Scaphoid = little bone in your wrist at the base of the thumb. Usually breaks from high falls on outstretched palm. Often times not that painful, compared to other fractures. Hard to see in xrays. Easy to misdiagnose. Both for patient and Dr.
This bone can cause problems if not treated. Blood flows into the scaphoid only from one spot. If it is broken in two, part of the scaphoid will eventually lose all blood flow and die. This is called vascular necrosis (blood death). End result of vascular necrosis can often times be a fused wrist with limited use and range of motion. Not good.
I broke mine in April of 2000. Stupidity, dislike of doctors and life in general prevented me from seeing a Dr. until October 2000. Dr. gave me the scare story I listed above, which I confirmed w/some internet research, and talked me into surgery. A screw is inserted inside the bone to connect the two halves, then a bone graft is taken from either hip or radius to cover up the screw and promote healing. Pretty standard procedure. I did 3 months in full arm cast post surgery, then another month in short arm cast. My doctor told me cast alone would have probably been sufficient with immediate diagnosis.
Post cast my wrist was pretty sore for over a year, but I was skiing, climbing and biking almost right away. I DO NOT recommend this and my Dr. was very upset w/me, but I was able and so I did. See the stupidity comment above.
Now nine years later I find the only problems to be occasional soreness and lack of range of motion. Good wrist bends back 90 deg. bad wrist only bends about 35. The only thing this prevents me from doing are pushups. Wrist is as strong as ever in flexed position, like doing pullups, climbing or bike riding. I mostly do not think about it anymore.
Take home lessons as follows. Make sure it is healed. Probably want to work with an ortho specializing in wrist injuries to get proper diagnosis and confirm repair, even if you do not have surgery. Good idea, when falling, to not catch yourself with your hands. The outstretched arm makes a nice lever which can easily injure wrists and shoulders in falls. Take the blow on the body.
Hope some of this helps. Wish you the best of luck and a speedy recovery.