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What is injured?
The common causes of wrist pain following injury are:
Ligament Sprain - this means a stretch or tear of one of the wrist ligaments
Bruising of the cartilage or bone
Occult fracture - Tiny crack of the bone, which are not picked up easily on x-ray.
These are all STABLE injuries. This means that the injury will usually heal in exactly the same position as normal.
What are the Symptoms?
The main symptoms from these injuries are:
Pain
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Swelling
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Difficulty using the wrist
These symptoms can be severe to begin with, but improve with time.
How long will it take to get better after injury?
Week 0-2 -The wrist may still be swollen, but should feel comfortable in a splint.
Week 2-4 - The swelling should have gone down, and the splint should no longer be required except for periods of heavy activity.
Week 4-6 - Normal function should have returned.
What should I do with my wrist?
Aim to start moving the fingers as soon as possible after the injury.
The splint can be removed after 2 weeks to begin gentle movement in the wrist. If pain and swelling are continuing to be a problem at this stage, leave the splint in place for a further week, and then try again.
If comfortable, you should remove the splint at night, but if the wrist remains sore or very swollen, then keep the splint on.
Are there any risks from this injury?
There is a very small risk of an occult fracture of the bone not healing properly. This is known as a non-union. Non union of the bone often requires further treatment. The chances of going on to have a long term problem with the wrist are very low- about 1 in every 500.
RECOVERY CHECKLIST
2 Weeks - Comfortable in a splint. Swelling may still be noticeable
4 Weeks - Able to do most activities in the splint. Non manual workers should be back to work
6 weeks - Free from splint with normal function
If you are unable to check the boxes above, please continue to wear the splint and contact us by email or phone (contact details below) so we can arrange follow up:
Email: fife.fifehandservice@nhs.scot
Phone: 01592 643355 Ext 22441
Please leave the following details:
Date of injury
Name
Hospital number
Current address
Contact number (when we call you our number will appear as an 0800 number) Email & telephone messages are checked weekly, please allow 7 days for a response
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