United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Tia

If your are obpi and have partial use of your arm you should be stretching ... and trying to do ROM..range of motion...

I just thought that nothing would change with my arm it was the way it "healed" I never realized that if I did not keep working it I would have problems...
I swam for many years and exercised and had three kids so I got pleanty of exercise...

But now I try to do rom at least once a day and I have a pully system that goes over a door... it is for getting a good strech...
It is important to keep your arm moving...
I forget I have an arm so I keep reminding myself to move the right arm.. (sounds like what my mother use to say)

Last year I joined a local pool with a hot tub and while I was back in therapy I would exercise in the tub with out the jets on... that is wonderful and you get your best exercise in hot water...

Kath

I had nerve graft surgery 6 months ago, and do exercises daily. I use a cane and help with my good arm. I do curls and try and work my deltoids by bringing my arm forward and up, and working it out to the sice. My biceps are working better and better all the time. I'm not getting much response from the deltoids, but I'll keep trying. I figure I need to get all I can within the next year or two.

I had my surgery 4 years ago after avulsing all 5 nerves and now, largely due to the excercise I've done I am still getting improvements. Range of Motion is most important as this will make you feel more comfortable and allow you to do more excercise. I've found it really important to keep an eye on my posture as I tend to slouch in the car or in front of the TV. Working the lower back muscles helps keep you straight and I was warned of problems relating to a curvature of the spine with this injury.

Apart from that there are lots of excercises to do depending on the stage of recovery you're at. I began with just trying to tense any muscles I could! Then went on to try to raise my arm to the side and to the front and shrugging my shoulders. By that time I could also do flyes for the chest, and that in turn got the tricep working. I'm now working on the bicep too. I think it's very important to allocate enough time to your arm each day, to concentrate completely on it - might be relaxing and stretching or doing excercise in the gym. It's not always easy to find the time but in my experience I've gotten out what I put in.

If I've not bored you to tears and you want some more specific excercises e-mail me.

Dennis, on the subject of recovery timescales, I was told I would realise all recovery within the first two years, but the truth is I've made more recovery since then. I've also heard of people still gaining recovery after ten years.

Dan

Hi, yes i do excercises, a good PT can give you an achievable goals programme, basically stretching and strengthening the joints and muscles, i was TBPI a bit over two years ago. Like Dan says posture is important long term so strengthening back muscles makes everything easier too.
dan, about the recovery time frame, i wwas told 2 yrs max and there won't be any recovery after that, well there hasn't been any new innervation for me since over a year ago now, but i keep building what i do have. When you say you still got recovery after two years, do you mean more strength in what you do have innervated, or actual new innervation of previously paralysed muscle? Even the experts seem to have differing opinions on this one!

Dan,
Please Email me some specific exercises. Thanks,Tia