I fell this morning and fractured two bones -- the styloid process and the radius.

looking at Gray's Anatomy, there appears to be a styloid process both on the radius and on the ulna. I think that the styloid process n question is the one on the ulna.

Because of the radius I understand that I will need a cast. I have a doctors appointment on Monday with my regular doctor and I have already lined up an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon to do the cast pn Tuesday.

I hope that the local doctor doesn't mind me doing this.

I've never used a PCP to setup an ortho appointment. I found a reputable one and booked straight with them.

Beckdiesel03 said:

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Why not skip the normal doc and just go straight to the ortho? It's what I've done with the last couple of fractures.

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I have a followup with him next week for the DVT so might as well go Monday.

The cast is scheduled for next Monday.

My medical plan doesn't make you get a referral in network for a specialist when it is relevant to a specialist. They used to do that but it really wasted a lot of Primary care doctors time.

My dad fell backwards hiking last year and tried to catch himself with his arm, and basically shattered the top of his wrist into a ring of shards, but they were able to screw them all back in place a week later and it did heal up pretty well.

MouthBQ98 said:

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My medical plan doesn't make you get a referral in network for a specialist when it is relevant to a specialist. They used to do that but it really wasted a lot of Primary care doctors time.

My dad fell backwards hiking last year and tried to catch himself with his arm, and basically shattered the top of his wrist into a ring of shards, but they were able to screw them all back in place a week later and it did heal up pretty well.

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I'm not required to get a referral, but I usually trust the advice of the doctor.

I do not know how many trips it would take in the course of dealing with the cast. The doctor is about 30 miles round trip but the orthopedic specialist is about 125 miles round triip.

Also, according to my doctor, when the fracture doesn't require surgery, he is happy to do it himself. I just need to wait for the swelling to go down a bit. If it required surgery, then a surgeon would certainly be called.

A brief question regarding ulnar styloid and radius fractures.

Is it okay to keep typing on the keyboard? My fingers on my left hand are stiffening up a lot. Should I try to type normally or will that possibly damage the hand or hindering healing?