A fractured wrist often happens during an accident or a fall, when you throw out a hand to brace or catch yourself. If you break your wrist, you will need to seek a doctor's aid so you can receive treatment that will make sure the bones heal properly and you retain full use of your hand.
The Facts
If you fracture your wrist, then you experience a break in one of the eight carpal bones or two arm bones that make up your wrist joint. Most wrist fractures involve a break in the radius close to the wrist or in the scaphoid bone, which is in the wrist near the thumb. You will experience pain and swelling. Your hand may hang at an odd angle and you may have difficulty moving it. The treatments for a fractured wrist depend on how complex the break is.
Casting
For a straightforward break, a cast is the usual treatment. Your doctor may need to realign the ends of your broken bone so it will heal straight. Once the bones are in the proper position, she will put a splint on your wrist to keep it still. After a few days, when the swelling around your wrist has gone down, your doctor will wrap your wrist in a plaster cast. You will wear the cast for around for six weeks, during which the bones will heal together.
Metal Pins and Plates
For a more complicated break, your doctor may need to perform surgery. Surgical treatment involves making an incision so he can put your fractured wrist back together with tools like metal pins and plates. Your doctor will rebuild the broken parts of your bones and fasten them all together using the pins and plates. These tools will keep the bones in your wrist still and allow the break to heal cleanly and straight.
External Fixator
A fractured wrist could need more than a cast to heal, but metal screws and plates might not be the right treatments to use. In this case, your doctor might use an external fixator to keep the broken bones in place so they heal correctly. She will surgically implant pins in your wrist. The pins extend out through your skin where they are held in place by a metal splint that also immobilizes your wrist. After the fracture heals, she will remove the splint.
Other
A fractured wrist can be very painful. If you are in a lot of pain, or if setting your broken wrist requires surgery, your doctor can prescribe pain relievers to make you more comfortable. After the bones heal, an important follow-up treatment is physical therapy. Your doctor can help you learn special exercises that will build up the weakened muscles in your wrist without overtaxing the newly healed fracture.
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