Have I broken my wrist?

[squashyhat]

I am currently on holiday in a SE Asian country (relevant). Yesterday I slipped and fell heavily, bending my hand inwards towards my wrist. It hurt like hell and my wrist and fingers swelled up hugely, particularly where the back of the hand joins my wrist. I have rheumatoid arthritis so my joints are not in great shape anyway. Application of tiger balm, painkillers, a bandage and sling are keeping it relatively comfortable and I can just about wiggle my fingers. It's my left wrist and I am left-handed which is making everything very difficult but I am with husband and friends so have help.

The thing is I could get it x-rayed today (I have health insurance and someone to translate) as I am staying in a relatively large city. But from tomorrow until 28th when I return to the UK I will be in much smaller places. Does it sound broken? If so would they do anything other than what I am doing already i.e. keeping it still and waiting for the swelling to reduce? I don't want to disrupt the trip more than necessary but don't know what to do for the best.

Her it x-rayed while you have the chance!

I would wait until I got back, tbh. Assume it's broken in meantime.

You need that wrist for the rest of your life, and whether you've broken it or not you are very likely to have done some soft tissue damage. Go and get it checked over so you can get some appropriate support for it so it can heal properly, especially if it isn't substantially better today than it was yesterday.

Get it x rayed. They could set it in a pot for you.

Get it checked. If anything is out of place it could be disastrous to leave it.

Definitely get the x-ray and see a doctor. Leaving a fractured wrist untreated that length of time could leave you with lifelong problems. And I agree with Purple, even if not a fracture it needs checking over with that amount of swelling and pain.

X-ray today. You need to make sure it's not broken. Dd broke her wrist and we waited 2 days before we realized it wasn't normal (she was acting completely fine, just couldn't rotate it). It's so difficult to know without an X-ray.

Get it sorted there. If it is broken & needs surgery it will probably be much more difficult to do by the time you get back to the uk. Don’t mess about with your dominant hand.

I bet if you get it xrayed, if it is broken, they will do nothing more than splint it. Advice now is to wait 24 hours min before putting a cast on (to let swelling subside). So you could get a cast, too, but could have to wait around a day for it.

They could offer surgery if bones are out of alignment, but you would probably prefer to get surgery in UK.

ps: and surgery in UK would probably still mean waiting at least one week. Judging by what happened to kids at school with truly horrendous arm breaks. Even if no surgery apparently required, UK would also want to xray after 1 week to check bones hadn't moved, btw.

Good luck, whatever you decide to do! Let us know what happens.

Thanks all- you have made my mind up. Just waiting for my husband and guide to return from some sightseeing and I will go and get it checked.

Good call - a compression fracture of my wrist. Now in plaster and able to continue my holiday though I suspect it will be sore tomorrow. Thanks for making me get it checked out!

Hi @squashyhat, are you back in UK? Have you had your arm checked out again or any more treatment? When will you get the cast off?