Distal radius fracture - one year on

So I have just noticed that it’s a year to the day that I broke my wrist and as I found this site so helpful at the time I thought that an update might be useful to someone else.

I broke my wrist slipping and falling on ice and knew immediately that it was broken by the pain and appearance. Unfortunately breaking a bone on the busiest A and E day of the year is not to be recommended...after an agonising wait the doctor on duty decided on a closed reduction without any pain relief, which was indescribably painful, and a half cast, which was replaced a couple of days later. Unfortunately the x ray two weeks later showed movement and I eventually had surgery on 18th January to fit a plate and screws.

The dressing came off after three weeks and I was shocked at how limited the movement in my wrist was. Rotation was almost non existent and I could only flex up and down a few degrees. Weekly physio started but progress was slow at first, despite a diligent exercise routine. In addition I was experiencing increasing sensitivity around the incision site and painful clicking with any movement that I could achieve. I returned to work after the dressing came off but was unable to write or turn my hand enough to use a keyboard, although thankfully I could drive (I am an advisory teacher so drive as part of my job).

At this  time I was feeling particularly low and beginning to feel like I would never regain proper use of my hand again. Simple things like cutting up my food and washing my hair were still really difficult. Luckily at the end of March a physio friend gave me some device and in my last appointment at fracture physiotherapy I stressed the problems I was having and was referred back to a hand specialist physiotherapist.

From this point onwards things finally started to improve. I was given some desensitisation exercises to improve the pain around the incision and a silicone gel patch. By this time even light brushing against my clothes was painful so I was relieved when this started to feel better. I was also given a comprehensive exercise schedule and my hand function steadily improved until I finally was discharged in June.

One year later and I feel confident that my wrist is almost back to normal. My scar is quite red and raised but no longer painful. The painful clicking has stopped, rotation has completely recovered and flexion/ pronation has recovered to about 80%. I still have some way to go to build up strength but am going back to yoga and can do most weight bearing exercises for a short period of time.

My advice to anyone with this injury is to be prepared for it to take time and effort and to push for a specialist referral if improvement in the first three months is slow. However the majority of these injuries do improve and hopefully your recovery will eventually be as good as mine has been.

3 likes, 6 replies