In simple terms fracture means a ‘broken or cracked bone’.
A broken wrist or broken hand is a break or crack in one of the many small bones within your wrist and hand.
A direct blow or a crushing injury to your hands and wrists can break any of the bones in them thus causing fracture but some common causes that make hand and wrist fracture very easily happen are:
- When we try to catch ourselves during a fall and land hard on an outstretched hand
- From participating in certain sports — such as in-line skating or snowboarding
- Having osteoporosis in which our bones become thinner and weaker thus easily breakable
- When an injury happens as mentioned above or because of any other reason and the following symptoms can be felt by you, immediately consult an orthopedic.
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Common symptoms of a broken hand or wrist include:
- Severe pain that tends to increase during gripping or squeezing
- Tenderness
- Obvious deformity, such as a bent wrist or crooked finger
- Stiffness or inability to move your fingers or thumb
- Numbness in your hand
It is extremely important to treat a broken wrist or broken hand as soon as possible. Otherwise the bones may not heal properly and affect your ability to perform everyday activities such as grasping a pen or buttoning a shirt.
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Medical evaluation and x-rays are usually needed so that your doctor can tell if there is a fracture and to help determine the treatment. Depending upon the type of fracture, your hand surgeon may recommend one of several treatment methods. Possible treatments of hand fractures include:
Cast and Splints: If the fracture is not displaced, the doctor will put a cast or splint as treatment for number of days to help heal the bone.
Pins: Small metal pins may be inserted through your affected skin in order to hold the bones in a better position. This is usually done under general or local anesthesia. The metal pins remain in place for several weeks while the fracture heals, and then the pins can usually be removed in the office.
Metal Plates & Screws: In some unusual types of hand fractures further treatment may be necessary where metal screws with either a plate or an external fixator can be used to help maintain proper alignment of the bones.
Click here to watch video of a hand and wrist being treated
The concerned doctor will also give you oral medicines to reduce your pain, an antibiotic to help cure infection that may be caused by bacteria and he might also perform a surgery depending upon the extent and nature of fracture.
If you delay in treatment it can make healing difficult and slowly your grip strength and ability to move your hand and fingers will decrease.
Regular checkups after that and rest along with physical therapy will help in healing your fracture and bringing back your hand and wrist back to normal again.
FAQ – Hand and Wrist Fractures
A break or crack in one or many bones within the hand and wrist region are termed as hand and wrist fractures.