What are the chances of missing a break on an X-ray?

[Shezlon]

So, I had a ridiculous injury last week. I don't even fully remember what happened because nothing really happened. The front door sort of swung onto my finger funnily and I think bashed my little finger out sideways from my hand. Excruciating pain.
It didn't swell up or bruise and I could still move it but just couldn't use it for anything. After a day of being strapped up and iced, it seemed better.
Except I STILL can't use it or apply any pressure with it. So after a week I went to minor injuries and had an X-ray - nothing broken so they said must be soft tissue injury. Ok, fair enough. Today I was putting something in a box and accidentally pressed my finger down like a miniscule amount and the flaring stab of pain brought tears to my eyes. How can it still be sooooo painful 10 days after injury without anything being broken?! My poor finger

I had an accident on my hand 2 years ago, damaged all my fingers. The two that no longer work properly are the ones which only had ‘soft tissue’ injuries.
I’d either go back, or ask your go for a referral to the hand clinic.

My DS was sent home from A&E with a “sprained knee” that turned out to be a fracture, that looked like “growth plate lines”. Luckily all X-rays are reviewed by a consultant and we were recalled just when I was going to take him back as pain was so bad.

Some hand fractures can’t be seen until a few days after the break, but this may just be the scaphoid bone (DS also broke that, but it was spotted immediately which apparently was very lucky)

It’s happened to me.
I feel of my bike (mountain biking on an actual mountain). About a week later I woke up in agony, with the pain radiating from my big toe. X ray apparently didn’t show a break, and I was diagnosed with Gout. 2 weeks later a break did show up on an x ray.

I had a displaced fracture in my hand that needed a screw inserted and an avulsion fracture in my finger (where the extension pulls away from the bone) neither were seen on the X-ray on the day.

I got a call a couple of days later and asked to return for another X-ray as the consultant thought he could see the hand fracture. Went back in and had surgery that afternoon.

The finger fracture was picked up 3 weeks later as I was completely incapable of straightening that finger after the hand cast came off, just couldn't make it move at all. That one took months of physio and a night splint to get to 90% functionality.

Breaks can be missed but soft tissue injuries can actually be harder to heal & hurt twice as much. Torn ligaments are horrendous. I'll take my broken arms any day over DH's dislocated shoulder agony.

I hope you feel better soon, OP.

I was hoping to hear that it was almost impossible to miss a break on an X-ray! Arse. I'll give it a while longer and go back next week if no improvement. The pain is all in my knuckle joint and there's no tenderness anywhere, it's literally just when I use it to grip or press etc.

Ds hurt his finger at school a few weeks ago. Told it was a soft tissue injury but a day later we got a text telling us a fracture had been seen on the xray and he needed to come back in !