The other night the ER doc said he didn't see any breaks in my hand or wrist. He said the radiologist wasn't in but would look at the x-rays the next day and call if he saw anything. I never got a call. My friend/chiropractor that took x-rays picked her dd up a little while ago (her kids come here three days a week) and said both she and her dh (also a chiropractor) looked at the x-rays she took again and DO think it's not only broken in one place, but two, both in the bones in the back of the hand. The instructions from the ER said if it wasn't better in 7 days or got worse to see my PCP. The swelling is finally going down (thank goodness!) but now that it is I'm feeling a lot more pain in both the hand and the wrist. There's a bump where my friend and her dh think one of the breaks is and the bruising is horrible. It's too late to call anyone at the hospital about it now until Tuesday. Now of course if I have any excrusiating pain I will go back, but if it stays the same as it is now by Tuesday what do you think I should do? I can use the hand. I can type and everything. Just when I move my index finger certain ways it really hurts or if I put too much pressure on it or try to lift something heavy I can't. I'm hoping to get the swelling down enough to wear the brace. Ugh. You know I'm going to be much more careful closing the car door from now on! lol

By Karen~admin on Friday, September 1, 2006 - 08:27 pm:

Cat, I would go to an orthopedist ASAP. If it's just a fracture, it *should* heal fine. But IMO, you NEED to know if it's broken!

By Ginny~moderator on Friday, September 1, 2006 - 08:59 pm:

I agree, an orthopedist, and if at all possible, a hand/wrist specialist ASAP. Ask your primary to recommend a hand/wrist specialist or an orthopedic doc, and ask your PCP, if at all possible, to call the specialists office and emphasize that you have an injury and need to be seen as quickly as possible. My resident son went to our PCP for a problem and the PCP's office did this to get him seen the same day by a specialist. It may mean a visit to your PCP if s/he won't do it without seeing you, but tell the appointment person that you have an injury and severe pain, were seen in the ER X days ago and still in severe pain, and can they "squeeze" you in.

By Cat on Friday, September 1, 2006 - 10:06 pm:

I would have to see the PCP for a referral. That's just the way the military does it. I think I'll call them Tuesday and tell them my chiropractor took x-rays and saw a break and that's why I went to the ER, but then the ER doc didn't see anything and that I'd like them to take another look because of the pain. They may just have the ortho take a look at the x-rays. Thanx.

By Dawnk777 on Saturday, September 2, 2006 - 01:24 am:

Just take it easy, over the weekend and try not to use that hand. We don't do casts, in the walk-in, where I work, but when they see breaks, they are very quick to splint things! Isn't there an on-call doc you could call, over the weekend?

Our splint stuff, is somethng that they add water too, form it under your arm/hand and then wrap with an acewrap. It gets hard like a cast, then.

By Fraggle on Saturday, September 2, 2006 - 09:19 am:

My DD recently fractured some bones in her arm right by her wrist and they actually would not put it in a cast for a week until the swelling went down anyways. They told us to ice it 5 times a day for 20 minutes, wrapped it in an ace bandage and gave her a splint (not one like Dawn is talking about, it was removable) and she had to wear her arm in a sling. Maybe you could try a sling and an ace bandage for your hand. Once she was unable to move her arm it really stopped a lot of the pain. I hope you feel better.

By Cat on Saturday, September 2, 2006 - 02:12 pm:

The swelling is a lot better today and I can finally wear the brace. It's still a little swollen but not near as bad. Typing is a lot harder with it on, though! lol There's a bump where we think one of the breaks is and it's very tender there. It's also really tender where the door hit the inside of the wrist. It's still nasty bruised and discolored. The brace does cover all the tender spots so it will protect them. Kids go home in an hour (Randy's birthday sleepover--including my boys there have been 6 between 8-12 since last night!) and then we've got our weekend running around to do. I hope it doesn't swell too much while we're out and about. While it's not too terrible and I know it could be much worse, my biggest concern is about it healing properly. I don't want to have problems with it for the rest of my life, ya know? We'll see how it is on Tuesday. I'm thankful it's a long weekend!

By Colette on Saturday, September 2, 2006 - 03:14 pm:

I am glad it's feeling better. Dh just got home from a mountain bike ride and I am pretty sure he broke or sprained his wrist. It is like 3x'x its normal size. On my way to ER.

By Dawnk777 on Saturday, September 2, 2006 - 04:06 pm:

Yikes! Keep us posted, Colette!