Broken wrist

Yes, badly broken, I had an op to pin it all back together. It was several weeks before the swelling in my hand and fingers went down, I couldn't make my thumb touch my fingers for a few weeks. Could not make a fist.

I took pain killers, and got a small physio ball to practice squeezing. When the plaster came off it felt bad, so I had an elastic bandage on at first to still give some support.

You really need to do exercises every day quite a lot , it will gradually get better. You need to force it a bit at first, the physio made me push it, which I was scared to do. YouTube is helpful - see www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHepbNzZRhQT

Now mine is fine, several years on. Keep doing the exercises and if worried, ask to see a physio again.

been about 12 years since I broke my right wrist ,I was given a small ball to use while the cast was still on and after it came off it didn't take long for the wrist to get back to normal.Unfortunately they missed a small fracture in my thumb so it healed badly and I have very limited movement of it ,doesn't affect most things except my cake decorating which is sadly curtailed to simple designs nowadays .Just persevere with the exercises and it will be fine much sooner than you expect

Yes, Hooty, I remember it well! I had so much looked forward to having the cast removed and was appalled at how useless and feeble my wrist and hand felt when it actually happened.

Have you seen a physiotherapist in addition to being given an exercise sheet? I was told it was a month wait to get an appointment so I immediately saw a private physio as I was so concerned about getting full use of my hand back. It was more than worth the cost (£60, about 10 years ago) just to be given some reassuring advice and some supervised exercises to begin with.

I religiously did the exercises for the several weeks until I saw the NHS physio who then introduced me to some more rigorous ones. I thought she was a callous monster and was several times reduced to tears during our sessions - but she knew what she was about! The trick is to stick to the exercise routine. I took two bricks and a can of beans on holiday so I could be sure of having my 'props' at hand!

It will take time but the use will come back. For ages, I was scared on a sort of subconscious level that any undue strain on the wrist would cause it to fracture again. It won't! Honest.
Practise wringing out a wet cloth, typing on a proper keyboard - anything that utilises and flexes the wrist. The activity that took longest to achieve was fastening my own bra.

Mine was a very complex fracture and, a decade on, I have occasional problems straightening my thumb but, other than that, it's fine.
Good luck.