United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hello there,
I love the wealth of information on this site but i have posted b4 with no answers, please i ask can someone help. You see i was born back in 76 when these kinds of injuries were not really know and i was born with a wrist drop? My whole hand was sitting flush on my wrist when i was born and as i am adopted i have little family history. My left arm is very small with limited muscle mass on it and my hand dosent work to well, can someone please tell me what a wrist drop is and does it have anything to do with bpi injury, please i have tried to get this answered for years now with no answers, can anyone help me
Thankyou
Leigh

Leigh,
A wrist drop can definitely be related to BPI. When you say wrist drop I am asuming you mean that your hand is in the palm dowm position and you cannot pull your wrist up from this position. If this is the case than you may have little or no use of you wrist extensor muscles that are located on the top of you forearm and they pull your wrist up. These muscles are inervated by the radial nerve, which is a nerve that branches off your brachial plexus. I have heard from one doctor that a way to treat this is to have your wrist bones fused to keep your wrist in a more neutral position, but a BPI specilist or an orthopedic doc can tell you more about that
Have you ever been diagnosed with a brachial plexus injury from birth(erbs palsy)? There are doctors over the country that specialize in this injury. There are listing all over the country that are found on this site. I hope I have been helpful.
Becky

Leigh,
Our UBPN "Medical Resources" Link on our Homepage is where to go for BPI Specialists' List.I advise you to get a Consult to answer your questions about YOUR injuries because each of us have very individual/different OBPI Injuries .
Good Luck & Keep Reading back Topic threads on these Boards. Also, you are welcome to keep asking questions too,of course!
HUGS,
Carolyn J
LOBPI,Age 68 & proud of it!

Leigh,
Your wrist drop could very possibly be from the bpi. Since the muscles of your arm are so much smaller than your uninjured arm have you ever tried e-stim or therapy to help gain muscle mass? Wrist extensors are very commonly impacted by the bpi. Wrist extension for me is coming along but this is only after two years of therapy and hard work. E-stim has worked wonders in getting some extension back.

Have you been in contact with any bpi docs? They could probably give you hand function through surgery if that is something you might want.
Good luck!
Amy 19 ROBPI from MN

Thankyou so much for all your help, i want to look at getting more function in my hand as it is a struggle everyday, unfortantley being adopted i have no birth history, but i was told that when i was taken away from my birth mother and put into care that my arm was palm flush onto wrist and that gangrene had set in, they were going to amputate but my adopted mum had me in physical therapy, so how this injury occured i am not sure, but if any one knows any doctors that specialise in bpi or wrist drop in adelaide, australia or in sydney that would be really good, my hand is is in a constant drop position and finding anyone that specialises in this would be great, i know i am 30 this year but i would love to get back quality of life which i never have had, so thankyou everyone for helping me, you will never no how thankful i am,
god bless
Leigh

Hi Leigh!

I definitely had the "Drop Wrist" caused by my ROBPI when I was born 51 years ago. When I was 12, I had a tendon transfer done. They took a tendon from the interior side of my arm and transfered it to the exterior side. This worked great! When I was 23, this tendon gave out, and I had another transfer. It's worked well ever since. Although other problems have occured since, the "drop wrist" is not an issue. I really hope you can find a doctor to help you with this. The doctors that did these two surgeries for me were orthopedic surgeons. Perhaps, if you cannot find a Brachial Plexus expert, a good orthopedic surgeon can help. Don't give up! You're too young to have to deal with something that may be able to be corrected.
God Bless!
Cyndi

Leigh,
There was a Gentleman from Australia who posted in 2005 or early 2006, who was an adult with OBPI and found a Specialist there. He posted on this, the Adult Board. Keep reading back in the Thread Topics...I can't recall his name..Somebdy out there recall his name?? & post for Leigh, please? THANKS!
HUgs,
Carolyn J

Leigh,
Have you found anything else out yet? Just curious on how your search was going for you. Please keep us posted.

Brett is posting from Australia