I think I broke one of the little bones in the heel of my hand a few weeks ago – not the scaphoid, the little finger side.( Fell off on the slippy limestone rocks on the final descent from Cross Fell on the North Pennines MTB Marathon – Finished though!). I’ve sort of ignored it whilst I’ve been on holiday for two weeks (although it’s been a bit painful at times, especially when riding a hired scooter). I’m wondering whether to bother going for an x-ray now or just let it sort itself out. Anyone any useful advice?

more than a few… they sort themselves out eventually assuming you have decent movement.

No point in an x-ray, all it will do is confirm the break, they won’t be able to do anything.

I broke my big toe, I did go for an X-ray, and then went home!

I’ve done it a couple of times, I got properly told off for not going to the hospital last time- apparently it was displaced and they could have set it better but by the time I got it checked it’d started to heal.

So I guess my revised rules are- if everything’s in the right place, be a manly man. If it looks a bit squashed, hospital.

Right, manly man it is. I can see me having a bit of arthritis before long though, I’ve broken both wrists in the past and haven’t had them set (didn’t realise they were broken) Sprained them both recently, too. Problem is, I fall off too much …..

Yes get it checked out. You never know what problems by arise later on.

I’ve broken a metacarpal (bone in the palm of your hand) and a scaphoid on separate occasions. The doctors seemed far more concerned about getting the scaphoid to heal, had a cast for weeks and possibility of operation. While the metacarpal they just gave me a wrist support no cast etc.

Yours might be fine on its own or it might not. Get it checked out to find out.

Broke the long bone that goes between wrist and ring finger several years ago and figured that I would like it to heal as correctly as possible so went to A&E with it.
It turned out to be a spriral fracture and ended up with it in a cast for 6 weeks. The bone is shorter than it was before the break and my hand doesn’t work as well as it used to (which is annoying, as I’m left handed).
I did debate whether it was worth ‘getting it seen to’, but I didn’t want to end up with a bone that healed incorrectly and a hand that didn’t work properly.

I got plastered up for a suspected break of some bone in my hand once as a just in case…
(over the handlebars moment)

It was pure hell the waking up with an itch… Nearly took the thing off with an angle grinder in the early hours of the morning….

I’d get it checked out if your the worrying sort, but anyway ya got 7 others leftt so no sweat.

Yes, spent 3-4 months in a splint in order to correct a Mallet fracture (tendon torn from bone), so yes IME X-rays do have there uses.

Ive done my scaphoid and my trapezoid (base of index finger) and recently also tore my ulnar collateral ligaments in my thumb.

That’s just the left hand.

Trapezoid was actually the worst and had me off the bike for almost 4 months. Physio was bloody agony but needs to be done if you don’t want lasting issues

I’ve done several scaphoids but the one with the best x-ray is the thumb which I trapped in an MX bike stand

the consultant was initially confused by the cuff-link 🙂

had a little cast on for a few weeks which got horribly grubby!

Cheers, Rich

Yeah I found that bottom wiping with a cast is interesting too

Best to use the other hand………

Base of 4th metacarpal in one hand and distal phalange on index finger in other hand. BPW back in April.

As for no use getting an x-ray, well what they were checking for was any displacement of the metacarpal as it was shoved by the adjacent finger. Surgery was likely if it had. Turned out it was fine and they weren’t bothered much by it then.

The index finger was more of an issue as the x-ray showed it up as an avulsion fracture, which is where the ligament has ripped off a bit of the bone. Needed splint to be worn for in theory 8 weeks to ensure it wasn’t damaged further.

The index finger went unnoticed at first and I just commented later that it was swollen and they looked alarmed when they saw it so x-ray straight away.

Anyway, going through all that, you then get the fracture clinic follow ups and finally offer of some physio. In my case I needed it, and really could do with more beyond the freebies they give me. Big thing is with finger fractures you can have ligament and tendon damage or the healed bone grows a larger chuck of bone than before and ligament/tendons have to be worked on to slide properly over said bony chunk, not to mention have generally seized up over time following injury. At least that’s what the physio was telling me.

Oh and I’ve done the scaphoid in one hand also. At least I think that was it. They didn’t really say which bone, but x-ray I’m sure was scaphoid. That’s an easy one, but needed a cast in my case. Still gives me gyp occasionally over a decade later though.

Yep, funnily enough although immensely satisfying in certain situations punching walls really isnt a great idea…

Broke my 5th Metacarpal and left it for a few days,was hell trying to work,driving a van was torture,eventually went to A&E on a Friday,after work,3 hours of my life i’ll never get back,but was warned i was lucky,if i had lost movement it would have been pinned but my fingers moved the way they should have so i got a lucky escape,

You ought to get it checked out. I broke one taking a catch in a cricket match when I was 18. Hurt like hell, bruising tracking up a long way. No problem.

Chipped a small bit of bone away falling off my bike a few years ago, but it was from a ‘volar plate’ and could have left me unable to bend the finger. It barely hurt more than a minor sprain.

I fractured my little finger after going over the bars (Boxer’s fracture), and was in a cast upto my elbow for 6 weeks.

Snapped the fourth metacarpal and had it pinned and in a cast for a while.

Did it a few years ago when a stray ball at a kid’s football match was face bound and I put my hand out to stop the ball. My hand swelled up and after a few days I thought something must have been broken. I saw our company doctor and he said it was probably broken and I should get it x-rayed.

I went to A&E and was told there was a two hour wait, then a father carried in an unconscious kid and I thought perhaps my swollen hand was not that critical! Have a small lump there now but healed OK on its own. No idea what it is called but it is the wrist side of the little finger.

Not the clearest but the base of one of the thumb bones.
Left it a week by which time it was too swollen to operate. It’s set 95% where it should be but there is something not that right as I get a numb hand after an hour or so on the road bike. So get it checked.

Broken at base of my thumb. Waited a few weeks before going to get it seen to and an X ray. I was told there was nothing could be done for it as left to long. I now sport a huge hard lump where my thumb joins my hand. Still hurts every now and then depending on what work I am doing 10 years later. Also broke a knuckle had a cast put on. No problems it just looks sunken when hand is outstretched.

eskay – Member
I went to A&E and was told there was a two hour wait, then a father carried in an unconscious kid and I thought perhaps my swollen hand was not that critical!

Unconscious or semi-conscious is a good way to get in quick. Better if arriving in an ambulance. Quickest I’ve ever been through A&E 😀 (not that I remember it though).

Normal though average 3 hours.

Merthyr A&E was only an hour wait though and quick to do x-ray and stick a cast on. They’re slower in Surrey.

Mikewsmith I have only noticed your post. That is pretty much where I broke my thumb 10 or so years ago. Did not mend well at all and still pains me. The big lump at the base has been there since it cracked and healed like that.
Thumbs up mate.

This even. Doh.

I bust my thumb last Xmas just above the knuckle and it took about 5/6weeks for the pain to go away. Almost lost my nail too, but that’s just about grown out now..
CBA with Doctors. But yours sounds a little more complex.