topic Re: Anyone had a broken wrist? in Community Spirit

Anyone had a broken wrist?

shopping.trolley — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 08:04:59 GMT

Just wondered if anyone here had suffered a broken wrist before, and how long your rehabilitation was?

I broke mine nearly 3 months go (distal radius fracture). I had the bone reset with no plates/screws needed and was in a cast for 6 weeks. The surgeon said no physio was needed as my healing was going so well and I was doing exercises for my hand/wrist already (friend is an osteo who gave me the exercises).

My wrist rehabilitation is going really well but my hand is a problem. The knuckles are red, stiff and sore in the mornings and get quite swollen by the evening.

Did anyone else experience this with their hand and if so was there anything you found to improve it? How long did it last for you?

Thanks for reading 😄

Re: Anyone had a broken wrist?

katymatey* — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 08:41:45 GMT

Yes I have broken my wrist, fixed with external fixation. Six weeks to heal, but months to really feel good. I think probably about 6 months before it stopped causing pain. Now I don't

even think about it. Did they suggest buying a squash ball and just gently squeezing for increasing mobility?

Re: Anyone had a broken wrist?

shopping.trolley — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 09:03:12 GMT

I have a squeezy ball for exercising and grip strengthening but find it's really hurting the knuckles across my fingers lately. Well, not sure if it's the knuckles or the tendons but that area is quite painful at times.

It's only really just started, from when I broke my wrist until maybe 2 weeks ago my wrist hurt but my hand/fingers didn't, now its the other way round. Perhaps it's just as I'm trying to use my hand & fingers more the tendons are stretching more than they have been used to.

Re: Anyone had a broken wrist?

aspie*mum — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 12:23:04 GMT

😞 Good luck.

I sprained my ankle 3 months ago and I'm STILL having trouble with it! So I hate to think how bad a break would be - especially with a wrist that you use constantly! (bit like an ankle).

Sorry if this sounds rude - but how old are you? Sometimes when you have a join/bone injury when you are a bit older, after it "heals" you can be left with arthritis - I don't know why but my mum (who is a physio) told me this. She had a bad fall last year and hurt her back, and even though it has healed, she still has pain as she now has arthritis in the back. My mum will be 60 this year.

Re: Anyone had a broken wrist?

the*scarlet*pimpernel — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 12:54:28 GMT

It does kinda sound like arthritis. 😞 I get it in my little finger.

Maybe lay off the squeeze ball for a while. There are some creams you can get from the chemist that work quite well on inflamed joints. Pain Away and A Little Bit Of Relief seem to work ok on my sore bits.

Aspie, soft tissue injury is usually more painful and slower to heal than busted bones. I damaged rib cartilage last August when my car and I took on a tree. It still hurts.

Re: Anyone had a broken wrist?

shopping.trolley — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 14:05:20 GMT

I'm 39 so probably just residual injury rather than arthritic problems (I hope!)

Will pop down to the pharmacy tomorrow and see what creams they have, thanks very much for that idea. :-x

I just find it weird that my hand and fingers have started to hurt after this long and it wasn't my hand that was broken! :_|

Good luck with your ankle aspie*mum.