Going home after your visit
Caring for your plaster cast
How to look after your cast or backslab while your injury heals, and when to get help.
You have a plaster cast (or a backslab) to hold the injured bone still while it heals. Most casts settle without any problems. Here is how to look after it, and the warning signs to watch for. Please keep this handy.
Your care details
To be completed by the team before you leave.
this Emergency Department your nearest A&E other:
none needed
Call 999 now if any of these happen
Severe worsening pain in a casted limb can mean pressure building inside the muscle. This is an emergency.
- Pain that keeps getting worse and is not helped by strong pain relief
- Fingers or toes that are pale, blue or cold and do not improve when you raise the limb
- Numbness that is spreading, or you cannot move the fingers or toes at all
- Severe pain when someone gently straightens your fingers or toes
- You cannot get to hospital safely
CALL 999 Do not wait for the plaster room to open. While you wait, raise the limb to heart level — but do not raise it above the heart if you are worried about the blood supply.
Get same-day reassessment if any of these happen
Contact the plaster room or the service named above the same day.
- The cast feels too tight, even after raising the limb
- Pins and needles or numbness that comes and goes
- A burning or rubbing sore spot under the cast
- The cast becomes loose, cracked, soft or wet
- A bad smell or discharge coming from the cast
- Something has fallen down inside the cast
Never cut, trim or remove a cast yourself, and never poke anything down inside it to scratch.
Looking after your cast
- Keep it completely dry — cover it with a plastic bag for washing, and do not let it get wet.
- Do not poke things down it or scratch under it — this can break the skin.
- Do not cut, trim or change the cast yourself.
- For the first few days, keep the limb raised on pillows to ease swelling.
- Wiggle your fingers or toes often to keep them moving.
- Do not put weight on it unless you were told you can.
What to expect
These are normal in the first few days and are nothing to worry about:
Mild achingSome swellingItching under the castStiffness
Aching and swelling should ease over the first few days as you keep the limb raised. You may take paracetamol or ibuprofen if you are able to take them.
Where to get help
999
Life-threatening emergency, or a severe breathing or circulation problem
ED / urgent service
A warning sign above that needs same-day reassessment
111
Urgent advice when it is not life-threatening, or you are unsure — call or visit 111.nhs.uk, 24/7
Your team / GP
Use the number and follow-up plan in Your care details above