ORIF of the wrist... any experiences? pain and scarring?!

ORIF of the wrist... any experiences? pain and scarring?

I have a distal radius fracture, and may have to go in early this week for an ORIF with a plate and screws. I am terrified. I would like to hear from other people who have gone through this, and what their experiences were like.
Some of my fears involve pain and scarring.. Is the pain after surgery very painful? Is it worst then actually breaking it? What about scarring? Does it fade over time? Is this a risky procedure? Any final advice?

Thank you

Hello- I work around patients that have ORIF everything! I can tell you for sure that you dont need to be scared abotu this procedure. All they are going to do is put plates and screws in your wrist bones to keep them together. Post surgery you may feel a little bit of discomfort, pretty much the same as when you had the fracture, but it feels better after time. Depending on how bad the fracture is, they may even take the hardwear out in a few months time. There may be a little scaring but nothing to worry about if you are at a younger age. The only thing risky with this procedure is that you need to be careful post surgery for a little while so that the bone will heal properly. aka, no strenuous activities or hardcore sports for the first couple months or so. But you should be fine if you are careful. Good luck with the surgery.