If you’ve ever broken a bone, you know how unpleasant the experience can be. You can even hear the bone-cracking in certain cases, which is both surprising and unsettling. Then comes the shooting pain and incapacity to move the wounded body portion.
Other times, the injury develops gradually, and you don’t realize there’s an issue until you feel the pain of a fracture.
Regardless of whatever experience you relate with, fractures can leave you feeling frustrated: about the pain, the inability to do simple things on your own, and the disruption of your employment, sports, and hobbies.
However, not all fractures are the same. They are sometimes caused by trauma and other times by repetitive movements or an underlying condition that weakens the bones. The length of treatment and recovery depends on the type of injury.
Types Of Bone Fracture
Stable Fracture
This type of fracture occurs when a bone is injured and breaks cleanly, with all of its parts in place. This means that the bone remains in the same location as before.
Stable fracture treatment: Because this sort of fracture does not necessitate realignment, the doctor will simply immobilize the bone with a cast. To relieve pain, the patient can use over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs.
Transverse Fracture
A transverse fracture occurs when the bone is broken at a 90-degree angle and straight across. It appears when the impact is perpendicular to the area of harm.
Transverse Fracture Treatment: The medical provider will realign the bones using an open reduction internal fixation (ORIF). Once the bone fragments have been aligned, the bone will be immobilized using a standard cast or splint.
Comminuted Fracture
A comminuted fracture breaks the bone into pieces. It is more likely to occur in the hands or feet following significant trauma, such as a car accident.
Comminuted Fracture Treatment: Because the bones are broken, this form of fracture necessitates surgery to avoid further harm to nearby organs, nerves, ligaments, arteries, and veins.
Oblique Fracture
When a bone fractures at an angle, it is called an oblique fracture. It is especially common on long bones, such as the femur or tibia. A noticeable malformation beneath the skin results from this type of injury.
Treatment for an Oblique Fracture: Treatment for an Oblique Fracture varies based on the degree of the injury. Conservative therapy (such as immobilizing the bone with a cast) will suffice if the fracture is mild. However, the bones must be straightened in some cases, which necessitates surgery.
Compound Fracture
It is one of the most severe injuries. When a bone breaks, it pierces the skin, resulting in a complex or open fracture. Because of the severity of the condition and the risk of infection, surgery is frequently required.
Compound Fracture Treatment: This is a life-threatening injury, and the patient will almost certainly require surgery to fix the fracture. The patient will require a tetanus shot as well as antibiotics.
Hairline Fracture
A hairline fracture is also called a stress fracture, most commonly occurs on the legs and feet. It is caused by repetitive movement and happens when athletes increase the frequency or intensity of workouts such as running or jogging suddenly.
Symptoms include pain while playing your favorite sport, pain that goes away when you rest, swelling, soreness, and bruising.
Hairline Fracture Treatment: The most important thing you can do to treat a stress fracture is rest. Take a break from exercise. Your doctor will recommend a certain resting timeframe based on the severity of the injury. Additionally, ice the injury location for up to 20 minutes multiple times a day, and elevate the foot or leg.
Avulsion Fracture
Avulsion fractures are breaks in the bone that are related to a tendon or ligament. Tendons and ligaments detach from the bones to which they are attached.
Avulsion Fracture Treatment: Most avulsion fractures do not require surgery unless the detached bone fragment is located at a large distance from the bone. The doctor will suggest you rest and ice the injury, and they will recommend particular range-of-motion exercises.
Greenstick Fracture
A Greenstick fracture occurs when a piece of the bone breaks but does not break entirely through. The shattered part of the afflicted bone may also bend. Children are the most vulnerable to this form of harm.
Greenstick Fracture Treatment: The doctor will manually straighten the bone if the bone is curved. In addition, the patient can use a detachable splint.
Spiral Fracture
This occurs when a bone is wrenched by a limb’s strong rotation or twisting. It produces a clean break in which the bone entirely splits into two parts.
Treatment for a Spiral Fracture: The healing process for a spiral fracture is more challenging than for other types of fractures because the twisting movement results in jagged edges on the bone. Surgery is usually needed to straighten the bones and attach them with screws, pins, or rods. Following surgery, the patient will be required to wear a cast and undergo physical therapy before returning to normal activities.
Pathological Fracture
Pathological fractures occur when a patient suffers from a bone-weakening ailment, such as osteoporosis, arthritis, osteomyelitis, osteosarcoma, or metabolic bone abnormalities.
Treatment for a Pathological Fracture: Treatment for a Pathological Fracture is dependent on the underlying condition that produced the fracture. If the sickness does not impair the bone’s capacity to heal, the patient will merely need to wear a cast to keep the limb immobilized. Surgery will be required if a disease has damaged the body’s healing ability.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Fracture and break are the same things. The term “fracture” refers to any loss of bone continuity.
It’s caused by a flaw in a gene intended to produce a protein called collagen. Collagen is a protein found in the body that helps create and strengthen bones. If you don’t get enough collagen, your bones weaken and break easily.
Untreated bone fractures can result in either non-union or delayed union. In the first case, the bone does not heal, implying that it will remain shattered. As a result, the swelling, soreness, and pain will develop with time.
