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Question for Orthopedic gurus


WakeGirl

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So, our youngest son broke his arm the other day. It's the first regular break for any of us in some time that doesn't require surgery, so I'm a little out of the loop. Obviously he won't be able to wakeboard or even ride a tube, but we still want him to be able to swim. The breaks are in the forearm (both bones) & are about as clean as it gets - the doc that set it was very happy with all of it. Anyway, he mentioned that maybe we would be able to "get one of those really cool blue waterproof casts" when they do the regular cast next week. I've never heard of a waterproof cast, just the waterproof sleeves that go over a cast. Is there such a thing? If not, are the waterproof sleeves easy to come by? We have a trip planned next weekend to a very hot part of the country & want him to be able to get in the water. :)

I've gotta say, I'm so impressed with his toughness. There was no crying, no drama from him when it happened. The kid really is amazing.

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Stay-Dry XeroSox

Made by: Xero Products, LLC

6702 Netherlands Drive

Wilmington, NC 28405

888-937-6769

www.XeroSox.com

They work awesome. Thumbup.gif It's the blue cover I was wearing a couple of years ago at WoW. It allowed me to play some that summer. To get one in a hurry you might check your local othorpedic supply.

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The XeroSox website has a retailer locator. I'm sure that there is one near you. There were two places that carry them here in Grass Valley. :lol:

If the cast ends below the elbow get the half arm cover but usually the first cast they put you in covers the elbow as well which would require the full arm cover.

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MalibuNation

Tracie, that exactly what a young lady at work has ... broke it playing ball, works great.

Got my Crew Chief shirt this week, very nice! Thanks

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So, our youngest son broke his arm the other day. It's the first regular break for any of us in some time that doesn't require surgery, so I'm a little out of the loop. Obviously he won't be able to wakeboard or even ride a tube, but we still want him to be able to swim. The breaks are in the forearm (both bones) & are about as clean as it gets - the doc that set it was very happy with all of it. Anyway, he mentioned that maybe we would be able to "get one of those really cool blue waterproof casts" when they do the regular cast next week. I've never heard of a waterproof cast, just the waterproof sleeves that go over a cast. Is there such a thing? If not, are the waterproof sleeves easy to come by? We have a trip planned next weekend to a very hot part of the country & want him to be able to get in the water. :)

I've gotta say, I'm so impressed with his toughness. There was no crying, no drama from him when it happened. The kid really is amazing.

Your son can be given a fiberglass cast with a waterproof liner (Gore-Tex). It is very common. Some office charge more as the Gore-Tex is not covered under insurance. Non-water proof casts have a synthetic (cotton-like) liner which cannot be gotten wet.

Either cast will be fiberglass on the outside. The liner is the limiting factor in this case.

You will not need a waterproof sleeve this way.

Plaster casts cannot be gotten wet regardless of the liner (and would require a sleeve).

This is not the issue with fiberglass casts.

Just drip dry after swimming or bathing. It works well and can be completely submerged.

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So, our youngest son broke his arm the other day. It's the first regular break for any of us in some time that doesn't require surgery, so I'm a little out of the loop. Obviously he won't be able to wakeboard or even ride a tube, but we still want him to be able to swim. The breaks are in the forearm (both bones) & are about as clean as it gets - the doc that set it was very happy with all of it. Anyway, he mentioned that maybe we would be able to "get one of those really cool blue waterproof casts" when they do the regular cast next week. I've never heard of a waterproof cast, just the waterproof sleeves that go over a cast. Is there such a thing? If not, are the waterproof sleeves easy to come by? We have a trip planned next weekend to a very hot part of the country & want him to be able to get in the water. :)

I've gotta say, I'm so impressed with his toughness. There was no crying, no drama from him when it happened. The kid really is amazing.

Your son can be given a fiberglass cast with a waterproof liner (Gore-Tex). It is very common. Some office charge more as the Gore-Tex is not covered under insurance. Non-water proof casts have a synthetic (cotton-like) liner which cannot be gotten wet.

Either cast will be fiberglass on the outside. The liner is the limiting factor in this case.

You will not need a waterproof sleeve this way.

Plaster casts cannot be gotten wet regardless of the liner (and would require a sleeve).

This is not the issue with fiberglass casts.

Just drip dry after swimming or bathing. It works well and can be completely submerged.

Cool. I just learned something new.

I don't deal too much with ortho. My younger son broke his radius and ulna when he was 9yo falling off of the school slide. He was in a cast for 4 weeks and I believe he had a sleeve to put on so that he could bathe. He got the cast off and then promptly got bounced off of a trampoline and broke the bones again and was right back in a cast for another 4 weeks. The casts didn't smell too good when he was through with them, but way better than the hip spica cast he had on for 7 weeks when he was 4yo. He got that one by the way after breaking his left femur at Bachelor.

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Your son can be given a fiberglass cast with a waterproof liner (Gore-Tex). It is very common. Some office charge more as the Gore-Tex is not covered under insurance. Non-water proof casts have a synthetic (cotton-like) liner which cannot be gotten wet.

Either cast will be fiberglass on the outside. The liner is the limiting factor in this case.

You will not need a waterproof sleeve this way.

Plaster casts cannot be gotten wet regardless of the liner (and would require a sleeve).

This is not the issue with fiberglass casts.

Just drip dry after swimming or bathing. It works well and can be completely submerged.

That's the info that I was after, thanks! The people at work hadn't heard of a waterproof cast, but then again I work in an office that deals with internal medicine.

He broke it getting off of a slide at a water park with his grandparents. They were so mortified & worried that we'd never let them take the kids again, lol. Meh, kids are kids & these things happen.

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So, our youngest son broke his arm the other day. It's the first regular break for any of us in some time that doesn't require surgery, so I'm a little out of the loop. Obviously he won't be able to wakeboard or even ride a tube, but we still want him to be able to swim. The breaks are in the forearm (both bones) & are about as clean as it gets - the doc that set it was very happy with all of it. Anyway, he mentioned that maybe we would be able to "get one of those really cool blue waterproof casts" when they do the regular cast next week. I've never heard of a waterproof cast, just the waterproof sleeves that go over a cast. Is there such a thing? If not, are the waterproof sleeves easy to come by? We have a trip planned next weekend to a very hot part of the country & want him to be able to get in the water. :)

I've gotta say, I'm so impressed with his toughness. There was no crying, no drama from him when it happened. The kid really is amazing.

Your son can be given a fiberglass cast with a waterproof liner (Gore-Tex). It is very common. Some office charge more as the Gore-Tex is not covered under insurance. Non-water proof casts have a synthetic (cotton-like) liner which cannot be gotten wet.

Either cast will be fiberglass on the outside. The liner is the limiting factor in this case.

You will not need a waterproof sleeve this way.

Plaster casts cannot be gotten wet regardless of the liner (and would require a sleeve).

This is not the issue with fiberglass casts.

Just drip dry after swimming or bathing. It works well and can be completely submerged.

Cool. I just learned something new.

I don't deal too much with ortho. My younger son broke his radius and ulna when he was 9yo falling off of the school slide. He was in a cast for 4 weeks and I believe he had a sleeve to put on so that he could bathe. He got the cast off and then promptly got bounced off of a trampoline and broke the bones again and was right back in a cast for another 4 weeks. The casts didn't smell too good when he was through with them, but way better than the hip spica cast he had on for 7 weeks when he was 4yo. He got that one by the way after breaking his left femur at Bachelor.

Hip spicas are no fun for anybody involved.

Waterproof casts(liners) are the only way to go especially in summer.

Winter they help only with bathing or for vacations but are still less hassle and worth the extra dough.

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Your son can be given a fiberglass cast with a waterproof liner (Gore-Tex).

You might be able to get one of these FedEx'd overnight.

I've delivered a few recently.

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Okay, so an update on this just in case anyone else has to deal with this.

He broke both bones in his forearm, so it means that the cast that he gets tomorrow will be well up past his elbow because they don't want him twisting his arm at all. What the triage nurse told me is that they don't want that type of cast getting wet because the water will pool at the elbow, possibly causing sores to develop over time. So, we're back to the sleeve that NorCal recommended. Fortunately I found a place locally that carries them, so we should be GTG for the weekend.

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It sounds like I'm about three weeks ahead of you on this journey. My youngest broke both bones in his left arm about a month ago and had the long arm cast that went above the elbow. This was the plaster cast with the fiberglass cover, the one you can't get wet and he had it on for three weeks, primarily because they didn't want him twisting his arm and this also kept the arm at a fixed length for the most part.

Last week we went back to the ortho and he got his elbow back Yahoo.gif , in addition to a short arm cast that hits right below the elbow. the best part is the cast is waterproof. the primary difference is the gore-tex liner that's used instead of the cotton liner and a double wrap of fiberglass instead of cotton liner/plaster/fiberglass. We ended up paying $50.00 for the gore-tex liner since insurance doesn't cover it and consider the cost minimal for the freedom.

A couple of things and I'd check with your ortho but our's recommended not swinning in the ocean, nor the lake. The reason was that sediment would get trapped inside the cast and could become uncomfortable. We politely explained that we would be leaving their office and heading to the family reunion that is held at the lake. The advice we were given was don't swim/play near the shore and should he happen to "accidently fall" out of the boat to be sure we rinsed it out good.

The other thing to make sure is that you get as much of the water out of the cast as possible so his arm doesn't sit in the constant moisture. Initially we were using a hair dryer that had a cool setting but that proved to be a bit of a pain so I opted for the next best thing. We now have designated "sitting on the swim platform" time each evening the the 12 volt tube inflator blowing all the water out of the cast. The neighbors already think we're crazy so I'm just trying to help them out. Thumbup.gif

Sorry for the long winded reply, but I'm just a little ahead of you and figured any info would be better than none.

Okay, so an update on this just in case anyone else has to deal with this.

He broke both bones in his forearm, so it means that the cast that he gets tomorrow will be well up past his elbow because they don't want him twisting his arm at all. What the triage nurse told me is that they don't want that type of cast getting wet because the water will pool at the elbow, possibly causing sores to develop over time. So, we're back to the sleeve that NorCal recommended. Fortunately I found a place locally that carries them, so we should be GTG for the weekend.

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Awesome, thanks for the input. I think that rather than trying to keep him off of the shore & other spots like that, we'll just get the waterproof sleeve. That way we shouldn't have to worry about it, at least this weekend. That's good info, I didn't realize that they'd change the cast after a few weeks.

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'Nother update....

Well, my mom took him to the doctor today to get the permanent cast on & they didn't want to completely pull the current cast off. The reason that they gave was that the bones were set so well & perfectly, if they pull it apart they stand a chance of messing that up & if that happens then it's surgery. So they've done the fiberglass over the padding that's there. I'm bummed now, but whaddya-gonna-do, right?

We'll just have to find some other way to keep him cool & happy this weekend at the lake.

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