Is my hand broken, do I need to go to A&E?

Question

Okay, here's what happened: I got my GCSE results yesterday... and they weren't very good. So, to punish myself, I hit my wrist really hard with a baseball bat. I know - bad idea - I wish I hadn't done it.

Anyway, it's been a day and my hand's still really swollen up and covered in bruises. I can move it okay, but it really hurts. Am I just being pathetic, or do you think I should go down to the hospital for an X ray? Opinions please. Comments telling me I'm ''emo'' won't be appreciated and will be ignored. Thanks for reading. x

Answer 1

Yes please go to A&E and have your wrist checked.  You are not being pathetic.  I am sorry that your GCSE results were not as good as you would have liked.  I hope there is someone at your school or college that can advise you on your options. Take care. X      

Answer 2

Get down to A&E pronto anonymous 16 year old girl.

Whatever the injury you are not best placed to decide the outcome.

And don't beat yourself up (pardon the pun) over your results. They are just a moment in your hopefully long life. You will have more opportunities to improve your lot if that is your wish.

Get your coat on now and off you go. I would come with you to see that you are OK but this is answers so I cannot. But if I were your dad I would be putting my coat on and coming with you.

Take care of yourself and when you leaveA&E buy yourself a little treat to cheer yourself up.

Answer 3

Get an x-ray, even if it is not broken it may be fractured and if it is not treated you may end up permanently disabled.

Answer 4

First off, I'm sorry to hear about your results.  But it's not the end of the world, you have years ahead of you to achieve the results you want, and remember there are many people who have done well in life without a single qualification to there name. Although I see you would like to do well, so this should encourage you for next year and I'm certain you will do great.!!!

As for your hand, being able to move it doesn't necessarily mean that its not broken.  I would go along to A&E and get it checked out, as a badly healed injury could give you many problems.

I broke my ankle, years ago, running down stairs, and my friend, who is a paramedic, told me it was definitely broken and to go get it fixed.  I was all, "It'll be fine".  Now I cant wiggle my toes.  Not a great problem, but I'd rather not have this unresponsive flipper foot.!!

So better safe than sorry.

Go get it checked out.

Edit:

Who the h**l went around giving all the answers bad ratings?? Whats their advice??? Wait till it goes black and smells a bit???  How can you possibly say encouraging someone to have an injury treated is bad advice???? Idiot.!!

Answer 5

I would go to casualty if I were you.

Answer 6

Normally, I don't venture out of the comics & animation section much, but I just happened to see this question as I logged in & it caught my attention.  You see, I am a registered radiographer, so I x-ray stuff like this all the time.  So, I will tell you what I would tell one of my relatives if it were me:

1) I really get tired of the phrase "it may not be broken, but it could still be fractured".  A fracture is a break, & the terms are used synonymously in medicine.  I know this isn't answering your question, but it's a little pet peeve of mine.  The differentiation people try to make is they believe a break is broken all the way through, & a fracture isn't.  Wrong!  In truth, there are a multitude of different fracture types that can be caused by different injuries, & a doctor may say you have a fracture.  So, if he does, don't be a dipstick & tell yourself "at least it isn't broken".  Just recently, I had a patient with a boxer's fracture.  Typically, these fractures snap the bone completely apart.  We often get people with fractured mandibles (lower jaws), & these are almost always in 3 different pieces.  So, for anyone who reads this, a fracture is a break.

2) That said, as much as I hate to say it, it sounds like you do need to have this evaluated by a physician, & he will most likely have it x-rayed.  Until you can get to the hospital, try to keep it as stable as possible.  Should you have a severe fracture (break for those who didn't read the first part), there is a chance you could tear a vein, artery, or nerve if you keep moving it around too much.  Typically, such a fracture would have a characteristic "S-curve" to the wrist, but this wouldn't necessarily be the case with a mild fracture.  Don't delay too long, either, because if this heals back incorrectly, it's possible the arm may have to be broken again & reset in a more proper position.

3) When you see the doctor, be sure to be honest about what happened to your wrist.  This is important for two reasons.  First, knowing what type of injury was inflicted on the part helps rule out a multitude of pathologies, narrowing down what the radiologist has to look for when he reads the radiograph.  Second, I'm not going to call you something stupid like "emo" (I tend to find this term to be idiotic & it reminds me of emus), but knowing you inflicted this injury on yourself may help the doctor get you the proper psychological counseling you need.  I'm sure I don't have to tell you it isn't normal to beat yourself over a test score, & I would bet if you heard someone else did this, you would think they needed to get help.  So, you need help before this pattern continues & destroys your life.  Plus, people in my field would much rather know people like you are talking to psychiatrists than giving themselves senseless injuries & making more work for us.  It isn't like we get paid on commission, so we would just as soon treat people who have accidents & illnesses as people who hurt themselves intentionally.  You can not appreciate this & ignore it if you like, but it's hard to ignore the truth, & the truth is you need counseling if you're beating yourself with a ball bat.

4) Now, that said, if you won't seek counseling, get into an activity where you can focus your self-loathing.  Personally, I recommend getting a heavy bag & doing a boxing workout.  Trust me, we all have bad days, including me.  However, when I feel like beating myself up (figuratively, not literally), I wrap my hands tight, put on my bag gloves, & do a few rounds on the heavy bag until my arms feel numb.  Trust me, the equipment's cheaper than visiting the E.R., & if you don't have health insurance, those of us paying taxes would appreciate you taking your frustrations out on a heavy bag & easing our tax burden of paying senseless medical bills.

     I know, I'm not likely to get best answer for this, but no one can say I'm not honest.  I do think you need medical attention for both the wrist pain & the psychological issues which caused your injury.  Also, I'm not sure what a GSCE is, but I imagine it's similar to the ACT, PSATs, or ASVAB I took when I was in high school.  If that's the case, trust me, a bad score isn't the end of the world.  If you can retake the test, study harder.  If you can't, make the most out of any opportunity you have.  If you can't go to college, there's always the military, & that could be more therapeutic than 10 psychiatrists.

Answer 7

Well you know how silly a thing that was, now down to A & E, you have some small bones in your hand that could be broken. Go and make sure. I don`t think you`ll be doing that again in a hurry will you.

Answer 8

have an xray i broke my foot but thought ut was ok as i could walk on it but my mum took me to the hospital and cuz i left it I'm on and of crutches for my life x

Answer 9

even if its not broken i think you should go to A&E or at least your doctor to get it checked over.

it was a silly thing to do, and i hope you have learnt your lesson. so they weren't the grades you were looking for...its ok, you can retake. as long as you tried in the exams thats all that matters. don't beat yourself up about it!