Is this your symptom?
- Injury to the hand or wrist
- Injury to a bone, muscle, joint, or ligament
- Excluded: muscle pain caused by too much exercise or work (overuse). Covered in Hand or Wrist Pain care guide.
Types of Hand or Wrist Injuries
- Fractures are broken bones. A broken bone will be tender to touch and may look misshapen. You will not be able to move the injured area without pain. Fractures often occur due to falls, sports injuries and direct blows. The small bones in the wrist can be fractured as well as the bones in the hand and fingers. After a fracture, if the bones were moved out of place, they may heal in that position. This could affect your use of the wrist or hand in the future. Surgery may be needed to fix the break and reset its position.
- Dislocations happen when a bone is pulled out of its joint socket. Dislocated wrists are less common than dislocated shoulders, but they do occur. This can also happen in small bones in the hands and fingers.
- Sprains are stretches and tears of ligaments or tendons. They can occur along with a fracture or without one.
- Strains are stretches and tears of muscles.
- Muscle Overuse. Muscle pain can occur without an injury. There is no fall or direct blow. Muscle overuse is from hard work or sports (such as a sore wrist).
- Muscle or Soft Tissue Bruise from a direct blow
- Bone Bruise from a direct blow
- Skin Injury. Examples are a cut, scratch, scrape or bruise. Wounds to the hands need checked carefully. Damage to blood flow or nerves can affect your use of the hands in the future.
- Nail Injuries. Fingernail injuries can occur due to a direct blow which causes bruising under the nail or the nail being torn. A bruise forms from bleeding under the nail. The nail will look black and will be painful. If pain is severe, it may be possible to drain the blood with a simple procedure.
Pain Scale
- Mild: you feel some pain, but it does not keep you from most normal activities. Work, activities and sleep are not changed.
- Moderate: the pain keeps you from doing some normal activities. It may wake you up from sleep.
- Severe: the pain is very bad. It keeps you from doing all normal activities.
When to Call for Hand or Wrist Injury
Call 911 Now
Go to ER Now
Call Doctor or Seek Care Now
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Contact Doctor Within 24 Hours
Contact Doctor During Office Hours
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Self Care at Home
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Call 911 Now
- Serious injury with many broken bones
- Wrist, hand or fingers have been crushed
- Major bleeding that can't be stopped
- Bone or object is sticking through the skin
- You think you have a life-threatening emergency
Go to ER Now
- Can't move the wrist or hand at all
- Hand or wrist looks crooked or deformed
- Loss of feeling in any part of the hand or wrist
- Hand or fingers are pale (could be from lack of blood flow)
- A puncture injury. An object (broken glass, nail) has gone into the skin.
- Large or deep cut that will need many stitches
Call Doctor or Seek Care Now
- Severe pain
- You have wound and No past tetanus shots
- Cut over knuckles of the hand
- You think you need to be seen, and the problem is urgent
Contact Doctor Within 24 Hours
- Very large bruise or swelling
- Can't move the wrist, hand or fingers normally
- Increasing pain, redness or swelling around the wound
- Pain not starting to get better after 3 days
- Wound is dirty or hard to clean and it is MORE than 5 years since your last tetanus shot
- Clean minor wound and have NOT had a tetanus shot within the past 10 years
- You think you need to be seen, but the problem is not urgent
Contact Doctor During Office Hours
- Injury limits work, sports or other activities
- Pain lasts more than 2 weeks
- You have other questions or concerns
Self Care at Home
- Sore muscle or bruise from direct blow
- Minor hand or wrist injury
Care Advice for Stomach Pain
What You Should Know About Stomach Pain:
- Mild stomach pain can be caused by something simple. It could be from gas pains or eating too much.
- Sometimes, stomach pain signals the start of a viral infection. This will lead to vomiting or loose stools.
- Watching your child for 2 hours will help tell you the cause.
- Here is some care advice that should help.
Lie Down:
- Have your child lie down and rest until feeling better.
Clear Fluids:
- Offer clear fluids only (such as water, flat soft drinks or half-strength Gatorade).
- For mild pain, offer a regular diet.
Prepare for Vomiting:
- Keep a vomiting pan handy.
- Younger children often talk about stomach pain when they have nausea. Nausea is the sick stomach feeling that comes before they throw up.
Pass a Stool:
- Have your child sit on the toilet and try to pass a stool.
- This may help if the pain is from constipation or diarrhea.
- Note: for constipation, moving a warm wet cotton ball on the anus may help.
Do Not Give Medicines:
- Any drug (like ibuprofen) could upset the stomach and make the pain worse.
- Do not give any pain medicines or laxatives for stomach cramps.
- For fever higher than 102° F (39° C), acetaminophen (such as Tylenol) can be given.
What to Expect:
- With harmless causes, the pain is most often better or gone in 2 hours.
- With stomach flu, belly cramps may happen before each bout of vomiting or diarrhea. These cramps may come and go for a few days.
- With serious causes (such as appendicitis), the pain worsens and becomes constant.
Call Your Doctor If:
- Pain becomes severe
- Constant pain lasts more than 2 hours
- Mild pain that comes and goes lasts more than 24 hours
- You think your child needs to be seen
- Your child becomes worse
Extra Help - Worried Stomach:
- Help your child talk about events that trigger the stomach pain. Talk to your child about how to cope with these the next time around.
- Help your child worry less about things she can't control.
- To treat the pain, help your child get very relaxed. Lying down in a quiet place and taking slow deep breaths may help. Make the belly go up and down with each breath. Then try to relax all the muscles in the body. Think about something pleasant. Listening to audios that teach how to relax might also help.
- Make sure your child gets enough sleep.
- Make sure that your child doesn't miss any school because of stomach pains. Stressed children tend to want to stay home when the going gets rough.
- Caution: your child should see her doctor for an exam. Do this before concluding frequent stomach pains are from worrying too much.
