Duration of healing of a metacarpal fracture | Metacarpal bone fracture

Duration of healing of a metacarpal fracture

The duration of a plaster treatment without surgery is about 3 to 6 weeks. The success of the treatment should be checked by an X-ray. Afterwards, one should slowly increase the load and consistently work on the mobility of the hand.

Even with an operative procedure, the healing time is about 6 to 8 weeks. Since the fracture has been mechanically stabilized here, it is possible to begin earlier, often after just a few days, with careful movement and exercise of the hand, e.g. by means of physiotherapy. Unfortunately, it is also possible that the two ends of the fracture do not grow together again and thus form a “false joint” (pseudarthrosis). This is referred to as a “false joint” if healing has failed to occur after 6 months.

How long are you on sick leave?

The length of the sick leave depends largely on how much the hand is used in everyday work. If someone works as a construction worker, for example, the fracture must have healed stably before it can be used again. This can be the case after 6 weeks, for example.

In order to make it easier to get started, a stress test can also be carried out: one initially works a defined shorter number of hours per day and remains on sick leave. Then you can slowly increase your workload. But perhaps it is also possible to continue working with the other hand, so that work can be resumed soon after an operation or conservative treatment, for example a week later.