Posted by Phillipa on April 19, 2006, at 22:29:26
In reply to Heating pad? » maxime, posted by Racer on April 19, 2006, at 18:42:12
Maxie I hate to physically be cold but the formula is the first 48 hours ice then you can use heat 20minutes at a time. Of course I didn't do this myself. But the minute the cast was off the pain went away. Check to make sure your fingers are a good color pink . Then test for sensation press if you have fingernails to see on them and see if the color returns after pressing on them. This means the circulation is okay. Next but the most important make sure the cast is not too tight. You should be able to slip something easily between the cast and skin. I don't want to worry you but if a cast is too tight doesn't happen often but can it caused what is known as compartment syndrome where the blood flow is cut off from the tissue and you have tissue death. This is a dangerous condition as i said it rarely happens but i did testify in court on two compartment syndrome cases where amputation happened. One was young basketball player who ended up losing his leg. He kept complaining of pain to the nurses and they called the docs who refused to see them at that time just told them to medicate the pt again. The nurses argued with the docs in the end the nurses lost and had to pay monetarily as they should have gone over the doctors head and cut off the casts to restore circulation. I know this isn't the case for you but just make sure there is ample room in the cast. In my case all I ended up with was pressure sores as I knew from previous breaks that it should not continue to hurt especially since it was my wrist area in pain and the break was my elbow and I knew it wasn't referred pain. Love Phillipa
poster:Phillipa
thread:634281
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060417/msgs/635018.html