My doctor has diagnosed a scaphoid fracture and says I will be in a cast for 3-4 months. Why will I have to be in a cast so long?
The scaphoid bone, also called the navicular bone, is a small, canoe-shaped bone at the base of the thumb near your wrist. Under normal circumstances, the blood supply to the proximal portion (closest to the forearm) of the scaphoid is relatively poor. Therefore, when this bone is fractured, it often does not receive enough nutrient rich blood to heal in the typical 4-6 week time frame. Rather, it may take up to 20 weeks to heal. In some cases, surgical intervention is required to properly resolve the fracture.
