If your child has swelling in their wrist or hand advise them to sit on a chair and place their elbow on cushions so that it is level or slightly higher than their shoulder. The splint will provide some compression however if your child develops any signs of poor circulation such as tingling, numbness, blueness of the skin of the foot and increasing pain the splint should be removed. the area becomes excessively painful, numb or tingles.the area becomes white, blue or blotchy.When you apply ice to your skin, check the skin every five minutes and stop using it if:.Do not apply an ice pack to an area that has poor circulation.Only use an ice pack on areas that have normal skin sensation i.e.Whichever method you choose it is important that you wrap the ice in a damp towel, in order to prevent it from ‘burning’ the skin. There are many different ways in which ice can be applied however crushed ice, in the form of frozen peas for example, is the most effective. This will also help to reduce any swelling. Ice will help reduce the pain in your child’s wrist and so should be applied for 10 – 15 minutes every 2- 3 hours. Your child should be encouraged to use the fingers and hand whilst in the splint for simple everyday tasks such as using knife and fork. How can I help my child in the first few days?Ĭontrolling the pain and swelling by following the principles of RICE are important:Ĭomplete rest is not advisable. Your child should not take part in any physical education (PE), sport or rough activities for 6 weeks. Your child can go to school but should wear the splint as directed above. Some younger children will not keep their splint on but do not worry they will use their arm as much as their pain allows and will limit themselves. The splint can be removed for washing and dressing. Start by taking it off for short periods of time, and at night, and wean off gradually. Sometimes these fractures settle down quicker than 3 weeks and, if it is not too sore, it is fine for them to start taking the splint off sooner. The splint is used to reduce any pain your child may be experiencing and can be worn at night. This injury can be treated simply in a wrist splint for up to 3 weeks. These fractures heal quickly, by themselves. A broken bone may also be referred to as cracked or fractured – these terms mean the same thing.Ī buckle or torus fracture is a minor fracture, which occurs in children’s bones. The x-rays your child had following your injury show that they sustained a broken wrist bone. Contact details are available at the end of this leaflet. If after reading it, you have any concerns or require further explanation, please do not hesitate to contact the fracture clinic team. We understand you may not have seen a clinician face to face in fracture clinic however, most of your questions should be answered by this leaflet. This leaflet has been produced to give you general information about your child’s injury. Need some help choosing a language? Please refer to Browsealoud Supported Voices and Languages. In general, kids tend to recover their motion and strength much more quickly than adults, and most kids are back to themselves after a couple of months.You can translate this page by using the headphones button (bottom left) and then select the globe to change the language of the page. Throughout treatment, it is important to continue to move the fingers to prevent stiffness and minimize swelling. After the fracture heals, therapy may occasionally be needed to recover motion of the wrist, strength, and function. Minimally displaced fractures usually heal uneventfully in a cast or splint. Occasionally, the fracture fragments are shifted or notably angled. In these cases, setting the bone may be required to minimize growth disturbances and optimize function of the hand going forward. The older the child, the less time available for the bone to straighten itself out with normal growth. Older kids (>10 years old) have less ability to "remodel" the bone. While most buckle fractures of the wrist heal uneventfully, some wrist fractures in kids may need to be set. The degree of “displacement” (the shift or angulation of the bone pieces), along with the child’s age determines the ideal treatment.
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