# Amputated arm above elbow recovery time



## glutton (Nov 21, 2014)

A fit 21 year old male in my WIP gets his elbow crushed and as a result has to have his arm amputated above it. Assuming he's lucky with regard to infection and other complications, what's a reasonable timeframe for him to be up and about and able to travel cross-country on foot again?


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## Trick (Nov 21, 2014)

This is probably a good start for your research:

Aron Ralston's Accident


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## Fyle (Dec 4, 2014)

glutton said:


> A fit 21 year old male in my WIP gets his elbow crushed and as a result has to have his arm amputated above it. Assuming he's lucky with regard to infection and other complications, what's a reasonable timeframe for him to be up and about and able to travel cross-country on foot again?




Anything reasonable. Its fiction. I doubt anyone will focus too hard on that timeframe unless its whacky.

For example, how would two weeks sound to the reader? Hmmm. Probably too short.

How would a year sound to the reader? Hmmm. He could probably recover faster than that.

How does three to four months sound? Believable.


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## K.S. Crooks (Dec 13, 2014)

I would say 2-3 weeks. First the injury is to an arm not a leg so walking is never an issue. Second, there is a loss of blood due to the initial injury, but now the have less body to supply blood to. Third, the healing of the tissue will need to be enough to allow the person to walk and not have the bouncing cause internal or external bleeding. The person could also be walking with a sling to keep the arm elevated and secured to reduce agitation. It also depends on how desperate/important it is for your character to keep travelling. If they are trying to rescue someone they may leave as soon as they wake from surgery and the doctors leave the room.
The psychological aspect will come into play for a longer time, as they will have to remember that the lower arm is missing. The character may reach for something and not get it because they have no hand on that arm. They will also suffer from phantom sensations such as feeling their missing hand itching, pin and needles or feeling hot or cold. Hope this helps.


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## skip.knox (Dec 14, 2014)

My mother recently broke her femur. It's about two months until she's mobile, but the doc says a year to two years before she's fully completely healed. But, really, I bet you could find answers to this on medical forums. Just specify pre-modern medicine.


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## evanator66 (Dec 28, 2014)

I'd say a month. By then the guy would be recovered from blood loss, and it would be a healing scab (I think). Maybe a week extra if he can't already fight with one hand (assuming that is necessary).


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## SeverinR (Dec 31, 2014)

Above elbow amputee,
No sling for that.

Recovery; able to walk in room-1-3 days(depending on blood loss) Needs to drink lots of fluids, eat high iron foods.
able to walk distance or increased indurance at work; 1-2 weeks.
able to do extreme long walks(like to another city)-3-5weeks.
able to train with weapons; 3-4 weeks.
able to fight with weapon as good as before; 3months to years.  Even if the off hand, everything you trained was with two hands, it throws everything off when you lose one.  Several years of intense training should be expected if it was the strong arm that was lost.
Below elbow would allow more benefit, you can strap a buckler to the lower arm. Very tough to do that effectively to the upper arm, because the upper arm doesn't cover the body well.  Try it move your upper arm. The elbow makes the arm more adaptable.
The person would need to learn how to fight without much blocking at all. For a heavy fighter they don't move as fast, so they tend to block more(shield).
Opponents will flank him, striking the side with the missing arm. Exploit every weakness of your opponent, while minimizing your weaknesses.  If you think a "good" guy wouldn't do it, think again. All's fair in love and war.  You can try to maintain the honor in a character, but in reality you pull no punches. If you hold back, you die.
Also if you hold back, you dishonor your opponent. Better to die a warriors death in a good fight then to die being laughed at by someone toying with you.


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