I broke my distal radius bone on April 30th and was in a plaster cast for 4 weeks. My consultant assured me, without an X Ray, that my wrist had now healed. But I'm having terrible problems with pain along the outside of my arm, ulna, from my little finger up to my elbow. I can't weight bear on it and it's hot and sore to the touch. I'm doing all the exercises I was given....I don't want to make a fuss if there's nothing wrong......oh, I'm 63 by the way. Hope someone has a bit of insight.....xx
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sue32
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Hi they should have x ray it to see how bad it is and they should have told you to keep it on and then made appointment to see the Orthopedic surgeon I would go back if you are still in pain .
That's ridiculous for him to be so certain it's healed. When I broke my little toe, it took a year to heal, which they know because I had several x-rays during that time to see what was going on. I'm in the UK. You could go back to your GP, explain the issues and ask for an x-ray. Hopefully he'll take a more intelligent approach than your consultant!
It's time to get that x-ray and learn what is what. You may be doing more harm to yourself by waiting while you think your making a fuss..Good luck as you get the proper treatment you so deserve...
We’re you x-rayed when you broke your wrist or have you never been x-rayed? I broke both radius and ulna - pretty much the same as you back in January 2020. My wrist was manipulated back into shape. I was told at the time it was the radius they were more bothered about yet it was the ulnar bone that gave me most pain, even until comparatively recently and which bothered me more.
Someone we know who was a consultant in our local hospital told me it would take at least a year for it to get better, I found that hard to believe but I’d say he was spot on.
I didn’t have an x-ray either the day my plaster came off and when the young doctor and I looked at my poor, pathetic looking trembling hand and I asked about physiotherapy - talk about Oliver Twist saying ‘can I have some more please’ a much older nurse who was in the room slapped an A4 sheet of paper with pencil drawings of exercises on it onto the table and pointed to is saying ‘That’s the physiotherapy’.
My arm was weak and painful to start off - I bought a splint from Amazon to wear in bed and at other times - but my wrist was never hot, when my plaster came off I had developed CRPS which was another story - a total nightmare, my hand felt like a giant’s hand.
I had also got into a very bad habit of holding my hand up as if it was still in my sling - which I think I also kept on for too long.
My Pilates teacher who is a physiotherapist was shocked when she saw my hand and asked if I’d seen a hand therapist. Of course I hadn’t!
I eventually managed to get online access to a hand therapist at who treated the CRPS and one of the best pieces of advice I got was that when exercising I should only be working at a level of 3/10. I was doing so many exercises, so hard it wasn’t helping. I found things like squeezing facecloths or tea towels in warm soapy water really helped me. Self massage helped too but none of this gets away from the fact that your wrist is still very painful.
You could try calling the clinic you attended on the day you attended and say you are still in pain and see what they say? I did that but chose the wrong day and instead of getting ‘arms and hands’ I got ‘hips and knees’. The supervising nurse, whose voice I recognised from my clinic (actually I think she was the person who provided the ‘physiotherapy’ advice’) told me I’d been discharged and to go back to A&E if I was having problems. I didn’t because I felt I was neither an accident or an emergency and eventually I managed to get an internal referral via the fracture clinic nurse I’d been assigned to because if my osteoporosis.
It’s only comparatively recently that I’ve been able to go onto my hands and knees to do Pilates exercises so recovering from a fracture like that can be a much longer, slower, more painful process than you ever imagine , however you are obviously worried and I don’t blame you for feeling like that and you are still in pain so you need to speak to / see someone who can help.
Sorry I’ve gone on a bit but that’s a potted version of my distal radius fracture. I was 71 when it happened but previously fit and very active.
Yes, I had an initial X ray that showed I had actually shattered my left distal radius. I did expect another when my plaster cast came off.....just to make sure. Like you, my wrist was manipulated back into position andthe pain was awful. I’ve been doing my exercises as I was told to and it’s not too bad but the pain in the ulna area is like a hot poker on it. Maybe I should just give it more time to heal......x
I would have expected you to have had more than one x-ray.
I sent you a PM about it but I had the first x-ray that showed the damage, then I had another one after they had manipulated it - ouch, that hurt - I knew what they were going to do because I’d seen the helimed doctors do it on TV.
I had a third x-ray when I went back two days after I had had it set, then I had another one a week or two after that. So I was really surprised when they finally took it off without an x-ray that seemed very strange. The girl taking it off said it was because they didn’t like to take too many x-rays but that seemed strange when I’d already had four.
I always wondered why, when the ulna was the bone the guy treating me said they weren’t so worried about, was the bone that hurt most and on and off for quite a long time.
Hi sue32, sorry to hear about the problems with your wrist. You might find some good information in a pamphlet, published by American Bone Health, called "You Had a Fracture -- Now What?" americanbonehealth.org/frac...
You should also ask your health care provider for a bone density test. Your wrist fracture signals risk for more broken bones in the future. americanbonehealth.org/bone...
Now is the time to make a plan to protect your bone health. This includes proper nutrition, physical activity and preventing falls (did you break your wrist in a fall?) americanbonehealth.org/bone...
AMAZING. I’m in Florida and I’m 63. I was reading your post and it took me aback! Could I have written this and forgot????
Same exact thing, female, same age. I see it’s been a week since you wrote. I had necrosis develop and now wrist is fused.
I’ll check back to see if I can catch you! I was lucky…. XI was trying to just work with it. I didn’t want to be considered a “complainer”. Big Mistake
Exactly how I feel! Knowing my luck another X-ray would show nothing....I'm wearing a wrist brace but sometimes the pain is worse. At night it can be really bad. I've started rubbing a drop of lavender oil on it....see if that does anything.... 🙄
They need to X-ray again! It shouldn’t be that bad! They never x rayed again. Meanwhile, several bones in the wrist were developing necrosis. The only reason it WAS re X-rayed was when I fell and broke it again. THEN the X-ray showed the new break and subsequent bone death from the PREVIOUS BREAK! Then I had the osteoporosis test. Wasn’t good news and I was 61 at the time. I’m wishing you good luck with it. Good luck and let me know!
Well the way our GPs are right now I’d be lucky to actually get through to the surgery at all! You have to phone at 8.30am to request a phone consultation.....no face to face cos of Covid.....but the phone lines are constantly engaged so by the time you do get through all appointments have gone. And you can’t book in advance! 🙄. So I won’t hold my breath! 😊😆
Of course! We are unsure what and when Anything will happen here! I forgot where you were Sue32! No, I see now……you might just keep a brace on for a couple more months and then try the gentle stretching. I so hope and pray you make out well! I didn’t want to pay the outrageous physical therapy co pays for my (wrists). I learned quite a lot on medscape.com and Google, etc. good luck!!
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