Written by our Human Movement Specialists
What's a scaphoid?
The scaphoid. Named from the word "boat" in Greek thanks to its long, curved shape and is about the size of a peanut or kidney bean. If you stretch out your thumb, you will notice an indentation at the base of the wrist referred to the as the "anatomic snuffbox".
This very small, but important, bone is one of 8 bones that form the wrist area. There are two rows of four bones and it sits near the thumb closest to the forearm bones. The scaphoid works with the radius bone of your forearm to stabilize and move your wrist while helping to align the other bones.
How is it injured?
For all the importance that this bone has, it is very commonly injured during snow sports. Whenever we slip and fall, we put our hand out to catch ourselves. Most of the time, we put our hand out and land on the base of our palm or wrist area. This creates a significant amount of pressure on our scaphoid bone.
Now, this natural reaction to put one’s hand is often a reflex which we can’t always control. Meaning there is a chance of damaging the bone when we fall. This makes a fractured scaphoid a common wrist injury in snow sports, like skiing and snowboarding, where unpredictable falls can occur.
How to treat a scaphoid fracture?
After the injury it is beneficial to wear a wrist brace to help protect the scaphoid as it heals. For that, a brace like the Tripod, BioSkin DP2, or Short Ryno Lacer are great options during recovery and prevent re-injury.
We have a selection of wrist braces to fit your shape and lifestyle.
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