• Reference Number: HEY1632/2026
• Departments: Emergency Department, Major Trauma
• Last Updated: 30 April 2026

Introduction

This leaflet has been produced to give you and your child general information about the injury they have and to back up the advice given to you when you attended the emergency care department. If you have any further queries or concerns, please use the contact details at the end of this leaflet.

What is a Buckle Fracture of the Radius?

The x-rays your child has had following their injury show that they sustained a broken wrist bone. A broken bone may also be referred to as cracked or fractured – these terms mean the same thing.

A buckle or torus fracture is a common minor injury in children where the bone bends and develops a small bulge or “kink” on one side, rather than breaking completely.

How should it be treated?

A recent study found that it is safe to treat these fractures with a soft bandage for up to 3 weeks. The bandage is used to reduce any pain your child may be experiencing and can be worn at night.

Sometimes these fractures settle down quicker than 3 weeks and, if it is not too sore, it is fine for them to come out of the bandage sooner.

The bandage can be removed for washing and dressing. Some younger children will not keep their bandage on but do not worry they will use their arm as much as their pain allows and will limit themselves. Any rough play should be discouraged.

Your child can go to school but should wear the bandage as directed above. Your child should not take part in any physical education (PE), sport or rough activities for 6 weeks.

How can I help my child in the first few days?

Controlling the pain and swelling by following the principles of RICE are important:

R   REST

Complete rest is not advisable. Your child should be encouraged to use the fingers and hand whilst in the splint for simple everyday tasks such as using knife and fork.

I    ICE

Ice will help reduce the pain in your child’s wrist and so should be applied for 10 to 15 minutes every 2 to 3 hours. This will also help to reduce any swelling.

There are many ways in which ice can be applied however crushed ice, in the form of frozen peas for example, is the most effective. Whichever method you choose it is important that you wrap the ice in a damp towel, to prevent it from ‘burning’ the skin.

• Only use an ice pack on areas that have normal skin sensation i.e. where you can feel hot and cold
• Do not apply ice to an open wound
• Do not apply an ice pack to an area that has poor circulation
• When you apply ice to your skin, check the skin every five minutes and stop using it if:
  • the area becomes white, blue or blotchy
  • the area becomes excessively painful, numb or tingles

C   COMPRESSION

The bandage will provide some compression however if your child develops any signs of poor circulation such as tingling, numbness, blueness of the skin of the foot and increasing pain this should be removed.

E    ELEVATION

If your child has swelling in their wrist or hand advise them to sit on a chair and place their elbow on cushions so that it is level or slightly higher than their shoulder. In this position, ask them to point their hand towards the ceiling and open and close their hand slowly for 10 minutes. This will help to reduce any swelling further.

What exercises should my child do?

Whilst in the bandage, it is important your child tries to use their wrist and hand as normal when doing everyday tasks like washing, dressing and eating.

Arm exercises are very important. Your child should be encouraged to move their elbow, hand and fingers as soon as they can. The bandage can be removed from day one to allow the child to move the wrist for a couple of minutes and then it can then be put back on. Some exercises they should try are described below.

Rest your forearm on a table with your hand over the edge. Using your wrist only, move your hand down towards the floor.

Hold the stretch for 10 seconds.

Now move your hand towards the ceiling. Repeat 10 times each direction

Sit with your elbow tucked in by your side and your thumb upper most. Now keeping your thumb upper most move your fingers down towards the floor. Hold 10 seconds.

Next move your fingers back up towards the ceiling. Hold 10 seconds.

Movement should occur at the wrist only

Bend your elbow and tuck it into your side.

Turn your palm as far as possible upwards without moving your elbow. Feel the stretch and hold for 10 seconds.

Now turn your hand back over so your palm faces downwards, feel the stretch and hold for 10 seconds.

Support your elbow on a table with your wrist straight and fingers pointing towards the ceiling.

Bend your fingers into your palm as tightly as you can and feel them stretching. Hold the stretch 10 seconds.

Now stretch your fingers as wide as you can and feel them stretching. Hold the stretch for 10 seconds.

All photos with kind permission of ©Physiotec™

Many children often get back to normal without the need for specific exercises. If however, you notice your child is not moving the wrist fully the exercises will help encourage them to regain full function, flexibility and strength.

They should be practiced 10 times, 3 to 4 times per day. Your child may experience more discomfort when they start the exercises, however this is normal and does not mean they should stop.  If their symptoms remain worse for more than two hours after the exercises, then they should decrease the number of each exercise that they do and build up again slowly.

When should my child start increasing their activity?

Repetitive wrist and hand movements and lifting objects heavier than a cup of water should be avoided to begin with.  However, as your child’s movement improves and pain reduces, little by little they can increase the amount of weight that they are able to lift.  Progressing quickly from lifting a cup of water to a heavy school bag for example would not be advisable, as is likely to result in overloading of the soft tissue and could consequently lead to a delay in recovery.

If your child participates in an active hobby, then it is advisable that they do not return to this until they have full strength and full range of movement.

If they play a sport, they can practice sports specific activities; like throwing or catching. Build up these exercises gradually from around 6 weeks, to help regain strength and flexibility, before returning to full training sessions and competition.

Does my child require a follow up?

Does my child require Physiotherapy?

Most of the time, a referral to Physiotherapy is not needed and the advice in this leaflet is enough to help them recover.

However, if you have any concerns, are unable to follow the advice in this leaflet, or if they still have reduced movement, strength or function after 6 weeks, East Riding GP patients can contact the East Riding MSK Physiotherapy service on Tel: 01377 208300 or complete a self-referral form on https://www.chcpmsk.org.uk/self-referral-form-introduction.

Patients with a Hull GP should contact their GP for a referral to Physiotherapy.

However, it is important you seek urgent medical attention for your child if they experience any of the following

• Severe pain, despite taking pain killers, that is worsening rather than improving
• Significant swelling that continues to increase despite elevation
• Numbness, tingling or unexpected weakness in hand or affected arm.
• The arm becomes cold, pale or blue
• Signs of infection such as fever or increasing redness and warmth

If you are concerned regarding any of your child’s symptoms, please attend your local Urgent Treatment Centre or call NHS111 who will direct you to the most appropriate place and may give you a specific appointment time.

 Your feedback matters to us…

To ensure we deliver a safe and quality service and to help us understand the experience you have of the care you receive from our staff we would value your thoughts about the service you received.

You may be contacted as part of our quality assurance programme which is where we visit our teams and staff and talk to them about the care they provide to our patients or at any time during or after you have needed our services.

To collect this feedback, we would contact you using the registered telephone number we hold in your care record. This feedback will be strictly anonymous and whilst we will share the feedback as part of the process, we will not share any details which may identify you.

We will never ask you any personal questions about your health during these telephone calls. If you do not wish to speak to us, please say this when we call, we do not want you to feel pressured.

General Advice and Consent

Most of your questions should have been answered by this leaflet, but remember that this is only a starting point for discussion with the healthcare team.

Consent to treatment

Before any doctor, nurse or therapist examines or treats you, they must seek your consent or permission. In order to make a decision, you need to have information from health professionals about the treatment or investigation which is being offered to you. You should always ask them more questions if you do not understand or if you want more information.

The information you receive should be about your condition, the alternatives available to you, and whether it carries risks as well as the benefits. What is important is that your consent is genuine or valid. That means:

• you must be able to give your consent
• you must be given enough information to enable you to make a decision
• you must be acting under your own free will and not under the strong influence of another person

Information about you

We collect and use your information to provide you with care and treatment. As part of your care, information about you will be shared between members of a healthcare team, some of whom you may not meet. Your information may also be used to help train staff, to check the quality of our care, to manage and plan the health service, and to help with research. Wherever possible we use anonymous data.

We may pass on relevant information to other health organisations that provide you with care. All information is treated as strictly confidential and is not given to anyone who does not need it. If you have any concerns please ask your doctor, or the person caring for you.

Under the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018 we are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of any information we hold about you. For further information visit the following page: Confidential Information about You.

If you or your carer needs information about your health and wellbeing and about your care and treatment in a different format, such as large print, braille or audio, due to disability, impairment or sensory loss, please advise a member of staff and this can be arranged.