Orthopedic Broken Wrist Specialist
Wrist Fracture Treatment in Eastern Tennessee
Our Specialty
What is a Wrist Fracture?
A broken wrist also called a wrist fracture, is when one or more of the bones in your wrist break or crack. People most often hurt their wrists when they try to catch themselves when they’re falling and land hard on their open hands.
If you do sports like in-line skating or snowboarding, or if you have osteoporosis, which makes bones weaker and more likely to break, you may be more likely to fracture your wrist.
Subspecialties
Symptoms of a Broken Wrist
The following could be signs of a broken wrist:
- Pain that is severe and might get worse when you grip, squeeze, or move your hand or wrist
- Swelling
- Tenderness
- Bruising
- Obvious abnormal appearance, like a wrist that is bent
Wrist Fracture Treatment
A broken wrist can be treated in many different ways. The choice relies on a lot of things, like the type of break, your age and level of exercise, and the surgeon’s best judgment.
Nonsurgical treatment may be the best option if your bones are in a good position and can heal with a cast. Along with this, repeat X-rays may be taken to make sure healing is on the right path and the bones remain in the right place.
However, if your broken bone is out of place and will make it hard for you to use your arm in the future, the pieces may need to be moved back into place. The method by which the doctor puts the broken pieces back together is called “reduction.” A closed reduction is when a bone is bent without having to cut into the skin.
After the bone is in the right place, your arm may be put in a splint or cast to keep the bones in the right place. Most of the time, a splint is used for the first few days to allow for some regular swelling, and then a cast is used when the swelling has gone down.
In non-operative fractures, the cast is usually removed about 6 weeks after the fracture happened. At that point, you will start physical therapy to help your damaged wrist move and work better. Most of the time, you will wear a splint that you can take off between therapy sessions to protect the bone as it heals.
Wrist Surgery for a Broken Wrist
Sometimes the position of the bone can’t be fixed with just a tight reduction, and it can’t be fixed in a cast either. These breaks may heal out of place, which can make it hard for your arm to work. When this happens, you might need wrist surgery to fix the break and hold it in place while it heals.
Wrist Fracture Care in Knoxville
The fracture care experts at Tennessee Orthopaedic Alliance think that being a part of the communities we serve is the first step to giving excellent care. If you think you’ve broken something, call one of our office locations in Knoxville, Oak Ridge, Lenoir City, or Sevierville today to make an appointment.
Our Fracture Care Surgeons
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