Pins and needles after broken wrist

[TheHouseofMirth]

DS broke his wrist (buckle fracture) 5 weeks ago and had his cast off on Tuesday. He was complaining of sporadic pins and needles in his thumb which I thought would just go away but he's just mentioned it again today. Any ideas if this is normal or if I should take him to GP?

Just in his thumb?

Yes, just around the base of his thumb.

When DS broke his leg last year, (a spiral fracture which took 12 weeks in a cast to heal) we were told to report any pins and needles or numbness immediately to the fracture clinic.

His was just a buckle fracture. Fracture clinic didn't mention the possibility of complications after plaster removal. I just wonder if it's a side effect of having cast off?

You should get this checked out. The pins and needles sensation can indicate nerve damage and the doctors will want to know about it. I speak from experience, I had a broken ankle in sept and the pins and needles sensation meant nerve damage which is only now being dealt with.

Since it's taken this long to manifest and is so restricted in area affected, I would wait until Monday (assuming it doesn't get worse) and then ring the fracture clinic. Odds are it's nothing, but they will probably want to check by putting his thumb thru full movements & seeing how he reacts (if needles come back).

Thanks all. ragged do you have a dedical background?

i broke my wrist and had a metal plate put in.

Afterwards I got numbness in a couple of fingers and my wrist, and think there may have been pins and needles as well; this was due to me doing lots of cutting out with scissors, when I spoke to the consultant he said it was the residual scar tissue and a reaction to it especially since I had been doing lots of repetitive movements with the cutting out. Has he been doing anything like that (e.g. Xbox or something)? Might explain it.

It's probably it just healing but you may as well ask the GP.

No medical backgr, I make no special claims. But I have had lots of broken arms & DD's broke 2 yrs ago, though, so I'm quite used to Medicos asking about pins & needles. I seem to recall odd twinges last time I had cast removed, as long as they were transitory I didn't worry for myself, but would be a bit more cautious with my child, the clinic will probably call him in. The treatment is basically surgery or physio & neither of those happen in a wild hurry so my logic is no reason to rush to get advice as long as it's not getting worse.

What's happened, HouseofMirth? Has he seen anyone or did it clear up on its own?

Rang the fracture clinic for advice and spoke to a nurse who said it was unusual as pins & needles are more common while cast is on. advised to give it a few more days and see if it sorts itself out and then GP or A & E if it persists.

He didn't mention in happening yesterday so I think it's settling down.

Thanks for asking Ragged!

X my fingers hopefully all improvement now. Thanks for updating.