Who should I go to and why?

Often the first port of call for kids and parents following a broken bone is their General Practitioner or GP. 

GP’s can respond to the immediate fracture by immobilising it in a temporary cast; however this is often hot, bulky and impractical. As GP’s have to have a broad range of knowledge about lots of conditions, they also may not treat fractured bones very often. This means that in many cases the casts that are put on at GP clinics place the bone in the wrong position, may be too tight or too loose and not provide the right amount of protection. 

Even when a GP says a cast they have put on is okay, this may not always be the case. If a cast is not right and is left on a broken bone for an extended period of time, they can cause more problems on top of the original fracture. These can include: 

• Non-healed or displaced (moved) fractures 

• Nerve compressions 

• Pressure to soft tissues in hand 

• Stiffness 

• Reduced movement 

Hand Therapists are experts in the assessment, diagnosis and management of all types of broken bones affecting the arm and hand. Unlike GP’s, we only have to focus our energy on learning everything and anything to do with our arms and hands. This means we have a lot of knowledge and experience around broken bones in the fingers, hand, wrist, arm, elbow and shoulder! 

We can:

• Review x-rays and symptoms and assess bony healing

• Help determine good positioning of bones 

We also have additional training and some tools that are not available to GP’s to best manage broken bones. These include:

• Splinting and casting skills to maintain bones in the right position for healing 

• Expertise in managing things associated with fractures including pain, swelling, stiffness and reduced strength 

• Deciding when and how much movement to allow following a broken bone 

• Regaining the maximum amount of function and use after a broken bone 

Because we dedicate our whole careers to managing only arm and hand conditions, we base all our treatments on the best available evidence and have experience working with broken bones of all ages!

If you or your child has a broken bone and have seen a GP but aren’t quite sure where to next, we would ALWAYS recommend contacting a Hand Therapist to get everything checked. This can prevent any problems down the line and ensure you / your family member has the absolute best outcome possible following any broken bone!