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Doc (or anyone else), how much pain & swelling should I be expecting with a broken humerus? I'm about 4 weeks into the process, the bone is knitting and is strong enough to move the arm freely. But I also have a suspicious walnut-sized lump near where the break was and what feels like muscle tear pain.

Normal?

Hmmmm...not sure why that is happening. Did you have any orthopedic hardware (rods, pins, screws, compression plates)?

After four weeks swelling should be subsiding. Did you have a ligament or tendon injury? That can have peak swelling at 6 weeks.

Do you have worsening pain?

No hardware, just a soft cast. Swelling has gone down but still there. I don't think they checked for ligament damage, they might have but I didn't notice.

It was a closed, complete midshaft fracture. Most of the pain is in my shoulder & elbow. I have about 70% range of movement on the elbow and 25% on the shoulder.

Keep in mind, I'm a hypochondriac when giving advice.

Well, the good news is that a mid shaft fracture should heal nicely and easily.

The range of motion in your shoulder is less than the elbow? Did you injure your shoulder at the same time?

Often times the limited range of motion is from pain not from injury in the early going. Later, it could be more apparent if there is an injury or if it was just an immobility or limited mobility issue. Also keep in mind that even if it was from the pain, you'll be deconditioned somewhat, so, you might not be 100% for a while.

Ligamentous/tendonous injuries of the elbow are relatively uncommon except for certain sports like tennis and baseball. Direct trauma often doesn't result in those injuries.

As for the shoulder, you can have capsular inflammation, but it doesn't sound like that. You'd know if you had it, it isn't subtle. Physical therapy almost always does the trick IF that is the issue. Can take a few months.

Thanks Doc. I figured with the time it takes for the bone to heal, atrophy, physical therapy and everything else that this would be a 4-6 month process.

The softcast is a Godsend. I can take it off to shower, adjust it if it's too loose/tight and it's reasonably comfortable to sleep in. Also glad it happened in Summer so I don't have to wrestle with sweaters & jackets.

Jules, may want to be careful offering medical advice to someone living in a socialist state, they may send you a cease and desist letter.

Yeah, the Single Payer Plan here is a "nightmare". Ambulance, 4 sets of Xrays, ER visit, 2 visits with a shoulder specialist, physical therapy, 2 casts and 3 slings cost me $155. Because this accident maxed out my out of pocket payments, I don't pay a nickel for a calendar year. That includes meds & 6 months gym membership for the therapy and any other appointments (flu, allergist, dermatoligist, etc).

How much in taxes goes to funding it though?

There's no City or State taxes, just Federal. I pay about 41%. That pays for;

- All Health Care including Psych
- Dental for children up to 18 years of age
- reasonable Dental for Aldults
- Daycare w/ 3 hot meals a day
- 2 hot meals for my sons at school
- school for my sons including afterschool care
- 18 months paid Maternity/Paternity leave
- Disability while my arm heals
- 80% salary while unemployed
- job training if you're unemployed more than 90 days
- plus the random everyday shit like roads, snow removal, police, fire department etc

It's Hell.

Clarification -

I pay 1100:- ($155) max per calendar year for all Health Care. From going to the Dr with a cold to heart surgery.

All Dental for kids is free including Orthodontics.

My dental is pretty cheap. Had a tooth pulled for $75.

Eye exams are free unless for a Drivers License ($15). Glasses & contacts are out of pocket.

Safety equipment, work clothes are paid for by the employer (but they really don't because they can ask the Govt for a refund).

5 weeks vacation.

Shitty f*cking pizza (out oof pocket, Govt won't pay for iy).

All the fresh air & water you can handle.

If I can find steady work, and don't need the daycare costs, I'd estimate that I'd be paying about 25% more in taxes in order to cover all that. How's the daycare coverage (scale 1-10 with 1 being Jerry Sandusky and 10 being Martha Stewart?)

Daycare varies (like everywhere). Our experience was pretty good. 5-6 to 1 kid to teacher ratio, the kids spent a lot of time playing outside, did a lot of craft sh*t. They had fun.

BTW, I forgot about Child Sick Days. You get 10 days a year that you can stay home from work with a sick child (must take kid to Dr). If you don't use them, you can transfer them to someone who needs them.

Plus the NFL & NHL on my dish. Govt doesn't help with that though.

Do they penalize you if you don't buy certain stuff?

Like what?

dunno like what kind of car you drive? 'they' say that our 'healthcare mandate' means that the 'socialists' in charge can now tell us what to buy.

Nope. The only fee you have to pay that bugs me is a TV license. Runs about $200 a year on top of what you pay for package.

I drive a Toyota Hilux (I love Top Gear). My insurance is lower than when I lived in the Philly, but that's not saying much.

On the down side, going to a bar is verrrry expensive. Most Swedes binge drink then hit the bars for 1 or 2 drinks. Plus the Drunk Driving Laws are Draconian. They test the morning after Holidays to catch the still drunk.

Wait, what? They test you to see if you're drunk the day after? Where, like at work?

Hot bitches and an awesome standard of living? Sounds pretty good, fagel!

I don't know Jules, if I can't come into work drunk the next day I don't know what kind of life that'd be.

They set up sobriety checkpoints randomly around town in the morning. Caught my Father-in-Law a few years back.

Drunk at Work, no problem. Driving Drunk to Work, big problem.

Doc,

I do about 2 miles on a treadmill 3-4 times per week. Been doing this for the better part of a year. Lately, I've noticed a bit of pain and swelling on the inside of my legs near the front bone (forget which bone this is). It's nothing that keeps me from normal activity or anything, rather it's something that I have to work through in the first 4 minutes or so when I'm jogging. Is this just some kind of tendonitis?

should have been more specific on location...it's about 4" north of where the lower leg meets the foot.

If your footfall is heel-toe then it is most likely a shin splint. The other thing that comes to mind is a stress fracture. Simple fix for a shin splint is to grasp a towel with your toes and trace out the alphabet. Do 2-3 reps.

If it persists, get the X-ray to confirm a stress fracture and it's usually 6 weeks to get back.

Be careful if you try to change your gait because it takes time to adjust and puts you at injury risk.

Jules, what are your thoughts on accupuncture to relieve/cure sports-related back pain?

My lower left tailbone area is killing me.

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