A fracture in the small bone on the thumb side of your wrist is called a navicular fracture of the wrist or a scaphoid fracture. The bone on your wrist that is more susceptible to fractures is your navicular bone, that is, among the eight carpal bones.
For navicular fractures to heal, treatment is needed. It is important to know if you have a navicular fracture so that treatment could be administered at the earliest time possible. Even with proper treatment and monitoring, the recovery process could be slow since the various segments of the navicular bone don’t have constant supply of blood. Arthritis, stiffness, and long-term pain may follow and occur in your wrist if your navicular bone does not heal properly.
Since our impulse is to stretch out our hands to protect our bodies from a fall, navicular fractures can often happen subsequently during those events. Other scenarios in which navicular fractures might happen are twisting of the wrists severely or when one of them is hit very hard. Sports activities can also cause navicular fractures.
