If I recall correctly, breaks used to take six weeks in cast to mend and 2 more out. That would be early March, or Carney time?
But didn't Bill say summer for full speed?
Hmm.
Did Doke's break just become a mystery?
Bill's statement even seemed to Imply some doubt about his full recovery.
How did it happen?
Are we talking tendon/ligament tears instead off, or in addition to fx?
@jaybate-1.0 Torn ligaments requiring surgery, not a break.
@jaybate-1.0 No news I have seen. I tore mine with a rapid wrist twist in tennis 41 years ago, didn’t have surgery, and it still hurts when twisting. "So, don't twist it...."
I think surgery is reattachment. I know they can graft tendons with "donor" tissue, but unsure about ligaments.
I partially cut a tendon in my finger with a machete over 20 years ago. The doc sewed it together, but it's still not as limber. That finger takes all kinds of abuse though; machete's knives, and hammers oh my!
I hope Dok gets his full range of movement back!
Unfortunately, wrist ligament tears that are severe and needing surgery, may require pins for quite some time, as I recall. Then some extended rehab. A kid I coached against had this happen at first base when he and a runner collided while he was trying to catch a throw. I'll see if I can find a link that explains.
@mayjay - The ACL repair is amazing. The do use patellar tendon or hamstring tendon from the patient. The tendon then transforms into a ligament. Pretty amazing. They also can use a ligament from a corpse on the ACL. Don't know much about the wrist thing with that sort of approach. I know the ACL is unique, and pretty much shreds like a rope. That's why it's so problematic. Something to do with location and other factors that make self-healing of an ACL virtually impossible. Other ligaments will heal on their own. Too much experience on that injury (ACL).
Found a good link. Obviously have no idea if this is the same injury, but the healing time matches up with what we've heard from Self - Wrist Ligament Tears ↗
Also, with the ligament tears, it has to heal fully, then the area has to regain flexibility, then strengthened to regain stability. He's looking at probably 8 weeks minimum before they even want him trying to move the wrist around, then several more weeks to regain full range of motion. He might be able to start holding a basketball again around the end of the season if there are no setbacks.
The crucial thing though, is that he cannot do anything until the ligaments are healed fully to prevent a further sprain or new tear. Better to shut him down immediately than to even leave a possibility that he could return.
A break would have been more painful, but would have also healed more quickly.
@HighEliteMajor said:
The ACL repair is amazing. The do use patellar tendon or hamstring tendon from the patient.
I forgot about that. I think they also use a tendon from elsewhere to do Tommy John surgery to strengthen damaged ligaments in the pitcher's throwing arm.
Interestingly, I don’t recall ever hearing about anyone having problems at the locations from where the tendons were taken. Never any complications from having a tendon removed? Wow! Do we have some extra inventory tendons hanging around?
Merry Christmas.
@mayjay Much ligament & tendon repair sources are from donors, as physicians prefer to use this terminology instead of cadavers or corpses. I really don't know how much damage it takes to require replacements instead of repairs. It might be the case that the greater the tear & smaller the tissues that are to start with, the higher risk of replacement from a donor. Also note anytime one can use tissues from their own body, as in a bone graft for say, a dental implant or a spinal fusion, the chances of rejection are greatly reduced. My friend's son was 6'11" & was in ACL surgery over 5 hrs because donor was not nearly as tall & many complications. But this also was 20 years ago which in medicine is like light years ago. Wonder if @JayDocMD is still on the site - haven't heard much from him since the old kusports.com days. Anyone know?
@jaybate-1.0 Merry Christmas to you as well old friend.
@globaljaybird I edited it. My wording reflected long time exposure to blood collections, where the donors are different......
I had a bone graft before a dental implant using donor tissue. The oral surgeon made sure I knew where it came from--I had a choice between artificial, bovine, my own (i.e., from the hip), or donor tissue. He believed donor tissue was most effective, at least of the three that didn’t involve gouging my hip. In these cases I think it is actually ground up, the organic material is removed, and it is the minerals remaining that are packed into the bone cavity to form the substrate for your own bone tissue to form. And if I recall correctly, ultimately your body "resorbs" it and replaces it with your own tissue. Pretty weird stuff.