Broken bones are no small problem, especially if they interfere with your exercise routine. However, if you break your wrist, you don't need to stop exercising until your wrist heals.
Step
Method 1 of 4: Doing Aerobic Exercise
Step 1. Take a walk or jog
Walking and jogging do a lot of good for health and can be done easily even if your wrist is broken. Depending on your exercise goals, you can adjust the distance and intensity to make it feel more strenuous.
- Make sure you keep your wrists in a neutral position as you walk.
- Tighten your abdominal muscles a little and keep your back straight to work your core muscles.
- By walking and jogging regularly, you can feel the effects on health that include strengthening bones and muscles, maintaining a healthy weight, and improving coordination and balance.
Step 2. Play tennis
Tennis is a sport that you can do with one hand. This exercise can also be a great variation in addition to walking and jogging. As with walking, keep the broken wrist in a neutral position in the sling while you use the other hand to play.
- In addition to burning fat and improving your cardiovascular fitness, tennis can also help build leg muscles, especially the arms and shoulders you use.
- Jumping and running can also help bone density and strength.
Step 3. Play soccer
Soccer requires players to run a lot and is a great way to improve cardiovascular fitness while you have fun with friends. Keep the broken wrist in the sling and leave your foot free to kick.
Step 4. Take a dance or aerobics class
In addition to providing the same health benefits as the exercise previously mentioned, you can be more stylish when you do dance or aerobic exercises. And if you feel bored with one type of class, replace it with another class like Zumba, Body Jam, or others.
Make sure you keep your wrist in a neutral position and avoid any movements that involve it (do the movements with one healthy hand)
Step 5. You can climb the hill while enjoying nature
Hill climbing is a good sport and can be strenuous if the route is tough. Be careful when climbing hills so as not to fall and make wrist injuries worse. Walking uphill increases cardiac output and burns more calories. Don't forget to enjoy the view. Apart from improving your fitness, this exercise can relax you and relieve stress.
Method 2 of 4: Doing Sports Builds Muscle
Step 1. Strengthen the leg muscles
You can work several different muscles in your body without using or bothering a broken wrist. To strengthen your leg muscles, do regular squats and lunges and keep your arms neutral at your sides.
- Do the squat standing with your legs spread apart, facing forward and keeping your back straight. Pushing your hips and buttocks back and your knees slightly forward, perform a squat until your thighs are slightly past the parallel with the floor. Remember to keep your feet and knees pointing in the same direction. The knee should not be pushed beyond the toe. Return to the starting position and repeat.
- Perform alternate lunges by stepping one foot forward. Then, lower your body by flexing your hips and knees from your front leg until your back leg's knee is almost touching the floor. Return to the starting position and perform a lunge with the other leg.
Step 2. Strengthen your back muscles
While many back exercises use dumbbells and weights, you can do exercises using body weights that can be done when your wrist is broken.
- Do the bridge exercise by lying on the floor with your arms at your sides. Place your feet on the floor and bend your knees. Slowly lift your buttocks until your knees and shoulders form a straight line. Hold this position for 10-15 seconds, then lower your body and repeat.
- Darts are another exercise that can be done with a broken wrist. Lie on your stomach and straighten your arms toward your legs at your sides. Lift your upper body and legs off the floor at the same time as your back muscles. Count to 10-15, relax, and repeat.
Step 3. Strengthen your abdominal muscles
It's not difficult to train your abs when your wrists are broken. You can do exercises like twists and crunches.
- In the crunch exercise, lie on the floor with your lower leg resting on a chair. Keep the arm with the broken wrist at your side, and place the other arm behind your neck. Lift your upper body off the mat by contracting your abdominal muscles. Lift your torso as high as you can while keeping your lower back flat on the floor. Lower the torso, and repeat.
- For the twist exercise, extend your arms out to each side while you lie on the floor. Bend your knees slightly and lift your feet off the floor with your knees bent at 90 degrees. After that, lower one leg until the thigh touches the floor. Return to center and repeat with the other leg. Do it repeatedly.
Method 3 of 4: Doing Physiotherapy for Broken Wrist
Step 1. Perform flexion and extension exercises for the wrist
Flexion and flexion exercises for the wrist are one of the important exercises to do so that the wrist returns to its pre-injury state. However, don't do this exercise until your doctor says you can do it. When you are just starting this exercise, do it slowly and stop if you feel pain.
- Place the forearm with the injured wrist on the table.
- Turn your palms over and extend your wrists and hands until they cross the edge of the table.
- Move your hands up by bending your wrists and making fists.
- Then, lower your hands and relax your fingers.
- Each position must be held for six seconds.
Step 2. Do a hand flip
This exercise should only be done after your doctor or physio therapist has given you permission. Do this exercise eight to twelve times if you don't feel any pain.
- Sit down and place your injured wrist and forearm on your thigh with your palm turned.
- Turn your hands so that your palms face up and are on your thighs.
- Do this movement repeatedly.
Step 3. Try the radial and ulnar deviation exercises
In this exercise, you move your wrist from side to side. Start slowly and if there is no pain, repeat 8-12 times.
- Hold the hand with the broken wrist in front of you, palm turned.
- Gently bend your wrist as far as you can, from side to side.
- Hold each position for six seconds.
Step 4. Stretch the wrist extensor
This stretching exercise can be effective for restoring the wrist. If you feel no pain, repeat this movement two to four times.
- Extend the arm with the broken wrist.
- Point your fingers toward the floor.
- Use your other hand and bend your wrist until you feel a light-to-moderate stretch in your forearm.
- Hold for 15 to 30 seconds.
Step 5. Stretch the wrist flexors
This stretching exercise can be difficult to perform when your wrist is broken. Start slowly and don't overdo it if you feel pain.
- Extend your arms with your broken wrists in front of you, palms not facing your body.
- Point your fingers up by bending your wrist back.
- Use the other wrist to gently bend the broken wrist toward you or press your hand against the wall.
- When you feel a stretch in your forearm, stop.
Step 6. Perform intrinsic flexion
This is an exercise that can help your gripping ability return to normal after an injury.
- Place the broken wrist on the table, with your fingers straight.
- Bend your fingers toward you from the joint that connects your fingers to your palm, but keep your fingers straight so that they form a 90-degree angle.
- Return to the starting position and repeat.
Step 7. Do the MP extension exercise
This is another exercise that can help restore grip and is ideally done eight to twelve times per session.
- With palms facing up, place the uninjured hand on the table.
- Lift the injured hand and grip the thumb of the uninjured hand with the fingers of the injured hand.
- Then slowly release this grip.
- Make sure you bend only the top two joints of the fingers so that your fingers form a kind of hook.
- Return to the starting position and repeat.
Step 8. Do finger and thumb exercises
Do it as quickly as possible to get the best results.
- Use the thumb of the injured hand and touch each fingertip with it. Do it as quickly as possible.
- Point your injured palm up and bend your thumb toward the base of your little finger. Then, stretch as far to the side as possible.
Method 4 of 4: Making a Sling for a Broken Wrist
Step 1. Take a triangular fabric to make a sling
When exercising with a broken wrist, it's a good idea to use a sling to keep your wrist in a neutral position. In addition to protecting, the sling prevents the wrist from moving excessively which could exacerbate the injury.
Step 2. Take a triangular cloth and tuck it under the injured arm
The end of the fabric should be further from the elbow.
Step 3. Pull the end of the bandage
Do it gently so that the end is pulled toward the shoulder of the other hand and across the neck.
Step 4. Pull the other end up
Take the part that is still dangling and pull to wrap around the injured arm. The ends of this cloth also meet at the back of the neck.
Step 5. Ask someone else to help you tie it up
There's no way you can do it yourself.
Ask someone to tie a cloth over the collarbone
Step 6. Adjust the position of the sling
Ask the person helping to adjust the position so that it holds the arm up to the fingertips.
Tie the fabric around the elbows by pinning the ends with safety pins or tucking them in
Tips
- Do not use exercise machines that require hands. Even if you think you can do it with one hand, don't! You might get injured.
- Don't swim with a broken wrist and keep the cast dry when showering (you can cover it with plastic), unless the cast is made of fiberglass, which is designed to be water-resistant.
- Before starting to exercise, consult a doctor. Make sure your doctor knows what you want to do and ask what you can and can't do.
- Consult a doctor before starting a new exercise. Sweat can build up in the cast, making it itchy and causing it to get moldy. Also, excessive sweating can affect the shape of this cast!
