Should I have my wrist checked again?

[MeeWhoo]

Hi,

Around 6 weeks ago I fell forwards and landed on my hands. Right after the fall, my right hand hurt a bit, mainly on the bone that runs from the wrist to the base of the pinkie, but I really didn't think anything of it.

When I woke up the next the day, my wrist was very swollen and I couldn't bend it although it wasn't too painful, the feeling was more as if I was wearing a bandage preventing me from moving my hand backwards and forwards rather than pain stopping me from doing it.

I went to my GP and she sent me for an X-ray. She said that nothing looked broken on the X-ray although she could see one of the bones in the wrist looked "highlighted" from the impact. Since there was no visible fracture and I wasn't in a lot of pain she said best to leave it to heal on its own.

In the past few days I have noticed that after doing something a bit strenuous, like cleaning windows, my thumb hurts a bit (the pinkie did too, although not sure if maybe I bashed it that day) and I have also noticed that my thumb doesn't seem to bend all the way. If I try to make a fist my thumb inside it it hurts a bit and doesn't seem as flexible as the one on the other hand. Also a little round lump has appeared in the inside of my wrist but it doesn't hurt if I touch it. I am uploading a picture but not sure how noticeable the lump will be on it.

Is it worth going back or shall I just leave it a bit longer and see how it goes?

Go back. I had a similar injury and was given a temporary splint for support. X-rays eventually showed that I did have a hairline fracture but by that time they said there's no point putting it in a cast, it's nearly healed, the splint will do.

Anyway, the splint was very helpful, so perhaps if you go back they could fix you up with one!

Yes go back, Fractures don't always show on initial xray but there can be more evidence as they heal. It took me 4 visits and 3 X-rays before they spotted my wrist fracture.

Could be a scaphoid fracture? They are the teeny bones in the wrist and fractures in them often don't show up on x-ray because they are so little and kind of squidged together. Give it a google and see if you think your symptoms match?

Yes, mine was similar, the little wrist bones are so tricky. They thought mine was a scaphoid fracture, which is classic with the injury op describes, but nothing showed in x-rays. They even said it might be fractured anyway they just can't see it, which apparently is common. Eventually on a subsequent visit they noticed my lunate bone, right next to the scaphoid, was actually fractured.

Thank you all for your advice.
I have another appointment with the GP tomorrow to see if I need a splinter or something else, so wish me luck!