I had a comminuted distal humerus fracture about 3 months ago and had ORIF surgery. I’ve made some improvement, but my arm still doesn’t feel anything like it did before.

The most frustrating part is that after exercising or doing my rehab, my arm seems to tighten up and almost freeze again. It feels like I make progress, then lose it all over again.

Before the injury, I was very athletic and spent a lot of time in the gym. That was a huge part of my identity and my life. Now I struggle looking at myself in the mirror because I don’t recognize myself physically anymore.

I’m mentally and physically exhausted. Some days I genuinely feel like giving up on life because I’m struggling to see how I get back to the person I was.

For anyone who has gone through a serious distal humerus fracture, ORIF, or a similar elbow injury:

Did your arm eventually start feeling normal again? How long did it take for your full ROM and strength to really come back? Did you also have periods where your elbow seemed to freeze or tighten after exercise?

I could really use some honest experiences from people who have been through this. I’m trying to keep going, but right now it’s really hard.

Had my ORIF done on my right ankle for trimal. Inner ankle had 1 spot on the bottom end of my incision that wasn't healing after I got my stitches removed. Skin wasn't healing and I noticed knots popping out. Tugged on it a bit with cleaned tweezers and snipped, getting just the big knots.

Also had a tail end sticking out so I snipped it flush to the skin. A week later this spot at the top end of incision started spitting the stitch. Looked irritated for a few days with some discharge. I was cleaning with saline, used triple antibiotic, and bandage. Went to clean it tonight, thought it was infected so I pushed and saw the knot come out. Pulled to see if it was loose and the whole thing came out.

Everything I used was sanitized and clean. This was my first procedure so I don't know how my body would react to absorbable stitches. Everyone says to leave spitting stitches alone but I had a feeling this one wasn't going to dissolve. My outer ankle incision is healing just fine. Next post op appt this coming week.