What is a wrist fracture?
Your wrist is made up of eight bones. They attach to the bones in your forearm and the bones in your hand.
A fracture is a break in a bone.
When you break your wrist, you may have broken the ends of the forearm bones (radius or ulna) or one of the eight wrist bones.
The usual cause of a wrist fracture is a heavy fall onto an outstretched hand.
For more information on a specific fracture:
- Distal radial fracture
- Scaphoid fracture
What are the symptoms?
Your wrist is painful and swollen. Other symptoms include: bruising, obvious deformity, stiffness or inability to move the wrist, numbness and coldness in your hand. Delay in diagnosis can lead to reduce range of movement and poor healing. When the navicular bone is fractured, the area below the thumb is tender.
How does it occur?
The usual causes of a wrist fracture are: a fall leading to a direct blow to the wrist.
Sport injuries – such as snowboarding, skating where you might fall onto an outstretched hand.
Motor vehicle accident – This might cause wrist or hand bones to fracture into many pieces requiring surgical treatment.
Symptoms
What are the symptoms?
Your wrist is painful and swollen. Other symptoms include: bruising, obvious deformity, stiffness or inability to move the wrist, numbness and coldness in your hand. Delay in diagnosis can lead to reduce range of movement and poor healing. When the navicular bone is fractured, the area below the thumb is tender.
Causes
How does it occur?
The usual causes of a wrist fracture are: a fall leading to a direct blow to the wrist.
Sport injuries – such as snowboarding, skating where you might fall onto an outstretched hand.
Motor vehicle accident – This might cause wrist or hand bones to fracture into many pieces requiring surgical treatment.
Risk Factors
Being involved in certain sporting activities or having certain medical condition may increase your chances of suffering a wrist fracture. These sporting activities include: snowboarding, skiing, skating, hockey, rugby, basketball and wrestling. You are more susceptible to wrist fracture if you suffer from osteoporosis, any bone disease or calcium deficiency.
Investigations
How is it diagnosed?
Your healthcare provider will examine your wrist and review your symptoms. An X-ray of your wrist may show a fracture. Sometimes a fracture may not show up in the first X-ray and your healthcare provider may recommend that you have a repeat X-ray in 1 to 2 weeks.
Complications
Complications may include:
- Ongoing pain, stiffness and disability: These symptoms generally go away a month or two after surgery or after the cast is removed. You may experience these symptoms for a longer period if the injury was severe. Talk to your doctor about exercise or get a referral to a rehabilitation program that will improve your symptoms.
- Osteoarthritis: If the fracture extends to a joint, you may develop osteoarthritis later in life. The wrist will become painful and swollen after the break has healed.
- Injury to nerves and vessels: Wrist fracture can injure nearby nerves and vessels. If circulation problems and numbness in this area occur, this needs to be treated as soon as possible.
Treatment
How is it treated?
If the broken bone is crooked, your healthcare provider will straighten it. Your provider will give you medicine first so the straightening is not too painful. You may be given a splint for your wrist for a few days until the swelling begins to go down. Then your wrist will be put in a cast for 4 to 8 weeks. Certain types of fractures may need to be in a cast longer. Some fractures may need surgery. Your healthcare provider may prescribe anti-inflammatory medicines or other pain medicines. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAIDs) medicines can cause stomach bleeding, kidney problems, and other problems. Take the medicine as directed. Read and follow all label directions. NSAIDs should not be taken for more than 10 days for pain or 3 days for fever. They should not be taken for other reasons unless recommended by your healthcare provider. You should elevate your wrist on a pillow or the back of a chair as often as possible for the first 2 to 3 days. This will help control pain and swelling. You may place ice packs over the cast for 20 to 30 minutes every 3 to 4 hours for the first 2 to 3 days. Take care not to get your cast wet if it is a plaster cast.
How long will the effects last?
Wrist fractures may take 6 to 12 weeks or longer to heal. Some fractures do not heal and require surgery. Some people may develop stiffness in their wrist.
When can I return to my normal activities?
Everyone recovers from an injury at a different rate. Return to your normal activities depends on how soon your wrist recovers, not by how many days or weeks it has been since your injury has occurred. The goal is to return to your normal activities as soon as is safely possible. If you return too soon you may worsen your injury. You may return to your normal activities when you have full range of motion in your wrist without pain. Your injured wrist, hand, and forearm need to have the same strength as the uninjured side. If you return to using your wrist too soon after a wrist fracture there could be problems with healing. It is very important to be sure that none of your activities cause wrist pain or tenderness.
Seeking Advice
Your Family Doctor (GP)
Your Family Doctor will be able to diagnose and help treat your problem. He or she will be able to
- tell you about your problem
- advise you of the best treatment methods
- prescribe you medications
- and if necessary, refer you to Specialists (Consultants) for further treatment
When should I call my healthcare provider?
Call your healthcare provider if: Your pain is getting worse instead of better. You feel that your cast is too tight and you have swelling that doesn’t get better when you elevate your injury.
Prevention
How can I prevent a wrist fracture?
Most wrist fractures are caused by accidents that you cannot easily prevent. However, when you do activities such as rollerblading, be sure to wear protective wrist guards.
Wrist fractures also occur when people fall on their outstretched hand. We can prevent this from happening by installing handles or bars in your bathroom and stairways, avoiding slippery places such as snow walkways, wearing sensible shoes and removing any house hazards.
F.A.Q. | Frequently Asked Questions
Rehabilitation
After your splint or cast is removed, you most likely require some rehabilitation or physical therapy to reduce stiffness and regain movement in your wrist. This is also to recover strength, flexibility and function of the wrist. Rehabilitation may help, but it may take several months or even longer for complete recovery of severe injuries.