Boxers Fracture

[chathamf]

Anyone get this injury before? It's caused by punching something (wall, head, etc) very hard and breaking the bone that goes up your hand towards your knuckle. Mostly happens when people get into fights without really knowing what their doing.

Anyways, unfortunetly back in Feb I was really drunk and got into a scrap and broke it. I didn't have health care with any province at that time so I didn't bother to go to a doctor. It seemed to heal okay, but there is a bump in my hand where the bone cracked, and now that I have started to workout again and do some physical work it is bothering me a little.

Just wondering if anyones had the injury, and if they still had any pain this much after?

[Shlade]

Is it right on your hand or on the top of your hand right by the wrist?

[spike98]

I've had my fifth metacarpal fractured before. Being an idiot i figured it wasnt broken and didnt go to the doctor. There isnt much they can do for that type of injury anyways.

It will bother you, forever. Especially when the weather changes. Just yourself some pain killers and suck it up.

[hukgwai]

did that in my younger years and glad i went to the hospital. my hand needed to be rebroke and they had to shave down the bones (surgery was called an open reduction of the 5th midshaft medicarpal) and then put in pins through the knuckle. if you don't, there is a possibility your hand wont heal properly and be really fragile (bones aren't perfectly straight in alignment) and break again easily if you choose to throw fists. You could could have quite the unsightly lump in coming years. essentially, a month of hell, but worth it in the future. i would suggest getting an expert opinion, sometimes you won't require a rebreak (a tad painfull) and just need a splint with a tensor bandage.

nevermind, i didn't completely read your post... mine was a break and the bone shifted. my appologies

[Chandler_Racing]

Originally posted by spike98
I've had my fifth metacarpal fractured before. Being an idiot i figured it wasnt broken and didnt go to the doctor. There isnt much they can do for that type of injury anyways.

It will bother you, forever. Especially when the weather changes. Just yourself some pain killers and suck it up.

Painkillers?

Wow...


I broke mine in a fight in hockey, accidently hit the glass when I went to hit the guy. Didn't know it was broken until months after when it healed in a zig zag. Went to the doctor and he suggested we re-break it to straighten it out. Hurt like a bitch, but never went back to normal. Every so often I find it hurts, but nothing to bad.

[chathamf]

Pain killers are definitely not needed. Just when I am lifting weights doing things such as curls I can notice the injury. I am worried that it will prevent me from lifting heavier weights.

I also want to get into kickboxing/muay thai training and am worried it will cause me probems. I've put some gloves on and did some punching and it seems fine, but I have a bad feeling about it.

I figure I need to get it re-broken and realigned. For those of you who have had this done, how bad did it hurt, and how long was the healing process? Did the hand ever go back to 100%?

This is the 2nd time I've had this injury, with the healing process being much quicker the first time around.

[chathamf]

Originally posted by Shlade
Is it right on your hand or on the top of your hand right by the wrist?

It is on my hand, below the knuckle of my pinkie.

[ixlr8]

Broken mine twice now, both times it took about a year before it didn't give me any pain. Went to the hospital both times because it was clicking around in there. At this point the knuckle is a bit recessed and I have a bump on the side of my hand.

Both of these happened in street fights, since starting MMA four years ago I haven't had a problem with it at all. I started knuckle conditioning a couple months prior to beginning to train and I still keep up a routine. Learning to punch correctly is also a big part of avoiding issues.

So anyway there is hope that it will get to the point you don't even think about it anymore.

[chathamf]

Originally posted by ixlr8
Broken mine twice now, both times it took about a year before it didn't give me any pain. Went to the hospital both times because it was clicking around in there. At this point the knuckle is a bit recessed and I have a bump on the side of my hand.

Both of these happened in street fights, since starting MMA four years ago I haven't had a problem with it at all. I started knuckle conditioning a couple months prior to beginning to train and I still keep up a routine. Learning to punch correctly is also a big part of avoiding issues.

So anyway there is hope that it will get to the point you don't even think about it anymore.

Thanks for the info. This sounds quite a bit like my situation. When you started MMA was there any pain? I'm wondering if I will be able to start Muay Thai classes with the small pain there is now. Really it doesn't hurt I can just notice it not being 100%.

Also, what kind of MMA training have you been doing, and where? What do you mean by knuckle conditioning?