Q: My father fell down and had a Colle's fracture of the wrist for which a plaster was applied. He is taking pain killers, rantac and calcium tablets as regular medicines but still has pain in his wrist. All subsequent X-ray reports - weekly, do not show any abnormality.

A:I can well understand the agony of the patient but we also need to realize that presence of pain does not necessarily signify that something is amiss. More painkillers will mean more side effects and also perhaps delayed healing. However, it is good to appreciate that the fracture could indicate presence of underlying osteoporosis - a condition associated with fragile bones and the patient could be at risk for fractures elsewhere too. Hence, it may be prudent to do bone densitometry. Besides, addition of calcitonin in these circumstances can be associated with some degree of pain relief too.