ORTHOPEDICS/HAND & WRIST/HAND & WRIST CRACKS

A broken hand is most commonly a metacarpal crack that usually happen to the bone at the palm hand level.

Knowing that a person possesses five metacarpal bones, one for each finger, the metacarpal bones support the hand and form the knuckle on the hand back.

Other bones in this zone constitute the phalanges (the fingers) and the carpal bones (the wrist).

The Orthopedic doctor is more entitled to precise whether it is a wrist crack or a metacarpal crack.

Metacarpal Crack Causes

Metacarpal cracks may happen following a diversity of incidents, such as: Falls, Sports damages, knocks and car accidents.

Metacarpal Fracture Symptoms  

Classic symptoms of a metacarpal crack are usually pain and hand inflammation.

While staining may not appear instantly, it usually occurs and develops within a few days.

Patients classically will feel fingers painfulness when trying to practice a fist.

Healing of major metacarpal cracks may take about ten weeks; therefore, it is normal to have some painfulness and inflammation for all this period.

Metacarpal cracks are commonly defined by the cracking place; therefore, Cracks in the bone center are called metacarpal shaft, Cracks at the finger base are called metacarpal head and cracks at the bone wrist-end are called metacarpal base cracks.

Note that therapy is also performed according to the crack location.

Metacarpal Fracture/Therapy

Using a cast for almost six week is mainly the most recommended in therapy of a metacarpal crack. Gentle movements can follow.

If painfulness remains after cast therapy, a hand therapist will be recommended to assist the specific crack..

Surgery is rarely recommended. (Just if there are multiple cracks or open cracks of the hand, surgery may intervene).

In addition, cracks occurring at the metacarpal head or the base may also require surgical therapy in case the joint surface of the bone is involved in the crack.

Therapy Difficulties  

When therapy did not enhance surgery of a metacarpal crack, a bump on the back of the hand may be noticed.

Other difficulty may appear when an excess bone is formed at the crack place in the healing period; therefore feeling that extra bone is natural will be an ambiguity.

On the other hand, problems related to a hand surgery may reflect difficulties such as inflammation and nerve damage.