Table of Contents
How can I treat a broken hand at home?
How can you care for yourself at home? Put ice or a cold pack on your hand for 10 to 20 minutes at a time. Follow the cast care instructions your doctor gives you. Take pain medicines exactly as directed. Prop up your hand on pillows when you sit or lie down in the first few days after the injury.
How do you wrap an injured hand?
Does a broken hand hurt all the time?
At the time of the injury, you may hear or feel a snapping or grinding. After the injury, it may be painful to touch or move the area that was hurt playing sports. Swelling and bruising may follow the injury, and the area may continue to hurt constantly or when touched. Broken bones need to be evaluated.
Should you wrap a sprained hand?
If you’ve injured your hand, bandages can reduce swelling, restrict movement, and provide support to the muscles, bones, and joints. Certain hand injuries may heal better when bandaged. These include: fractures, sprains, and strains.
Is a broken hand an emergency?
Normally, broken bones of the hand, wrist, ankle, or foot may be treated at the local urgent care center. On the other hand, the severity of the injury even though they are only located on the limbs might warrant a trip to the emergency room.
Can you work with a broken hand?
For severe fractures, you may need physical therapy after your splint or cast is removed. You can usually return to work or sports activities about 8 to 12 weeks after the fracture.
What should you do if you fall on your hand?
Use rest, ice, compression, and elevation (RICE) for pain and swelling. Do not use your injured hand or wrist for the first 24 hours after an injury, if possible. An elastic bandage can help decrease swelling. The wrap will also remind you to rest the injured hand or wrist.
How do you stabilize a broken hand?
3. Immobilize the Hand Have the person bend the arm at the elbow. Do not try to straighten the hand if it bent or deformed. Tie a splint on the lower arm with fabric or elastic bandages. Cardboard, rolled-up newspaper, or other stiff material can be used as a splint. Make a sling and place the person’s arm in it.
Do Broken bones hurt worse at night?
During the night, there is a drop in the stress hormone cortisol which has an anti-inflammatory response. There is less inflammation, less healing, so the damage to bone due to the above conditions accelerates in the night, with pain as the side-effect.
What does the hospital do for a broken hand?
Treatment for a broken arm or wrist When you get to hospital the affected arm will be placed in a splint to support it and stop any broken bones from moving out of position. You will also be given painkilling medicines for the pain. An X-ray is then used to see if there is a break and how bad that break is.
How do you heal a broken hand fast?
Home remedies to speed up repair Take protein supplements. As a large part of a bone is composed of protein, taking protein supplements can help the bone to rebuild and heal itself. Take antioxidants. Take mineral supplements. Take vitamin supplements. Take herbal supplements. Exercise. Avoid smoking.
How long do you have to wear a cast for a broken hand?
Depending on the location and stability of the fracture, you may have to wear the cast for 3 to 6 weeks. Some types of fractures can be protected by wearing a removable splint or by being “buddy strapped” to an adjacent non-injured finger.
Can you move your fingers with a broken wrist?
Some people can still move or use the hand or wrist even if there is a broken bone. Swelling or a bone out of place can make the wrist appear deformed. There is often pain right around the break and with finger movement.
Can you fracture hand without knowing?
Sometimes a bone can break without you realizing it. That’s usually what happens to the scaphoid bone in your wrist, a boat-shaped bone located on the outermost side of the thumb side of the hand.
How long do hand injuries take to heal?
Broken hand recovery time will be different for every injury and every patient. With proper treatment, broken fingers will typically heal within a few weeks and broken hands within one to two months, although it may take several months to make a complete recovery from a severely broken hand.
What happens if a broken hand goes untreated?
When a bone fracture is untreated, it can result in either a nonunion or a delayed union. In the former case, the bone doesn’t heal at all, which means that it will remain broken. As a result, swelling, tenderness, and pain will continue to worsen over time.
Is it too late to fix broken finger?
A broken finger or thumb usually heals within 2 to 8 weeks, but it can take longer. It may be 3 to 4 months before full strength returns to your hand. Once it’s healed, use your finger or thumb as normal. Moving it will stop it getting stiff.
How do you tell if your hand is broken or just bruised?
A broken hand might cause these signs and symptoms: Severe pain that might worsen when gripping or squeezing or moving your hand. Swelling. Tenderness. Bruising. Obvious deformity, such as a crooked finger. Stiffness or inability to move your fingers or thumb. Numbness in your hand or fingers.
What does a hairline fracture in the hand feel like?
Hairline fractures can occur from overuse or repetitive activity. They can be hard to notice, but a dull pain often develops over time. Feelings of pain from light to moderate pressure can indicate a hairline fracture. Pain may be reduced using common painkillers, such as paracetamol.
Does a broken hand need a cast?
Immobilization. Restricting the movement of a broken bone in your hand is critical to proper healing. To do this, you’ll likely need a splint or a cast. You’ll be advised to keep your hand above heart level as much as possible to reduce swelling and pain.
Can a fracture heal without a cast?
Technically speaking, the answer to the question “can broken bones heal without a cast?” is yes. Assuming conditions are just right, a broken bone can heal without a cast. However, (and very importantly) it doesn’t work in all cases. Likewise, a broken bone left to heal without a cast may heal improperly.
