Your orthopaedic surgeon will describe what options are right for you. Wrist guards worn on the forearms may help to prevent some fractures, but they will not prevent them all. Older patients who have problems keeping their balance need special attention to prevent falls. The best prevention is to maintain good bone health and avoid osteoporosis and falls. They can happen even in healthy bones if the trauma was severe enough (for example, a car accident or a fall off a bike). Many distal radius fractures in people over 60 are due to osteoporosis (decreased density of the bones) if the fall was relatively minor (a fall from a standing position). A fracture is more difficult to treat if it is intra-articular, open or comminuted. If the bone is broken into more than two pieces, it is called a comminuted fracture. ("Articular" means "joint.") If the fractured bone breaks the skin, it is called an open fracture. If the fracture extends into the joint, it is called an intra-articular fracture if it does not, it is called an extra-articular fracture. The fracture is almost always about 1 inch from the end of the bone. The doctor will take an X-ray of the wrist. This fracture was first described by an Irish surgeon and anatomist, Abraham Colles, in 1814 hence the name, "Colles' " fracture.Ī broken wrist usually causes pain and swelling, and frequently causes a deformity, causing the wrist to look bent. When this happens, it is called a distal ulna fracture. Sometimes, the other forearm bone (the ulna) is also broken. It can also happen in a car accident, a bike accident, a skiing accident, and similar situations. The break usually happens when you fall and land on your outstretched hands. In fact, the radius is the most commonly broken bone in the arm. Therefore, the medical term for the most common type of "broken wrist" is a distal radius fracture (that is, the larger forearm bone is broken near the wrist). The medical term for "broken bone" is fracture. The end of the bone nearest the wrist is called the distal end. When someone falls on their outstretched hand, they sometimes get a "broken wrist." The bone that is usually broken is called the radius.
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