The hand is made up of 27 bones — including the metacarpals that form your palm and the phalanges that make up your fingers. When one of these bones breaks, from a fall, a sports collision, a workplace accident, or a direct impact, the healing process needs to be carefully guided to prevent stiffness, tendon adhesions, and loss of grip strength.
What happens after a hand fracture?
The bones themselves often heal within 4–6 weeks, but the real work — recovering full range of motion, grip strength, and the fine motor control you rely on every day — takes longer and depends a lot on what you do during and after immobilization. Start moving too early and you risk disrupting the healing bone. Wait too long and the joints stiffen, the tendons tighten, and getting full function back becomes a much harder fight. The goal is getting that balance right, and that's where specialized hand therapy comes in.
