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How You Can Support Your Child After Surgery For A Broken Arm

2 May 2016 by Luis Williams

Having a broken arm that requires treatment from an orthopaedic surgeon can greatly inhibit your child's range of motion, comfort, and confidence levels throughout the day. While the arm will certainly heal, the process can take weeks if not months depending on the severity of your little one's injuries. For this reason, it's a good idea to provide a little extra support for your child that will help them improve their mobility and comfort levels throughout the recovery process. Consider implementing one or more of the following ideas:

Make Wearing the Cast a Little More Fun

After surgery your child will likely wear a cast for some time until the broken bone fully heals. In addition to asking your othopaedic surgeon for a colored cast on behalf of your little one, put together a craft box that can be used to decorate the cast with once it sets. Stickers, colored markers, and foil embellishments all make for fun decorations. Just use non-toxic glue to adhere the décor onto the cast. And consider sending your child to school with a few markers that their friends can use to sign their cast and enhance the fun.

Get Involved with a Support Group

Getting your child involved in a support group while they're wearing a cast is a great way to ensure that they can engage with other kids that have some physical limitations due to injuries or ailments. Support groups typically feature activities that don't require lots of physical performance, therefore giving your little one an opportunity to participate without feeling limited or inferior as they might on the sports field. Participating in a support group will also give your child a chance to air their grievances about their physical limitations while healing, and gain some insight into how other kids are handling their own grievances.

Engage in Effective Exercise

Exercise is an excellent way to help ensure that your child's arm returns to its previous condition after the cast is removed. Through physical therapy, your little one use various exercise techniques to strengthen their bones and muscles at and around the injured area. Strength training, flexibility exercises, and sport specific practices are effective exercise options typically implemented by therapists. If your child plays a specific sport and was injured while playing, make sure that the physical therapist you work with has specific experience with sports injuries. With the right experience, the therapist can help strengthen your child's arm so it is less vulnerable to the same injuries in the future.

These methods and techniques should help ensure that your child feels confident, comfortable, and supported throughout their recovery process.  

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