The wrist and hand is a common area of the body to sustain a fracture. This is often related to the protective mechanisms of our body to use our hands to shield us from injury. Typical fractures the wrist and hand include the distal radius, metacarpals and phalanges. The most common is a fracture of the distal radius. This is often the result of a fall onto the outstretched hand. The symptoms associated with this type of injury are pain and swelling. Treatment of this injury is cast immobilization for a non-displaced fracture or a displaced fracture that does not exceed the limit what is considered to be acceptable for restoration of normal function to the hand. Displaced fractures are treated surgically.