Put elbow dislocation on the list of things that you don’t want to see, both figuratively and literally. Figuratively, no one should want any player to suffer such a significant injury like Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels did in the Commanders 38-14 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night. But, literally, it was downright nauseating to actually watch Daniels’ left elbow bend so gruesomely when Seahawks linebacker Drake Thomas sacked him with 7 minutes and 39 seconds remaining in the game. The injury was so jarring it left both Commanders and Seahawks kneeling on the field and praying for Daniels.
The injury was in the non-throwing arm of the right-handed Daniels. But as will be explained later, Daniels won’t be right until his left arm is all fixed, healed and ready. An X-ray following the game did show no fractures in Daniels left arm bones. But an X-ray is not gong to offer the detailed look at the elbow joint and the surrounding structures that magnetic resonance imaging will. So, everyone will be left guessing about Daniels’ left elbow until the results of the MRI that Daniels underwent on Monday become available. They will show the true extent of what may be damaged, what treatment may be needed and how many games Daniels may end up missing.
What Is An Elbow Dislocation
To understand what’s meant by an elbow dislocation, let’s review the anatomy of an elbow. Your elbow joint is the coming together of three bones: the humerus that runs through your upper arm and the radius and ulna that run through your forearm. You can see them in the following diagram of an elbow:
Normally, you can bend your elbow to the point that you can kiss your fist—if that’s what you want to do—and extend it to the point that your arm is fairly straight so that you point out someone else kissing his or her fist.
A dislocated elbow is when the radius or ulna gets forced out of place so that it no longer sits in its normal position in the joint with the humerus. Such an injury is far from humorous and instead can be very painful. With things literally out of joint, you can no longer bend or extend your elbow to the same degree. In fact, you may not even be able to move your elbow.
What Are The Different Types Of Elbow Dislocations
An elbow dislocation is considered complete when the radius or ulna has completely moved out of the elbow joint. The bones are, thus, totally separated. This is known as a luxation if you want to use more fancy medical language that sort of rhymes with an expletive you might utter when this happens. A partial elbow dislocation, otherwise known as an elbow subluxation, is where the radius and ulnar remain at least partly in the joint, still in contact with the humerus.
An elbow dislocation can also be simple, complex or severe. A simple dislocation is where the only thing that may be damaged are the ligaments, tendons and soft tissue around them. No bones are broken in any way. Things get complex when the bones are fractured. And then dislocation is severe if the nerves or blood vessels are damaged too. This is where the blood flow to the forearm may be at risk. If the forearm can’t get enough blood, tissue may start to die, which could lead to an amputation, which obviously would be severely bad.
How Does An Elbow Dislocation Occur
Posterior and posterolateral dislocations are the most common directions because that’s where your forearm most often goes when you fall on your outstretched hand, which is the most common way to get an elbow dislocation. When your hand hits the ground, it send a force up through the elbow. Your forearm may rotate at the same time. This twisty upward force can then turn the radius or ulnar right out of the elbow socket. This is probably what happened to Daniels when he was tackled and tried to brace his fall.
How Do You Treat An Elbow Dislocation
The most urgent thing to do when your elbow is dislocated is to get the bones back into their normal position and alignment. In other words, reduce the darn thing. You shouldn’t think that it would nice to have your joint out of whack like that. The longer it stays dislocated, the greater the risk of injury to the different structures around the joint.
In most cases, a doctor can reduce the dislocation by performing a reduction maneuver that gradually and carefully slips the bones back in place. You shouldn’t try to do this yourself. In rarer occasions, surgery is necessary to reduce the dislocation.
Once the bones are back in place, you need to keep everything in place until all the structures have had a chance to heal. Otherwise, the risk of the bones slipping out of place again may be high. Even if your bones don’t slip out of place, the joint will remain unstable for a while where movement of the bones within the joint can damage different surrounding structures. Therefore, you’ll need some type of splint or sling to keep your elbow still.
Typically, with a simple elbow location, you should keep the joint immobilized for at least one to three weeks. If ligaments or tendons are torn, this immobilization may need to be longer to give everything longer to heal.
Once your doctor deems your joint safe to move again, you’ll have to go through physical therapy to gradually regain your full range of motion and strengthen the muscles around the joint. The longer your elbow was immobilized, the longer it may take to get everything back in working condition.
If the ligaments or tendons have substantial tears or the bones are fractured, surgery may be necessary to repair these structures. Surgery will add significantly to the recovery time, stretching it out to three to six months. If Daniels does require surgery, his season could be over.
Daniels Will Need Both Arms Ready To Return
The left elbow is in non-throwing arm of the right-handed Daniels. But before you ask, why can’t Daniels just return with one arm, keep in mind the important role the non-throwing arm plays in maintaining balance, stabilizing the upper body and facilitating the quarterbacks throwing frame and motion in general. Plus, Daniels will have to handle the snap with both hands and may need his non-throwing arm to brace himself when he gets tackled and falls. No, for Daniels to return he needs to be well-armed, so to speak. And that means both arms being in playing condition.
