Scaphoid fracture

[ajlord3]

Hi

I'm currently treating a patient who previously fractured his scaphoid landing on an outstretched hand. He's progressing well and is now approaching a return to sport. He's very active and is a little concerned about when he returns to sport, particularly football.

In our most recent session he enquired about wrist protectors that he'd read about. I had to confess that I knew very little about these. On reading a little more into this topic I did come across a mention of wrist protectors in relation to snowboarding on sportsinjurybulletin.com, but very little else. Does anybody know anything more about these and where I can suggest that he may find them? Alternatively does anybody know of any other preventative measures for scaphoid fractures? Thanks

[annelizeferreira]

Hi

My view is that if he has full function of his wrist (Full painfree ROM, full strength, good proprioception, full bone healing) he would not need a wrist support. I always incorporate functional(sport related) tests to make sure the patient has the confidence to return to training without fears of re-injuring it. I always think if you need a support, should you really be on the field playing in the first place?????

In this patients case he would need to be confidant throwing,pushing, pulling and also have the ability to have good protected arm extension i.e. reaching out and taking impact through his wrist joint.

Hope this helps
A

[wutti]

hi, i would suggest that your patients only need the confidence in his wrist back. try to show him, that his wrist and bones are stabil, try some soft falls with him etc. bring him slowly back to his sport, maybe taping would be ok for some mental help. try to decrease his fear. thats most important as long as everything else is fine.
good luck