After slip and fall on ice wrist fracture what tests will my doctor run? Your doctor will first take a medical history, asking questions about your pain and how the accident happened. Its very important to be honest and thorough in the history to the doctor. Then the doctor will do a physical exam, testing range of motion and palpating to help determine pain location.
Doctors assume that any patient who has fallen on an outstretched hand and has swelling or tenderness on the thumb side of the wrist has a scaphoid fracture. X-rays taken immediately after the injury may not show a fracture. Still, many surgeons will put a cast on the wrist and get another X-ray in 10 days. This gives the edges of the fractured bone time to heal, and may prevent nonunion. By waiting 10 days, the fracture is easier to see on an X-ray.
If it is still not clear whether or not you have a fracture, your doctor may order other imaging tests. You may have a bone scan done, in which injected tracers show up on special X-rays of your wrist. The tracers build up in areas of extra stress to bone tissue, such as a fracture. Your doctor may also order a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. An MRI scan is a special imaging test that uses magnetic waves to create pictures of your body in slices. The MRI scan shows tendons as well as bones. It is painless and requires no needles or injections.
If the wrist fracture is identified immediately and is in good alignment, you will probably wear a cast for nine to 12 weeks. The cast will cover your forearm, wrist, and thumb. This is necessary to hold the scaphoid bone very still while it heals. Your doctor will take X-rays at least once a month to check the progress of the healing. Once your doctor is sure the fracture has healed, the cast will be removed. Even with this type of treatment, there is still a risk that the fracture may not heal well and will become a nonunion.
A fracture that doesn’t heal within several months is considered a nonunion. If the injury is fairly recent, your doctor might recommend more time in the cast or may also prescribe an electrical stimulator to help the bones heal. Only after the bones have healed would any physical therapy or exercises be prescribed.
At McCormick Law Office in Milwaukee, Wisconsin our attorneys have experience obtaining successful results with slip and fall on ice wrist fractures. We recover money damages for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering caused by the broken wrist from slipping on ice.
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