Anyone torn their TFCC?

[Flat Broke]

More commonly refered to as the triangular fibrocartilage complex in your wrist. It's the chunk of ligaments and cartilage on the pinky side of your wrist between your ulna and the rest of the bones.

I had been living with some pain and reduced mobility after crashing on Velocity in Mammoth back on 8/19. I figgured it was just sprained, so I gave it 2 weeks before I called my orthopaedic surgeon. Well I went in today and the xrays were clean but he thinks I might have torn the cartilage/ligaments. I'm waiting to get a date for an MRI and was wondering if anyone else has had experience with this injury.

Now that the wrist is in a brace I can't really move it in a direction that hurts which I guess is a good thing, but I also can't really grip handlebars well enough to ride trails. Obviously, I'll have more info after the MRI, but if anyone has had this injury, how long does it take to heal if the damage isn't bad enough to warrant surgery?

Thanks in advance,
Chris

[OMR]

Sending out healing vibes from the Tribe. The great thing about the body is that it does repair itself and you will be riding again. Keep thinking positive thoughts.

[Flat Broke]

Thanks,

I went for my MRI today, and will meet with my doc again on Wednesday to go over the results. I'm hoping it's a minor ordeal and the tear won't require surgery. If it does require surgery, all of the reading/research I've done indicates that most issues can usually be resloved with arthroscopic procedures, so at least the recovery time shouldn't be too bad. Hopefully everything comes together so I can be back out in the dirt by the next time Spookydave hits SB

Chris

[BRpunkRock]

I had the same type of injury about 7 years ago from a slip and fall. Hurt for a long time aftawards. Only left over reminder is a painless click when I roll my wrist around.

[Flat Broke]

I already had the click, so I guess I just need to get over the pain

Chris

[Flat Broke]

The good news is that the TFCC is fine. The bad news is that the problem is a small fracture to the Lunate bone that they couldn't see in the xray. It's not displaced or anything, so the weakness in the hand was only from the pain impulse over-riding muscular control.

The bottom line... another month in the brace and then some PT to make up for lost mobility/strength from imobilization.

On the bright side, I put in some miles with the kid trailer the other day and am heading out again with my daughter today to sneak in some more time on the bike, though not really in the dirt.

Chris

[Steven Jackson]

I toar my finger nail back one time opening a can of Budweiser.

[BeantownRider]

Yep, tore up mine a few years back when I was learning to snowboard. Problem was, I never got it checked out so I didn't find out about it until I had surgery last year to repair a distal radius fracture. The surgeon just happened to notice the damage to the TFCC when he was going in with the scope.

Anyway, my wrist was pretty messed up after the snowboarding fall, took several weeks to feel better and get mobility back. I wore these braces for a while after my surgery, they work great, provide a good ammount of support without feeling like a cast and they work well with gloves. I still wear them snowboarding.

http://www.pricepoint.com/detail/110...-%26-Save!.htm

[Flat Broke]

Went back to the doc for my 4 week after semi-imobilization checkup. The fracture looks healed, and I'm out of the brace for all but heavy lifting. The down side? No impacts, shock, or pushups for another 4 weeks. Talk about getting excited for nothing.

Chris