand. (With this one your hand,when it is partly closed almost looks like a hooked claw).

All these exercises could be done at any time and just a few movements at any one time, building up strength over a period. He also stressed that there should be no discomfort AT ANY TIME. As soon as you begin to feel uncomfortable - STOP. The idea is to build strength gradually and not cause pain, which could do more harm than good.

I hope this helps and that you are soon knitting again and feeling better.

Mirjam - I broke my wrist about a year and a half ago - I was 59 years old - it was my first broken bone! Six weeks in the cast. I wasn't doing much knitting at the time so I can't tell you specifically about knitting but my hand and arm were both still swollen and very weak when the cast came off (and I had kept it UP 99.9% of those 6 weeks!). The best thing I did was go get a massage - she kept wanting to work on the rest of me but I made her work on my hand, wrist, and lower arm. It really loosened up the stiff muscles/tendons/etc. I should have gone back for more sessions but life got in the way and I didn't... It got frustrating at times when it didn't work properly so I just reminded myself that the bone had healed while the cast was on and then I had to recover from the effects of the cast! I read on the internet that it would take 1 - 2 years to fully recover from a broken wrist - I think I'm about back to where I was after 1 1/2 years. Good luck!!!