Shattered Distal Radius

My doctor's clinic was off today although i did the x-ray and checked with another doctor and he said everything is fine i think you can remove the cast i told him i will check with my doctor i just wanted to make sure everything is fine and told him about the bone movement feeling he said thats normal after cutting the cast till under the elbow no worries about it.

I fractured my wrist after a fall on the 28th of February 2014. When i fell it didnt hurt much, my wrist just felt light and the radius (large bone on the top) looked and felt bend inwards slightly. It felt as if it was a bad fall so i just took pain killers. When i stopped the pain killers the pain slowly crept back and it was a bit bent again so then i decided to go A&E after 3 days. The nurse took one look at it and told me it needs to be pulled into place. So, doctors pulled it in place then put a cast on it until the fracture clinic appointment.

The doctor in the fracture clinic indicated he could repair it with an operation by putting a metal plate and screws in which they did. The fracture is called a Colles Distal Radius Intra-Articular fracture. I did not shatter the bones but the doctor said they were fragmented but in the x-ray he was showing me i could only see the fracture like a crack and in another version it was like a clean break/cut.

After i had the procedure on 13 March 2014 my arm felt like a large metal rod and cant turn it much. Cant open the door lock or press switches from an angle - scary.

I was reluctant to have the surgery at first - was more scared of the general anesthesia than the operation itself. Now that I have had the surgery I am so glad and releived because I am not in a cast and can almost move my arm freely, its almost 1 month now.

At my physio / hand therapy the doctor said to wear the wrist brace/splint more because the swelling doesnt go down. Now that i am wearing it the swelling has improved if i keep it on most of the time like she said. I think the splint/brace acts like a removal cast - the compression keeps the swelling down.

Just got the cast off today finally. Also the doctor removed the k-wires in the clinic. It hurts but not that much it's okay. He put bandage and told me to remove it tomorrow and for 10 days put my hand in warm water and start to move it slightly ( 3 - 4 times per day). Then will start the Physiotherapy. For now cant feel my wrist or move it, the skin looks stinky but by time will be fine i hope. I was prepared for this so no surprises. Wish you all speed recovery.

I had my cast removed yesterday and out into a removable splint. It's sore and very very stiff!! My knuckles are a bit more swollen today and the consultant has advised mr to take pain killers and anti inflammatorys for the next 10 days. The skim is shedding but I purchased this amazing skin therapy oil for boots. I used it 3 times now and can see a great difference. It also allows me to massage it which again was advised. I feel like the moving my wrist forward and back will become achievable quiet quickly however palm up and palm down is a real challenge! Near on solid with no rotation at the moment. Doing these excersises in warm water if certainly easier. Reading back through some of the early messages on here it seems others have had the same challenges so hopefully improvement will come with continued focus!

One of mine involved resting my forearm on the table with my wrist just over the edge. Put a small weight (used can of beans from grocery cupboard!), into a carrier bag and hold the handles in my hand. Try to raise it slightly up and back down but don't lift forearm from the table, wrist must do all the work.

When you've done a few, turn your arm over so the back of your forearm is resting on the table, same procedure as above but now your palm will be facing upwards. Both of these should encourage your wrist to bend back and forth.

Make no mistake, there will be precious little movement at first & it's all not the most comfortable of things I've ever had to do, lucky to lift/lower more than a few millimetres & spent most of the first few days thinking "I can't do this".

I made myself do all the exercises I was told to do as often as possible during every day - even if it's just the following simple ones.......................

Put your hands together in the prayer position level with your face with elbows tucked in, keep hands firmly together and start lowering them, letting your elbows go outwards. Lower as far as possible - which at first won't be far!

Even sitting watching the TV I constantly used my other hand to manipulate my wooden wrist back and forth and encourage it to twist as far as possible.

My actual physio sessions were very few and far between, stopping altogether after about 4, before I felt anywhere near accomplished at moving my wrist in any direction......but that is the NHS for you, pretty much shown what to do and left to get on with it.

Rather a lot of disheartening effort but put in the work regardless and it will start moving. Once you can get to a small amount of flexibility returning, every day living/usage of it will also help. Elaine has used the correct word "challenging".

I did the "hands together in the prayer position" exercise, i dont have a problem with that.

Are you wearing a splint/brace ?

...its only 4 weeks now but unknowingly i lifted a 2 litre bottle of milk while shopping, for a fractured wrist that is big and heavy, luckily i didnt feel much pain coz i was wearing the splint/brace

I broke my distal radius back in March 4th, I had surgery on March 17 and got put a external fixator with four pins and two more pins to hold the bones together as well. I started therapy until April first, so I pretty much did not move my filger at all for a month, therapy with the external fixator was limited as well since the pins were very uncomfortable.

I finally got the external fitaxor removed on April 25th, my fingers are still stiff and cant straight them up all the way or flex them, cant make a fist yet as well. I just started with the wrist exercises this past week, but my wrist is super stiff as well.

Im a little concern that I can try to move/flex the hand down but def not up at all. It doesnt hurt when I try to flex up, it just doesnt happen. Any tips of how to make this happen?

Also, how long did it take you to make a fist? I feel like I waited to long to move my hand, so now its taking forever.

Any tips will be great! TY.