Hook Of Hamate Fractures.

cwilk · September 8, 2023

On 9/7/2023 at 9:40 AM, HitSomeMissSome said:

This injury should never happen. The end of the club shouldn’t be near the bone. Weaker/palmy grips lead to the end of the club putting tremendous force in this area. Not saying you can’t play good golf w this style of grip (see Bryson), but the hand is way safer when the hypothenar (heel pad) is on top of the handle, rather than beside the handle. This is independent of whether you have a weak grip or not.

The bone is in the pad of the hand. So when you grip the club correctly the shaft is parallel to the hook and applies shearing force against it. That is what causes the break. Not a shaft sitting on top of the hook. It’s most common with people with high swing speeds and/or those who hit on mats frequently. I swing a 6 iron around 101 mph and was hitting 300+ balls a day on rubber mats that sat on top of concrete at my home club around the time mine broke.

Edited September 8, 2023 by cwilk

Utah24 · November 13, 2023

I am 7 weeks post surgery - Nondisplaced fracture at the base of the hook of the hamate with diffuse marrow edema. The injury happened 7 months prior, and just like many of you before me, x-rays were negative, waited 3 months, tried to play, still had pain, finally had MRI that showed the fracture.

My hand was feeling pretty good and started to swing the club with no pain. It's been 7 months without golf, and killing me. Excited to get out there, I hit a bucket at the range with minor weakness in hand but no pain. Few days later, after playing 18, my hand hurts pretty bad. I'm concerned that I pushed it too fast. Anybody else have this experience?

me05501 · November 29, 2023

Turns out my left hamate is fractured right through as revealed by MRI. I'm going into surgery tomorrow to have a screw inserted to hold the two halves together. 4-6 week expected recovery.

Golferguy209 · November 29, 2023

On 11/13/2023 at 3:58 AM, Utah24 said:

I am 7 weeks post surgery - Nondisplaced fracture at the base of the hook of the hamate with diffuse marrow edema. The injury happened 7 months prior, and just like many of you before me, x-rays were negative, waited 3 months, tried to play, still had pain, finally had MRI that showed the fracture.

My hand was feeling pretty good and started to swing the club with no pain. It's been 7 months without golf, and killing me. Excited to get out there, I hit a bucket at the range with minor weakness in hand but no pain. Few days later, after playing 18, my hand hurts pretty bad. I'm concerned that I pushed it too fast. Anybody else have this experience?

I’d say recovery can take up to 3-6 months. I worked with a baseball player who had this injury and it took him that amount of time to swing a bat at his full capacity. I’d say make sure you’re minimalizing the scar tissue build up in the incisions, maintaining wrist and finger ROM, then gradually working on strength and endurance.

norcaltrojan · April 11

On 5/22/2021 at 11:51 AM, phil75070 said:

My ortho at the time, a fellow golfer and one who specialized in sports injuries, had me hold my hand out and pressed on the area where that bone is located. I winced and pulled my hand back. He wasn't in the room 30 seconds when he diagnosed a broken hook-of-hamate. He took x-rays and even knowing what he was looking for it is very difficult to see. I think I went for some kind of scan to confirm it IIRC. He wouldn't do the surgery himself as I believe there may be two nerves that go around either side of it. He sent me to a hand specialist. My options were to have a pin inserted or have it removed. I opted for the removal.

I recently had the same experience and highly recommend seeing a sports specialist. I originally went to my PCP, who thought it was a tendon issue and recommended 6 weeks of rest. The next day, I went to see the specialist, who performed the same hand test and ordered an MRI to confirm. Well, he was right, and I'm having the hook removed next week.

One thing that may help others in the same situation is that while the pain became manageable and I regained most function, full recovery plateaued, and it still presents a sharp pain if it's tweaked some four weeks after the injury. When I had tendon issues in my other wrist I could feel improvement week to week whereas this just seems stuck.

me05501 · April 11

On 11/29/2023 at 2:48 PM, me05501 said:

Turns out my left hamate is fractured right through as revealed by MRI. I'm going into surgery tomorrow to have a screw inserted to hold the two halves together. 4-6 week expected recovery.

My surgery was 11/30/23 and I’m still not entirely healed. Taking Vitamin D and Calcium supps while trying to make sure I’m ready for my annual golf trip the first weekend of May.

The last couple months I’ve been able to putt and chip. I recently added a small bucket to this routine but only once a week and mostly short irons.

Tomorrow I’m going to attempt my first real round of golf this season. I will definitely be taking it easy and trying not to set my progress back by doing anything silly.

My doctor said if I get six months out and the bone hasn’t fully healed we can talk about extracting it. All things considered I wish he had just extracted it to begin with. This fracture is through the main part of the hamate and not the hook so it was a judgment call.

norcaltrojan · April 23

I went ahead and had extraction surgery last Monday. Overall, the procedure was pretty quick, ~45min but required general anesthesia, so the total time at the hospital was ~4 hours. The pain wasn't too bad and was managed with Oxycodone 5mg for three days, then transitioned to Tylenol, and now nothing at all. I was in bed the day of the surgery and then for half the following day but was partially back to work (I work from home in tech) the second afternoon. Operating a computer was tough since the surgery was on my dominant hand, but I was able to make it work. Five days after surgery, I had my cast/bandages removed and replaced with a custom plastic shell that's removable, and this Thursday (10 days after the operation), I get my stitches removed and start PT. Overall, I'm feeling positive with the original 4-6w recovery, but we will see and I'll try and keep everyone updated.

If you are in the Kansas City area and have this issue I'd be happy to refer you to the hand specialist I've seen because him + his team have been incredible