I'd give my right arm to make my elbow work properly again

Post date: 2021-04-14 06:29:19

I broke my right elbow badly in May 2019 and while I feel pretty damn functional overall, I don't have my full range of motion and can't fully straighten my right arm and lock my elbow. Biomechanics experts: are there ways I can make increased muscle strength partially compensate for this issue?

I broke my elbow into several large pieces and a lot of dust after falling down a concrete staircase 2 years ago. It was surgically corrected immediately, but as healing and rehab proceeded after my cast came off, it was obvious that my elbow joint was hitting a hard lock in both extension (straightening) and flexion (bending). While there has been some cartilage degradation, this hasn't led to any pain. I used a JAS device faithfully for months and got as much range of motion as I'll ever get from soft tissue work.

Bending my arm isn't perfect, but I am in the 130-140 degree range and can wash my face and hair, scratch my right ear, touch the nape of my neck, put on and off a bra, hold a phone to my right ear, etc. We're good there!

I'm still at least 30 degrees off full extension, which makes reaching for high/distant things more of a challenge than usual for 5'1" me, but I can ride my bike comfortably and can carry reasonably heavy loads in my right arm. I have no problems supporting my body weight on my right forearm with my arm bent about 90 degrees.

What I can't do is support much weight on my extended-ish right arm with my right hand on a vertical or horizontal surface. It feels as if my inability to lock my elbow is the main challenge as my arm feels reasonably strong in other ways and my right forearm muscle mass seems at least equal to my left forearm. I think I even have slightly increased muscle mass -- a tiny hump -- at the top of my right wrist. (It's not inflammation, I think, as it doesn't hurt.)

So should my goal be to really work on my forearm strength and perfect my Popeye impression? Would additional tricep/bicep strength also help? What should I or shouldn't I do next? (I have started using my JAS brace again for extension only, so that should help with any regression in soft-tissue-related ROM.)

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