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Suggest Treatment For Pins And Needles On Wrist After Treated Fracture
Hi, 3 weeks ago I fell in my wrist & was told I d probably fractured my scaphoid bone. It was put in a Velcro cast for 10 days & told to come back to fracture clinic for it re xraying & they would decide the course if treatment from there. When I attended clinic I was told I wouldn t need an X-ray as they were certain from my original X-ray that I hadn t broken anything, to take my cast off & get it moving again. I mentioned I had a numbness and pins & needles in my thumb but that was put down to the cast I d had on. One week later, I still have a numbness/pins & needles in my thumb & my wrist continues to ache/throb. Is this normal or do I need to go back & be seen again? I don t want to waste anyone s time.
Wed, 1 Jul 2015
dear patient,
a needles and pins sensation is generally due to a nerve compression/irritation. if it wasn't due to the cast (that's a possibility), probably your trauma provoked an hematoma pressing on a nerve (median nerve? collateral nerve of the thumb? it depends on numbness distribution). I propose to wait a month from the trauma. If this sensation persist, get an electromyography/electroneurography to objectivate the nerve injury. if positive, do a RMN of wrist and hand to understand the cause (ie. hematoma) and project its possible removal.
concerning instead your doubt about a scaphoid fracture, I don't know which xray projections you did (scaphoid fractures are hard to be seen in standard xrays). however, if your wrist remained very painful for 10-15 days after the trauma, a scaphoid xray projection or, better, a wrist CT, would solve your doubts
a needles and pins sensation is generally due to a nerve compression/irritation. if it wasn't due to the cast (that's a possibility), probably your trauma provoked an hematoma pressing on a nerve (median nerve? collateral nerve of the thumb? it depends on numbness distribution). I propose to wait a month from the trauma. If this sensation persist, get an electromyography/electroneurography to objectivate the nerve injury. if positive, do a RMN of wrist and hand to understand the cause (ie. hematoma) and project its possible removal.
concerning instead your doubt about a scaphoid fracture, I don't know which xray projections you did (scaphoid fractures are hard to be seen in standard xrays). however, if your wrist remained very painful for 10-15 days after the trauma, a scaphoid xray projection or, better, a wrist CT, would solve your doubts
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