United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hello,
I'm new here but see that I'm in the right place. I had a motorcycle accident in Sept. 07 and had numerous injuries. Wasn't until March after my humerous healed that they realized I had a BP injury. Ulnar nerve surgery has helped but I am not recovering fast enough.

Anyone who can help me, it would be appreciated. I have recovered some bicep use but hardly any shoulder and wrist flexion.

Basically, what I need to know is the following:
1) Is there anyone with similar injury? How'd it occur?
2) How long ago? Where are you in rehab?
3) What are you doing? Specific exercises to recover from shoulder (deltoid) atrophy?

I just feel kind of lost and at a plateau in recovery.
Thank you Anyone!
Robert

" I am not recovering fast enough" I think everyone near this injury has felt the same way. Nearly everyone on here has or is related to someone with a BPI. The trouble is that although the same nerves may be affected the injuries are all so different. My son's injury seems to be opposite of yours. He has regained some shoulder but not enough bicept. He started with simply shrugging the shoulder up, back and forward. We also used like a skateboard on a smooth table to move so there wouldn't be any resistance. Eventually moved to doing snow angels on the floor with a smooth surface. At first I had to help him and eventually he could do them higher and higher. Also doing movements in water really helped. There he could make all kinds of movement he couldn't on land so he was able to strengthen things better. And yes he did have formal therapy for about 18 mos post accident I would say. Before he started the excersizes it looked like skin on bone on his deltoid, it looked so atrophied I was afraid he wouldn't be able to get it back. It's still smaller but at least you can see a little muscle and not just bone. His accident was 11/02/05. 2 semi's vs his car-- he lost. But he is still making improvements so keep the faith and best of luck.
Sue

Thanks Sue, that helps a bit. I've been in water a lot. The skateboard thing may help me too. I think my shoulder looks skin and bone too but I am trying. I use a resistance band and do what little I can and help with the other arm. I have also been dong any controlled "machine assisted" exercises that I can in the gym. Of course, probably like evryone here, I have not been able to work and SSI has denied me so I have nothing but time to devote to healing. I've not been able to do formal physical therapy yet.

Hi Robert-
My husband was injured in August of '07 in a dirt bike accident and had nerve reconstruction in March (tricep branch to deltoid). We just went back to Mayo last week for a check up. His muscle is starting to be reinervated (thought he has minimal movement) so now we are also trying to get the muscle built back up. The PT there gave him some exercises-- for his stage the two most important are laying on his back with his elbow bent, hand in the air and his elbow about 30 degrees out from his body. I then put a little resistance against his arm (just above his elbow) as he tries to push out against it). Evidently, this isolates the deltoid and keeps him from cheating with other muscles. For example, before his surgery, he would lay on his back, arm outstretched and move his arm out to the side quite a ways and we thought it was his deltoid, but his back muscles had learned to move the arm out a bit that way.

The second exercise is using one of those rubber exercise bands--you put it over a bar above your head and hold onto one end in each hand. Using your uninjured arm, you pull your injured arm up over your head, and then then try to slowly move your injured arm back down under its own power (so you release the tension from the uninjured arm, but don't let go completely so your injured arm flops down. Hope that makes that makes sense.

If you're farther along in recovery and want other ideas, I can look up the other exercises she sent us home with to use as my husband gets stronger- just let me know.
Amanda

Sounds vaguely similar. I was injured in an accident in Sept. 07 and had surgery in March too. Judging from his progress, we're in a similar place too. This helps me greatly and please update me as he progresses and I'll do the same.

I forgot to mention, Dustin used e-stim too. That seemed to work better on his deltoids than bicept. Probably because one of the heads of the bicept wasn't firing. But we could really see it firing the deltoids.
Sue