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I am 18-years-old and planning a career in music. I play the piano and several other instruments. Eventually, I hope to be a composer and a conductor of small groups or even a symphonic group. I recently fell and broke both bones in my dominant forearm (right side). Is there any way to predict how this will turn out? I meditate daily to help with the healing process but I'm still concerned I might not get full use of my arm.
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Results for injuries like this are usually measured in terms of wrist, forearm, and elbow motion along with grip strength and function. Symptoms such as pain, tenderness, and stiffness can also be measured. For the career you have chosen, these are likely the same outcomes you will be interested in.
Some researchers looking at long-term results after forearm fractures also evaluate patients for depression, pain catastrophizing, and disability. Pain catastrophizing means the person focuses more and more on the experience from a negative point-of-view. The person begins to fear moving as it might lead to pain or reinjury. The result can be disuse of the affected body part, disability, depression, and chronic pain.
Catastrophizing or expecting the worst to happen increases pain. Catastrophizing boosts anxiety and worry. These emotions stimulate neural systems that produce increased sensitivity to pain. It can become a vicious cycle.
Pain catastrophizing is important because it has been found to be a better predictor of long-term results than even whether the patient has reached skeletal maturity or not. In fact, pain catastrophizing and misinterpreting pain may be better predictors of outcome than motion or function. Grip strength is also an important red flag that may predict disability.
Meditation for health and healing is another area currently being studied. More and more studies are showing how brain activity and immune and nervous system function can all be affected by certain kinds of meditation. The effect of meditation on catastrophizing in relation to bone fractures is not something we have seen studies on yet.
But if the data collected on long-term outcomes of forearm fractures can be combined with conclusions about meditation, it points to a very good final result for you. Other treatment approaches may also be helpful such as physical therapy.
The therapist can use a variety of methods to restore the soft tissues, joint proprioception (sense of position), and kinesthesia (sense of movement). Acupuncture, yoga, and tai chi are a few of the other approaches taken to assist patients in recovering motion, strength, and function. Combining any of these with your meditation may be particularly helpful in reaching the goals you have set for yourself.
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