Pain and swelling in the wrist will usually cause a person with a scaphoid fracture to see a doctor.
X-rays can show if a bone is broken and whether there is displacement (a gap between broken bones). Sometimes, a broken scaphoid does not show up on an x-ray right away. If this is the case, your doctor may put your wrist in a splint for a week or two. A new x-ray will be taken to see if the fracture will become visible. The splint should be worn during this waiting period, and heavy lifting should be avoided.
A magnetic resonance image (MRI) scan may be taken to visualize the bones and soft tissues. This sometimes shows a fracture of the scaphoid before it can be seen on an x-ray.