Remember the episode that came right before this - Everytime She Smiles... Mac had the cast on his hand and wrist. And he joked about skiing in the Alps... and in this ep. his hand and wrist were again shown bandaged up. That was real. RDA has actually broken his wrist several weeks prior, in an accident - a celebrity charity skiing tournament. The filming takes a break in December and January and that's when it happened. I remember reading about it in TV Guide magazine. OK, OK... it was January of 1986, but I DO remember it. They did a good job covering it up in To Be A Man - in the beginning when Mac bails out of the plane... he's got on black gloves and the flight suit that cover over the cast pretty well. But later on, you can see - if you look closely - it's a cast - peeking out of the sling. Looks like he was able to move his fingers slightly, but not the wrist.
That which has been established will endure even with time and at a distance.
I can't tell you anything about what happens after the cameras go off, mostly because I'm usually unconscious by then.