Powershot A590IS Lens Not Retracting

I dropped my camera while trying to take a picture and it landed on the side of the lens barrel. It warped the small edge of the barrel and so warped a small part of the front thing. I think something must have gotten dislodged though because it won't retract but I can get it to extend all the way if I hold on to the barrel while turning it on. That supposedly helped someone else but it just extends my lens out fully and doesn't fix the problem.

I also get the error message, "Lens Error, Please Restart Camera". Studying abroad in Japan at the moment so, I kind of don't want to have to go to a repair place here...=(

Any help is welcome!

Thank you,

Britni
(if you see this past August 2009, ignore it...I'll hopefully have it all set by then...either that or replaced)