The term Colles fracture comes into consideration when we hurt our wrists while playing or when we fall. This fracture occurs when you lose balance and try to protect yourself from a fall by extending your arms. Sometimes, a fracture like this might show up after a severe car accident. Being a painful injury, the fracture needs to be taken care of in the emergency unit of the hospital.
Sometimes, it takes months and even up to a year to cure something as severe as a Colles fracture. Here are some symptoms, diagnosis, early treatment, and management and prevention strategies that you can go through for dealing with the fracture.
Colles Fracture: Comprehending the Cause
Colles fracture can also be defined as a type of broken wrist problem that happens due to different kinds of accidents. This is also known as distal fracture in medical terms. In this case, the fracture or injury occurs at the dorsal angulation or an upward angle. Such fractures are highly severe, causing searing pain. In case you suspect one, head to a medical expert immediately.
When one falls on an outstretched arm, a colloid fracture is likely to occur. This is because as you reach out for the ground to catch yourself, you might land on small bones in your wrist, namely scaphoid and lunate, injuring either of them. The contact is responsible for transferring the energy to the radius in the process. It is the end of the radius near the wrist, which is called the dorsal end, that ultimately breaks or cracks under pressure.
Who is prone to getting a Colles fracture
Generally, women aged 60 or above are likely to face osteoporosis and, hence, can easily end up with broken bones and fractures on falling. As the calcium is dissolved from the bones, they turn brittle and break on even light injury and falls.
Osteoporosis is a state of the bones where they lose calcium in the blood. You might have osteoporosis and not even know that you do until an accident occurs and your bone faces injury. However, anyone can have a collapse fracture when the pressure during a fall is intense on the arms. Falls occurring due to skating, horse riding, bike rides, contact sports, skiing, and car crashes can result in fractures of the wrist bones. Hence, wrist guards are often worn during these times for precaution.
Does Colles fracture occur commonly?
To admit the truth, Colles fracture is a very common condition that healthcare providers face. However, one might get confused between Colles fracture and Smith fracture. Smith fracture is in fact, the opposite of Colles fracture. This kind of broken wrist faces volar angulation, while the latter is dorsal angulation.
Colles fracture complications are often associated with osteoporosis, and if you break your wrist, then it is most likely that you have osteoporosis. Immediate treatment, in this case, is the ultimate solution.
Predominant Colles Fracture Symptoms to Lookout For
Once you encounter a wrist fracture, there will be some obvious symptoms like-
- Severe pain
- Bruising
- Swelling
- Your wrist might hang at an odd angle
- You might not be able to rotate your wrist at a certain angle due to constriction in motion.
From the outside, your wrist might appear swollen, and there can even be bruises on the surface. When your wrist appears bent at a particular angle, accompanied by severe pain, you have likely encountered a fracture.
Colles Fracture Complications: Find Out More About Them
One might encounter wrist stiffness, one of the major conditions of Colles fracture. After placing the cast, the fracture might take about one or two months to fix. Other complications of the fracture include-
- Malunion- When the bones fail to fuse or come together while grasping is regarded as malunion.
- Compartment syndrome- This is a painful condition under which one might face intense pressure in the muscles.
- Median nerve palsy- Muscles in your hand can get paralysed in this state. This way, you cannot reflex your thumb or even touch it with other fingers.
- Reflex sympathetic dystrophy- In this condition, the patient faces a searing burning sensation and pain in the hands, legs and feet.
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome- This leads to compression of nerves in the wrist. Weakness, pain, and numbness are common in carpal tunnel syndrome.
- Secondary osteoarthritis- This kind of symptom might be common for your wrist. Pain, swelling and deformed joints will be the common symptoms of this syndrome.
- EPL- Also known as tendon tear, this stops your tendons in the thumb from moving. This will prevent it from falling close to your palm and restrict motion.
Colles Fracture Diagnosis: Here’s What to Do
The best way to diagnose a fracture in the wrist is to head to a healthcare centre and undergo an X-ray. An X-ray will effectively show you the region of bone damage and how to deal with it. Your healthcare provider might ask you different questions regarding the area of the pain and how you ended up damaging your bone to ensure proper treatment. We are listing some of the common questions for you here.
- Where do you experience the pain?
- What does the pain feel like or how severe?
- What are the symptoms you are facing?
- How do you hurt yourself?
- What are the other medications that you are taking?
- What general medications did you take as primary care after the fracture or accident?
Colles Fracture Treatment and Prognosis
Once the diagnosis and preliminary treatment are done by the healthcare provider, the next step is to focus on the realignment of the bones to heal the ache. The broken bones will be moved to their original state and then a cast will be used to ensure that the bones remain static to heal faster. A splint or brace might be used to hold them in position as well. Make sure you let your cast remain in a dry state so that the bones are not dislocated again.
If the accident is severe then your bones might need surgery to come into place. Either metal plates, screws, or pins might be used for restoring the position of the bones. Sometimes an external fixator might also be used for this purpose. There is no home cure for broken bones and Colles fractures, and hence, you need to speak to an expert and seek immediate help.
After seeking care from the emergency department, you need to consult an orthopedist for follow-up on the state of your bones. Report your symptoms from time to time for a speedy recovery.
How long do you need to heal the Colles fracture?
It depends on the state of severity of bone fracture or damage that determines how long it will take to cure. For a collapse fracture, you have to generally wear a cast for at least 6 weeks. However, healing time varies from person to person. While it might be a shorter period for certain people, for some the time of healing might be longer. For many, it might take more than a year to get cured.
Consult your healthcare expert and you might be permitted to exercise and swim after one to two months. Sometimes after this, your healthcare provider might remove the cast. However, you might be asked to rest for three to six months before being allowed to engage in vigorous activities like skiing, and football.
A Colles fracture can never heal on its own and it requires intense care with professional inputs. To create realignment in the bones and immobilisation, you need to speak to a healthcare expert immediately and seek help.
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Preventions and Precautions
Preventing something as random as Colles fracture might not be possible because accidents can happen anytime. However, you can take some safety precautions and lower the risk of encountering one somewhat.
- For instance, when you are skating, wear a wristband for support.
- When you are driving a motorcycle, wear wristband armour.
- Avoid climbing to heights or ladders as much as possible.
How to Heal Colles Fractures Optimally
You can come back to a regular lifestyle and daily activities after a bone injury like a Colles fracture. However, it might take a year or so to come back to your regular form and you must be patient with how you deal with the injury.
Your healthcare provider may even suggest some form of physical therapy. Whether managing pain, strengthening the bones, or improving movement, rehabilitation of Colles fracture exercises are very effective. These mostly include:
- stretching exercise
- strengthening exercise.
How to take primary care
Here are a few steps you can take to ensure that your pain is relieved and the fracture heals properly.
- Application of ice- If you are applying ice, make sure that it does not come directly in contact with the wrist rather you can place the cubes in a cotton clean cloth, towel, or ice bag before application.
- Elevating the arm- Elevate your arms and place them above your heart to secure a safe position and further twisting or pain.
Times when you should speak to a professional
Even if the accident is minor but you face an ache in your wrist, do not neglect it and assume that it will pass. In case of,
- Severe pain, and inability to move,
- Discoloration of your fingers or nails.
- The range of motion in your thumb gets restricted
- Numbness or tingling sensation in your finger,
consult a healthcare professional for assistance.
Bottomline
Wikipedia also published article about Injury to the bones like a Colles fracture may face significant pain or serious injury. After a fall or accident, if you face any pain then head to a healthcare expert for help. They can assess your injury and align your bones in place through casting or surgery.
Osteoporosis might escalate the pain and delay the healing process. Listen to your healthcare provider and be patient with the treatment process.
