
Your doctor can give you a more specific timeline based on your injury and overall health. You might also feel lingering stiffness for up to two years.
Colles fracture healing time full#
Keep in mind that full recovery can take a year or more, especially for more severe wrist injuries. You can start working your way back up to your previous activity level within about three to six months, depending on your injury. After enough time has passed and your surgeon is convinced that enough healing. Once the cast is off, it’ll be about one or two months before you can return to low-impact physical activities, such as swimming. Colles Fracture: A Colles Fracture will be the direct result of falling. In this injury, there is a complete fracture of the distal radius (typically the last two centimeters) usually accompanied by damage to the ulnar collateral ligament or the ulnar styloid process. Depending on the extent of the fracture, you might need to keep the cast on for a few weeks or a couple of months. Reading time: 7 minutes The Colles fracture, the most common fracture of the wrist, was first described by Abraham Colles in 1814. Your doctor will likely follow up with regular X-rays every few weeks to get an idea of how things are healing.

You may need a new cast if it starts to feel loose after the swelling subsides.įor more severe fractures requiring surgery, you’ll go straight into a cast after the procedure. If you need a cast, it’ll stay on for a few weeks while the swelling continues to go down and the bone heals. You may need to wear a splint to prevent your wrist from moving too much during this time. These are fractures you can sustain in the small bones. During this fracture, the broken bone is bent outwards or backwards. Generally, you’ll have swelling in your outer wrist for a few days. A Colles' fracture occurs in the forearm or wrist. You will be placed in either a cast or a. You will usually be asked not to drink or eat anything for 6 12 hours before the procedure. At the first post-operative visit, your stitches will be removed. Let your health care provider know about any cold, flu, fever, herpes breakout, or other illness you may have before your surgery. TIP: The ends of muscles turn into the tendons that attach to your bones. This may be several weeks, depending on your healing. Because we can control them, they are considered active structures. Muscles are what let us move and control our body movements. This is where the Colles’ fracture falls. There is a distinct bump in the wrist similar to the neck of the fork.

The side view of a wrist after a Colles fracture is sometimes compared to the shape of a fork facing down. The healing time associated with an ulnar styloid fracture depends on how severe the fracture is and whether any other bones were fractured. Whether it be cracked, chipped, or broken into 2 or more pieces. A Colles fracture may result from direct impact to the palm, like if you use your hands to break up a fall and land on the palms.
