wrist fracture won't heal! help!

[bball55]

3 weeks ago, i was playing basketball and fell on my wrist.  There was no sharp pain at 1st so i didn't even know i had injured it.  at night, when i had put pressure on it, there was some pain, which led me to believe it was just a minor sprain.

now fast forward 2 weeks, and the wrist hasn't drastically improved, so i went to the family doctor and got an x ray.  he told me that i had micro fractured the tip of the ulna and it is unable to heal b/c i didn't take proper care of it.  now there is muscle tissue in between the fracture, which is why when i move my wrist in a certain direction, it makes a cracking sound, though the pain isn't unbearable.  he said something like "if the tip that was fractured was removed, there wouldn't be a problem, but now it probably wont grow together on its own" or along those lines.

he is not a surgeon and doesn't specialize in this field.  i do not have health insurance, and i'm not doing too great financially.  what is my next play?  i do have the x rays with me and i could scan it on here if you're willing to take a look.

[antmann]

A related discussion, I hurt parts of my hand/wrist, my doctor told me it was only a sprain, please help me with my question? was started.

[bball55]

Hi,

it has been determined that the wrist hasn't been fractured, that the bone hanging out has been there since birth, and is common thing.

the problem is, i hurt the ligament, and the specialist told me to wait another 3-4 weeks to see if there is still pain, other wise mri.

it has already be almost 3 weeks, and there is just one part of the ulnar styloid that doesn't seem to be healing.

overall since the injury, it has been nearly 7 weeks.  will i need surgery to repair this ligament problem or could it heal on its own.  i dont have health insurance.

[Michael L Gross, MD]

While you do have a fracture of the ulna styloid, your symptoms could also be caused by a soft tissue injury (such as an injury to the triangular fibrocartilage complex, TFCC) that cannot be seen on Xray.  I would recommend evaluation by an orthopedist, preferably a hand specialist, as soon as possible.

[bball55]

here are the x rays:

http://i719.photobucket.com/albums/ww198/pokertoker/wrist4a.jpg

http://i719.photobucket.com/albums/ww198/pokertoker/wrist3.jpg

http://i719.photobucket.com/albums/ww198/pokertoker/wrist2a.jpg

http://i719.photobucket.com/albums/ww198/pokertoker/wrist2.jpg

http://i719.photobucket.com/albums/ww198/pokertoker/wrist1aa.jpg