Shattered Distal Radius

Given 6 different exercises to do by physio. Minimum 10 times each, 3 times per day, for a week. I did the whole routine religeously 4 times per day and sat doing bits and pieces constantly throughout the day. Get a balance between making the wrist/fingers work hard, and not overtiring it.

First day or two it seems impossible to make anything move properly, I can assure you that it DOES improve over the first week if you put the effort in. Saw Physio again after 8 days and she's pleased with progress, no need to do finger/thumb exercises now, wrist 'twist' has improved and about 85% back to 'normal' (though still sore). I can actually see both my palm and the back of my hand without needing a mirror now. May not get any better improvement than that, there will always be some loss of mobility because of the type of fracture.

Not so much movement in the bending forwards/backwards of the hand, reasonable but quite a way to go. New set of exercises focus on that and seemed IMPOSSIBLE yesterday. Better at it today though, helped by taking two ibuprofen and 2 paracetamol no doubt!

One thing I would say, your progress is very much YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. NHS physio doesn't really do much but demonstrate some exercises and give you a diagram sheet to follow, then sends you on your way to get on with it at home for a week.

When I went back she checked my progress, stretched out my wrist a bit further, then showed me how to do the next exercises & gave me a new diagram sheet. Have to go back after a further week.

Bit disappointing not to be seen mid week to stretch it further and check I'm doing everything correctly before continuing on my own for the rest of the week. Feels sort of 'physio by numbers'.

Twisting my wrist to see the back of my hand has taken longer, still some discomfort with that manouvre, but it suddenly seemed to twist to a reasonably acceptable level yesterday, probably lost about 3% of 'twist ability'. I think more was achieved as the swelling improved, still needs work and it does tend to 'click' when twisting.

Bending my hand backwards still needs a lot of work, though definite improvement, it goes about two thirds of the way back compared to my healthy wrist.

Bending my hand forwards seems to be making the least/slowest improvement........very frustrating. Probably about half what I can achieve with healthy wrist. Just seems to be STUCK.

Hope I can improve those two (particularly forwards) otherwise I'll be disappointed!!!

Have added some weights to my bending backwards/forwards - first a tin of tomatoes in a plastic back, graduating to a tin of baked beans, now worked up to a tin of soup weighing 515g. Lets hope that brings better results.

Also started hot/cold therapy to help get rid of the rest of my swelling. Fill bucket with cold water and one with hot water, a sponge in each. Start by sticking hand, wrist and approx 3\" up forearm into cold for 1-3 mins (it's pretty hard) give sponge frequent squeezes to encourage circulation. Same thing in the hot water. Repeat both once more then finish by returning to the [u:c943121cdb]cold[/u:c943121cdb] once again. All 1-3 mins each time. Do this 2-3 times per day.

Returning to work tomorrow (mostly keyboard work) and driving with confidence as long as I'm wearing my wrist support with it's brace (can remove that but not ready to just yet). Pulling up the handbrake has been the biggest challenge!

Got a second opinion elsewhere - insisted my GP refer me to another clinic. Whilst waiting for appointment I worked hard on my own to improve forward bend of my wrist/hand and it did go a bit further than before (it's so much easier when a physio does it, they can push it further than you can manage yourself, they'll cross much further over your pain barrier than you can do on your own).

Anyway, the new physio was cross they had not taken 'measurements' at each visit, so improvement could be more easily established on a regular basis. Though less than I'd hoped for, she was of the opinion that I'd pretty much got back all there was, though not as much as I might have hoped for.

Though still sore in some directions, fairly weak and knuckle/finger joints stiff, I have been instructed to ignore discomfort and use it fully in order to get improve mobility further.

Physio says I must expect it to be at least a year before I might say \"what broken wrist\"? Swelling finally seemed to settle down a couple of weeks ago, enough for me to confidently increase my wedding ring by 2 sizes.

Scars from the pins have healed well enough, almost covered by my watch anyway. The 'sore skin' feeling I had has completely gone so I suppose the nerve endings have recovered.

The one advantage of this experience...........the skin on the hand of the busted side shed, now I've got one hand which looks 5 years younger than the other :lol:

If this happens to you my advice would be to work HARD on your physio, it will be mostly down to you anyway, on the NHS their input is minimal and you won't get many sessions either. Don't BUY a wrist support with a brace like I did, ask the physio for one, they don't offer but they definitely have a cupboard full. Don't wear it much, only to give you confidence on your first few weeks back in the driving seat.

Good luck.

Yes, wrist is absolutely fine, totally mobile and bends in virtually all directions like the other one. Doesn't quite bend as much as the other to form the number 7 shape.........but who does that much anyway!!!

I would stress that you MUST do exercises the physio gives you, and continue on your own once the physio says you needn't visit them any more. It feels like a plank of wood doesn't it, I doubted it would ever 'bend' again, but the exercises definitely helped (though it didn't feel much like it at the time and took a fair while). Everyday living just got it mobile again to a point when I forgot I'd ever broken it.

Someone told me that when it's a bit cold out I would get an achey feeling in my wrist (a bit like rheumatism), well though I am older that has never happened. I still have scars from where the bones were pinned, but they don't bother me and I show them to people sometimes and pretend I was bitten by a 20ft snake.

Will take 3-6 months before you feel flexible again, about the 1 year mark you'll be saying what my physio said I'd say......"broken wrist, what broken wrist". Don't worry, though you probably will as I did, but it will be absolutely fine given a bit of time.

Bummer at the time, specially when the plaster had just come off. I walked around cradling it like a premature baby, terrified someone would bash into me and break it again. Nearly fainted when I forgot about it, dropped a whopping bottle of fabric softener and automatically went to catch it with the newly unplastered arm. OUCH. Be careful, but get it moving. Good luck.

If the physio hasn't given you one already (mine didn't, never even knew they had any), buy a wrist support brace.

Cheap at just over a fiver, and for me it was a godsend for a couple of weeks when I was able to drive, but needed a bit more 'welly' when I was trying to change gear.

Obviously NOT a good idea to wear it all the time, but on and off or for specific tasks for you at work (for a few weeks) where your wrist still feels a bit sore/weak, it's great.