Broken wrist, swelling and color.?!
Question: Hello again, I broke my wrist about 5 days ago. I had to have an operation on it, to put a metal plate in. Its been about 4 days since then and i have intense swelling of my hand, below the fingers down to about 3/4 down my arm. Today when i was looking at it, I noticed that the whole arm, well at least the part that is swelling up, is a gross yellow color. I have phoned my Dr. and im going in tomorrow, Im just wondering, What do you think he will do/say, Im pretty worried that something super bad is going to happen like i will have to get my hand amputated
Answers: Hello again, I broke my wrist about 5 days ago. I had to have an operation on it, to put a metal plate in. Its been about 4 days since then and i have intense swelling of my hand, below the fingers down to about 3/4 down my arm. Today when i was looking at it, I noticed that the whole arm, well at least the part that is swelling up, is a gross yellow color. I have phoned my Dr. and im going in tomorrow, Im just wondering, What do you think he will do/say, Im pretty worried that something super bad is going to happen like i will have to get my hand amputated
I had surgery on my wrist and it sounds like you have post-opp trauma. Don't worry -- you won't need amputation.
You need to keep your arm from elbow below ELEVATED above your heart. ABOVE your heart. Not on the level with your heart. This is hard when you are sleeping. If you can't sleep sitting up, get a bunch of pillows to put under your arm. I walked around with my whole arm resting on top of my head when the swelling got real bad.
You need to be taking anti-inflammatories -- your doc should have prescribed some or maybe he said to take a product such as Tylenol.
ICE is your friend. It will help reduce the swelling and even though it hurts like heck in the beginning, it will ease pain after about 15-20 minutes.
Do consult the doc, though. Don't take anything over the Internet as your end-all, be-all word on it.
Oh, forgot about the shower. Use an empty, clean bread bag. Put your arm in it and secure it around the top by shoving it into your surgical cast or tying it lightly with a strip torn out of an old t-shirt and knotted.