Wrist Fracture Plate Surgery: Recovery Week by Week
A plate on a broken wrist exists so the joint can move while the bone heals. Move early, load late. Plus the tendon complication that can turn up a year after a perfect operation.
Fracture
Scaphoid Surgery Recovery: Why Union Is Confirmed on CT
A screw holds a scaphoid still but can’t supply blood, which is why this bone heals slowly and unreliably. Union is confirmed on CT, not X-ray, and that distinction decides when you can safely load the wrist.
PIP Fracture-Dislocation: The Finger Injury With a Six-Week Clock
A chip off the front edge of the finger’s middle joint leaves it sliding backwards out of position, and it destroys the joint within months. It only shows on a true side-on X-ray of that one finger.
Bennett’s and Rolando Fractures: Breaks at the Base of the Thumb
A fracture at the very base of the thumb runs into the joint and has a muscle pulling it out of place, which is why it usually needs fixing rather than casting. The goal is a smooth joint surface, not just a healed bone.
Crushed Fingertip: Tuft Fractures and Nail Bed Injuries
A fingertip crushed in a door or under a hammer. The tuft fracture heals on its own; the nail bed underneath is the part with a deadline, and whether the nail is split or lifted is what decides it.
Broken Finger: Why Rotation Matters More Than the X-Ray
The check that matters after a broken finger isn’t on the X-ray. Make a loose fist: if a finger crosses over its neighbor, the bone is rotated, and rotation is the one deformity a finger can’t work around.
Olecranon Fracture: The Break at the Point of Your Elbow
A fall onto the point of the elbow. Whether you can straighten your arm against gravity decides whether this is a splint or an operation, and the metalwork sits under skin with nothing to pad it.
Radial Head Fracture: Why Moving It Early Matters More Than Resting It
The commonest adult elbow fracture, often hiding behind a normal-looking X-ray. What decides treatment is whether the fragment blocks rotation, and what decides your outcome is how early you start moving it.
Forearm Fracture Recovery: Why Rotation Is the Number That Matters
Adult forearm fractures are plated because the forearm is a rotating joint, and a bone healing slightly the wrong shape costs you rotation permanently. Plus the two single-bone fractures that hide a dislocation at the other end.
Hook of Hamate Fracture: The Bone Break Most Standard X-Rays Miss
Deep pain in the heel of the palm after a golf, bat or racquet impact, with a normal X-ray. Standard wrist films miss this fracture routinely, and the untreated version sits on a nerve and saws at a tendon.