A single center randomized control study. Patients \>18 years with isolated distal radius fractures treated non-operatively will be randomly assigned to either the treatment group (exercise of contralateral "well" arm) or control group (standard fracture care and rehabilitation).
Distal radius fractures are common injuries, especially in the aging population. Fracture healing requires immobilization of the injury, which inevitably leads to muscle atrophy and joint stiffness. This strength lost during immobilization can be problematic in patients who are already de-conditioned at baseline. Previous research using healthy participants found that exercising a non-immobilized, "well", arm helped attenuate muscle atrophy in the contralateral immobilized arm. The study aims to answer the following questions: Does exercise of the contralateral arm prevent muscle atrophy and weakness of the injured arm? Does exercise of the contralateral arm improve pain scores in the injured arm
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
10
Patients randomized to the treatment arm will perform these exercises on the contralateral arm once daily for 3 months: wrist flexion and extension, ball or sock squeeze, wrist curls and biceps curls. Participants allocated to this study arm will be provided a print out of the exercises with detailed explanations and pictures of each exercise.
Henry Ford Hospital
Detroit, Michigan, United States
Grip strength
Grip strength will be measured using a dynamometer at all clinic visits.
Time frame: 3 months
Forearm Circumference
Forearm circumference will be measured at the widest point of the forearm, approximately 2cm distal to the elbow. This measurement will be taken at all clinic visits.
Time frame: 3 months
Pain scores of injured arm.
A visual analog scale (VAS) score will be collected at the first and all subsequent clinic visits.
Time frame: 3 months
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