Colles’ Fracture: Don’t Strike Out When You Break Your Wrist
You walk out of your house, trip on the sidewalk and attempt to break your fall with an outstretched arm.
Immediately afterward, you notice pain, swelling and an inability to move your wrist.
You have likely just sustained a broken wrist (or Colles’ fracture), one of the most common types of broken bones.
In this article, we’ll discuss:
- What is a Colles’ fracture
- Causes and risk factors
- Types of Colles’ fractures
- Treatment Options
- Healing and Rehabilitation
What is a Colles’ Fracture?
Colles’ fractures, named for the Irish surgeon who first described them in 1814, involve a break in the large bone of your forearm, close to the end where the bone connects with the wrist.
With a Colles’ fracture, the end of the bone in your forearm often gets pushed backward. This usually makes your wrist look bent or out of shape.
You might even see a bump on the back of your wrist where the bone has shifted. It’s like the bone has moved out of its normal position, making your wrist look different from usual.
Causes and Risk Factors
- Usually caused by a fall
- Common in sports requiring forward momentum, such as skiing, skating, and biking
- Occur in people with osteoporosis (thinning of the bones)
- Associated with poor muscle strength, low muscle mass, calcium or vitamin D deficiency
Types of Colles’ Fractures
There are four different types of Colles’ fractures:
- Extra-Articular Fracture: The break doesn’t extend into the wrist joint.
- Intra-Articular Fracture: The break extends into the wrist joint.
- Open Fracture: The bone pierces the skin.
- Comminuted Fracture: The bone splinters into more than two pieces.
Treatment and Recovery
Treatment Options
The type of Colles’ fracture you sustain determines the type of treatment you get for your wrist.
Complicated breaks may need surgery, while simpler breaks can be treated with a splint or cast, elevation, ice and rest.
Proper management is crucial to ensure effective healing and restore function to your wrist.
– Non-Surgical Treatments
For simpler Colles’ fractures, the following non-surgical treatments are often recommended.
- Splint or Cast: A splint or cast helps immobilize the wrist and forearm, allowing the bones to heal in the correct position. The type of immobilization depends on the fracture’s specific nature and alignment.
- Elevation: Keeping the injured wrist elevated above heart level helps reduce swelling and improves circulation to the affected area.
- Ice: Applying ice packs to the injured area can help manage pain and reduce swelling. It’s generally recommended to apply ice for 15-20 minutes at a time, several times a day.
- Rest: Resting the injured wrist and avoiding activities that could stress the fracture are essential for proper healing.
– Surgical Treatments
For more complicated fractures, or if the bones are not properly aligned with non-surgical treatments, surgical intervention may be necessary.
- Reduction Surgery: This involves realigning the fractured bones into their correct position. This can be done through an open procedure where an incision is made, or through a minimally invasive procedure using special instruments.
- Internal Fixation: After realignment, the bones may need to be stabilized with internal fixation devices such as plates, screws, or rods. This helps maintain proper alignment during the healing process.
- External Fixation: In some cases, an external fixator may be used. This involves attaching rods and pins outside the body to hold the bones in place.
Follow-Up Care
- Regular Check-Ups: Follow-up visits with your healthcare provider are important to monitor the healing process and make any necessary adjustments to the treatment plan.
- Rehabilitation: Once the fracture has healed sufficiently, a physical therapy program may be recommended to restore strength, flexibility, and range of motion to the wrist and surrounding areas.
Each treatment plan is tailored to the individual based on the fracture’s characteristics and overall health, aiming to ensure optimal recovery and function.
Healing and Rehabilitation
A wrist fracture can take several months to more than a year to fully heal, but with pain-free exercise as part of a rehabilitation program, you can have your wrist back in action, more flexible and stronger than before.
That’s where physical therapy comes in.
Importance of Physical Therapy After a Colles’ Fracture
– Why Physical Therapy Matters
Recovering from a Colles’ fracture isn’t just about letting the bone heal — it’s about getting back to doing the things you love without pain or stiffness holding you back.
After your wrist has healed enough to start moving again, physical therapy helps you regain strength and flexibility, so you can get back to feeling like yourself.
– How Physical Therapy Helps
During physical therapy, you’ll work with a trained physical therapist who will guide you through exercises designed just for you.
A good physical therapy program can usually help reduce pain and stiffness and increase range of motion in your fingers, wrist and elbow.
Here’s how:
- Weight-bearing exercises, such as jogging, can strengthen the bones in the lower half of your body
- Strength-training routines, such as weight-lifting, can do the same for your upper body
- Both will go a long way toward preventing falls that might result in a Colles’ fracture.
These exercises help reduce stiffness, improve range of motion, and rebuild the muscles in your wrist, hand, and arm.
Benefits Beyond Healing
The benefits of physical therapy go beyond just the immediate healing.
It helps prevent future injuries by strengthening the muscles around your wrist and improving your balance, which reduces the risk of another fall.
Plus, you’ll learn tips and tricks for keeping your wrist healthy in the long run.
Did you know you have Direct Access* to Physical Therapy? No referral, no problem!
Get Started Today
Remember, you’re not alone in this journey.
You’ve got this, and we’re here to help every step of the way.
The Jackson Clinics serves 18 locations throughout Northern Virginia.
Find one near you: https://thejacksonclinics.com/locations/