Sprain or broken scaphoid?

Bones, joints and muscles
1

5 days ago I fell off my bike onto an outstretched hand. Got some cuts and bruises which were annoying and didn’t think much of it until the next morning when I woke up and my wrist was really stiff. By the end of the day it was agony to put any weight on it so I went to A&E. Had an x-ray which didn’t show any breaks. Was put in a splint and told to ring the fracture clinic in 2 weeks if it’s not feeling any better. Now I really don’t want to spend 2 weeks not knowing if my wrist is broken or sprained.

I was told if it’s still hurting in 2 weeks it may be a broken scaphoid bone. I have seen online that typically this would really hurt if you poke around the base of the thumb or make an okay sign and push your finger and thumb together. I don’t have this pain. It’s uncomfortable but not agony.
I still can’t put any weight onto my palm (particularly the base) or bend my hand back towards my arm as this is very painful. I also get shooting pains through the wrist and there’s a constant dull ache there. It doesn’t really feel any different to when I went to A&E.

I suppose my question is based upon my symptoms and anyone’s experience, is this likely to be a fracture or just a sprain? I know I’ll find out in 2 weeks if it’s feeling better or not but it would be extremely helpful to know if I’m likely to be in a plaster cast for weeks in terms of planning for work.
Thanks in advance!

2

Hi, sorry to hear about your painful fall.

I broke my scaphoid a year ago, initially I thought maybe a bad sprain but when I couldn’t grip anything or move my thumb much I had to get it checked and x-ray showed a clean vertical break and a horizontal crack in the scaphoid.

If you can grip and the x-ray was clear I would have thought you haven’t a fracture, but obviously I’m no expert !

I recently went right over on my ankle, huge swelling and bruising, more painful than the scaphoid fracture ! Had it xrayed but nothing broken just a severe sprain. 4 weeks on and I still have some swelling and tenderness and daren’t run on it yet. I think sprains can sometimes take longer to heal than fractures.