Elbow Update: I am hardware free!

I went to a massage appointment today, mostly to get the crud out of my muscles. I picked up a bug recently, and was left pretty sore everywhere by it. But I had the CMT work on my left arm as well (not around the elbow, but all the muscles around it), and my shoulder. By the time she was done, I had more comfortable movement in my arm in a long time.

So, I fired off an email to my orthopedist, letting him know that I had really good range-of-motion, and that the massage really opened it up. I also asked if I could start going without the brace, as I didn't think it was making much of a difference right now. About 30 minutes later... I got his blessing to remove it.


Yep! I am hardware-free! While I have it if needed, I am working slowly to get my arm back to its norm, and hope to never wear it again. I still need to wait on major strength work until I get cleared on the 11th, but this is a significant step forward for me. My mobility is really good. With increased range-of-motion, I started feeding myself with my left arm again this week (Thankfully! Try using chopsticks with your non-dominant hand!), which has improved my muscle tone a bit, and my arm is no longer shaky when I hold something.The back of my arm is still tight near the elbow, but I suspect that will improve as well. Muscle-mass... um, yeah... there isn't any right now. Once given permission, I will be doing some serious strength training again, to get that back. My poor right arm has been a victim of overuse syndrome, so I am sure that will improve as well.

Marching onward! I will be back on my bike soon! And working more hands-on in EMS again. :-)