“How did you heal so fast?”

After “Are you okay?” and “Is there anything I can get you?” this is the next most common question I received in response to my recent wrist fracture and necessary surgery.

So, how did I heal so fast?

Firstly, healing is a much longer process than what you see on the surface. Cellularly, my bone is only about 40-50% “glued”. Externally what you’ll see is a pretty good lookin scar and me carrying on as “normal” at work.

My surgeon’s directions amounted to “you can use your hands to type, etc., but no lifting/pulling for 6 weeks and then you can start physical therapy.”

Do you know the part that really bugged me? AND THEN you can start physical therapy… And THEN? After 6 weeks? I think not.

That implies that physical therapy can only be done after something is “done healing.’ Definitely not.

Physical therapy after a surgery improves scar healing, pain, reduces muscle atrophy, and dramatically reduces overall recovery time. And those are just physical benefits but most of you will be able attest to the mental load as well.

What we really need to know is the hard limit based on the procedure. No lifting/pulling anything for the first 10 days and no lifting more than the weight of a water bottle for the 4 weeks that follow. Okay. That’s more like it. I can do that.

That only leaves about…thousands of other exercises (and work techniques) I can do. The rest is just about actually doing it.

So if you have a surgery, when would I recommend you come see me? Either day 1 or as soon as the skin healing is complete (~10-14 days).

A surgeon’s gonna “surge” - see a rehabilitation expert like me (wink wink) for everything afterwards.