Symptoms of A Broken Wrist
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It is very natural to place a hand out to try to catch oneself during a fall. This natural impulse is the cause for nearly all wrist sprains and fractures (breaks).
Now you may be thinking do I have a wrist sprain or broken wrist? We will be focusing on seeing the symptoms of a broken wrist. A fracture is the medical term for a broken bone.
The most common type of a broken wrist is a distal radius fracture, which is a fracture at the end of the long radius bone of the forearm.
Another type of a broken wrist affects one of the eight small round carpal bones in the wrist. This is known as a scaphoid fracture. Most scaphoid fractures are less common but more difficult to heal when broken.
Symptoms of a Broken Wrist
Symptoms of a broken wrist can cause mild or dull pain, and sprains can often cause severe pain.
There are a few signs and symptoms of a broken wrist : deformity of the wrist or bone breaking through the skin are signs of fracture. When these happens, individuals need to seek medical care.
However, other wrist injury symptoms are common for both fractures and sprains. These can include:
- Swelling in the wrist
- Pain when moving the wrist or hand
- Weakness or inability to grasp or pick up objects
An x-ray performed and read by a qualified physician is usually necessary to confirm whether it’s a broken wrist. If symptoms of a wrist injury persist beyond 48 hours, individuals should seek medical care.
Physical/Occupational Therapy for a broken wrist
Physical /occupational therapy for a broken wrist is prescribed if the doctor feels it is medically necessary. Hopefully at this point the pain should have decreased as well as swelling.
Your MD will evaluate whether the bones are safe and healed enough to begin physical therapy. If therapy is started too soon, then you can risk injuring the wrist again.
During physical therapy/occupations therapy, you will be working on ROM, mobility for the wrist and fingers and the forearm.
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