United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

My tricep is extremely weak, but you can notice that it is working. My doc said something like part of the nerve may still be connected. Anyone knows what that means?

It took my bicept exactly 10 months to start working again. Ten months is a VERY long wait with a useless arm. I remember having to strain every muscle in my upper body to be able to bend my elbow a half inch. The good news is that with a good follow-up exercise program the bicep strengthens quite rapidly. My injury was Oct. 99, and I can curl about 10 lbs now. As you mentioned....the tricep is still weak, but my lat muscles took over that job...naturally....and I can hold small things away from me fairly easily. Triceps are radial nerve, and sadly it seems that the radial nerve is the one that takes the brunt of this type of injury.

If your doc thinks you still have a partially connected nerve I would consider that very good news. Any channel that is still open for impulse signals only means that some degree of recovery can still occur. Keep working your bicep. If you are seeing movement and are able to bend your elbow, keep exercising it. It will get stronger. My opinion is that the bicep is far more important than the tricep. It is easy to relax the bicep and let your arm straighten out using gravity, but a lot harder to get that fork to your mouth if you can't bend your arm.

Don't let the bad days getcha.......keep the ol' head up and trudge forward. Victories with this injury are slow, but worth all the effort of the fight. The best to you.........

George

Is the "lat" the latissimus dorsi - the muscle on the back, underneath the shoulder blade?

That also came back recently. I can notice that muscle is helping the rest of my arm extend too. If it is the case that a part of the nerve is still connected, how useful would it be?

yes....the latissimus dorsi. Good you got that muscle back, as it seems to help the tricep extend the arm. Don't be surprised to have soreness down the affected side of your back because this muscle is pretty strong.

About the nerve. It probably depends on how much damage was done to the nerve initially, and what percentage is actually "not damaged". It's degree of usefulness is directly related to how much of the conduit is not broken. A reasonable assumption is that if half the nerve fibres are still conducting impulses then function might be 50% of normal. Again....this is only an assumption. However, it has been proven that scar tissue that builds around a damaged area can actually support new fibres that are trying to re-build themselves, and may actually benefit the healing process. Afterall, our bodies seek to mend themselves if there is material to work with. One thing is for sure......if you've got any movement to certain muscles you can bet that the nerve feeding it is, to a degree, still intact, and that can only be good. The more you work with what you have, the stronger it will get.

Andre, I have a similar situation with my biceps. I had my second surgery, a nerve transfer, a year ago which is about 2 1/2 years after my wreck. I have very very minimal alrophy in my arm at all. My upper arm is about a 1/2 inch smaller! My doctor said it was a good sign, something in there is still connected, I had nothing showing on an EMG either. But because there was no atrophy, he said something was "feeding" the muscle to keep it big, a very small something was still intact.

This could be that case with your triceps. Keep working it! Anything is possible!!

COurt xx

Hi Diargasm, any flicker of life is good news! My triceps started with the teeniest strand of it twitching and loads of physio and working it later grew in strength to the point i can even do a few pushups now. Bicep was similar, initially onlt a tiny strand would flicker and wouldn't bend my elbow. But i kept wotking it and it very gradually grew in strength and bulk till i was able to bend my elbow laid on my back, celebrations! It is strong enough now to lift small weights and still gradually grows in strength 5 years post crash. My physio (PT) explained that our muscles are like electric motors waiting for some current to come down the wires to work them. So if a damaged nerve regenerates some, and is able to conduct say 20% 'current' down to the motor then that muscle will eventually be able to work at 20% strength, made sense to me. Like the fingers on my BPI hand move but only the index finger has enough strength to depress puter keys, the others not quite so while there is some innervation its not a lot. Hope you get great recovery, good luck!
PS hi George long time no see, hows it going mate?

Hi Dave.........busy as usual I guess. Not much time to play anymore. Saw Courtney's pics. Is that you who's head is touching the ceiling? I believe you're still growing mate ) Looks like everyone had a great time. Loved the pics of the pool cue in the toes..........very ingenuitive........

Hope to post a little more often.........and thnx fer askin'
George