Why do you get a thin arm when your plaster cast is removed?

[xaniac_uk]

I didn't think about it until recently, but why is it that when you have a cast on for about six weeks or so, the limb it was attached to is thinner than the other limb e.g. arm?

[PDTV]

You don't use your muscles as much when you have a plaster cast on and they lose mass. It shouldn't take long for them to get back to normal. And don't forget that, in right0handed people, the left arm will be thinner than the right arm anyway, and this may exaggerate the difference.

[pamplemoose]

well... when i had a plaster cast off and my arm was all skinny and rake-like, the doctor said that it cos u don't use the muscles properly in that part of your body due to the restriction of the plaster so these muscles waste away.. i had hours of fun amusing strangers with my different sized arms