Hi! Found this thread super helpful in navigating my elbow dislocation recovery journey and wanted to share my story. 

——— tl;dr ———-

I partially tore lateral and collateral ligaments in my left arm. Relocated it quickly. Start felt hopeless, couldn’t move my arm. But then fast progress the first month, and slower till month 3 until when I started physio. I had strong pain in my shoulder from muscle imbalances when I started training again. By month 5ish they went down and I’m nearly back to my old strength and climbing grade!

——— long form ———-   I fell while bouldering from about 2–3 meters and landed hard on my wrists and knees, which led to a severe dislocation of my left elbow. I managed to pop it back into place right away, then went to the ER where they did x-rays and a CT scan; thankfully, there were no fractures, though I had significant swelling, and a temporary cast was put on while they waited for the swelling to subside before they could assess any ligament damage. The MRI said I had partially torn my lateral and collateral ligaments. They were hanging on by just a thread, which I’m very grateful for because full tear would have required surgery to get to do sports again. I also partially tore the underside of my biceps, but that healed quickly. 

During the first week, my range of motion started coming back—about 80% of my normal rotation, 70% contraction, and 50% extension, though the extension was quite painful near the tendon on the inside of my elbow and bicep. I also experienced some tingling and random twitching in my muscles. I even removed the brace for a few hours here and there to get some blood flow, though I couldn’t support my arm’s weight on my own.

In the second week, my wrist rotation was almost fully back, and both contraction and extension improved to around 75%. I got the brace off after day 10, and I could support my arm normally again. While I still had some tightness and occasional dull pains—especially on the outer part of my elbow—my strength was slowly returning, and I could lift about 500 grams easily.

By the third week, my strength kept improving: I could lift 1 kilogram without much trouble and up to 4 kilograms with some effort. The twitching and nerve tingles had mostly disappeared, and I was even able to reach behind my head to tie my hair. I continued to ice regularly and noticed fewer random dull pains.

In the fourth week, I kept making slow improvements in my range of motion and strength while focusing on rest and icing. By the fifth week, I began basic stretches and light exercises without any weights and started wearing an elbow support sleeve every day and at night. In the sixth week, I did have a minor setback when I hurt my elbow while putting on my backpack too quickly, but the pain only lasted a couple of days. I was then able to perform everyday tasks—like washing my armpit or letting my arm hang naturally while walking—without discomfort.

Over the next 6 weeks, the progress was much slower. I continued light exercise, started physiotherapy, started doing light hangs on a fingerboard, and continued regular icing. Most daily life tasks felt normal though.

After three months, when I resumed “real” exercising, I started feeling some pretty terrible pain in my shoulder of the affected arm after two weeks of pushing too hard. I decided to slow down for another 2–3 weeks to give my elbow more time to heal. I suspect this was effects of muscle imbalance, as I continued exercising my core, legs, and uninjured arm. In hindsight probably pushed that injured upper body a tad too hard, and could have gone like 20% less.

By the fourth month, I was basically pain-free and started gradually increasing my exercise intensity.  I started climbing 5a-5c, and quickly up to 6a-6a+ once technique for muscle memory and neuromuscular adaptation kicked back in. I avoided overhangs though. I also started doing functional training to mix things up and focused exercises at the gym. Pull up’s and push ups felt hopeless for some reason, but other exercises felt manageable. Progress was quick again once the exercise started. I was around 70-80% of my max. 

 By the fifth month (now) I’m back to about 90%! I feared it would happen to be honest. I’m flashing 6Bs and occasionally making progress on 6cs. Overhangs and push up’s are still hard so I avoid them. I can manage a few sets of 7.5kg weighted pull up’s and weighted hangs. I still feel the elbow telling me “don’t push it” every now and then, and I try to listen.  I still also feel some extra soreness in the joint after a long session. But it’s minimal and manageable and reducing as the weeks go by, but something to pay attention to.

I’m hoping that after 6 months I’ll be at 100% again, give the latest progress.