What Causes Bone Fractures?

Most people were introduced to the orthopedicget into the bone exists. Since the fracture site in the
surgeon at a young age when they were brought tobone communicates with the outside world, these
the emergency room with their first broken bone. Forinjuries need to be cleaned out aggressively and
me the memory of the event is now faintmany times require anesthesia in the operating room
(something about a bicycle and pavement), but theto do the job effectively.
cast that I was able to tote around the classroom isSetting of bone through surgery. When surgery is
fondly recalled as one of my moments of youthfulneeded, the procedure is called an open reduction.
pride.The doctor will give you local or general anesthesia.
The first, and probably the most known cause for(General anesthesia will put you to sleep.) During the
bone fractures is known as bone thinning orsurgical procedure, the doctor may insert a rod, pin,
osteoporosis. Osteoporosis can lead to boneplate, or screw into the injury to hold the bone in
fractures because in time it makes the bones lessplace. Advantages of surgery include: early mobility of
dense by altering bone protein and other minerals.injured bone and some use of the injured bone within
This increases the risk of bone fractures, becauseweeks rather than months.
the bones become a lot more porous.Impacted Fracture: An impacted fracture is similar to
The 'fatigue theory' suggests that during repeateda compression fracture, yet it occurs within the same
efforts (as in running), the muscles become unable tobone. It is a closed fracture which occurs when
support the skeleton during impact as the footpressure is applied to both ends of the bone, causing
strikes the ground. Instead of the muscles absorbingit to split into two fragments that jam into each
the shock, the load is transferred to the bone. Asother. This type of fracture is common in car
the loading surpasses the capacity of the bone toaccidents and falls.
adapt, a fracture develops. The 'overload theory'It may take a number of weeks or months for a
suggests that certain muscle groups contract in suchfracture to heal. Your bone tissue will start growing
a way that they because the attached bones tonew bone cells on the site of the fracture, creating
bend. After repeated contractions and bending, thenew bone tissues until the fracture is closed. The
bone breaks.healing process is usually painful, therefore you must
Stress fractures are probably preceded by, causingstrictly follow the doctor's advice on handling the
bone pain and pain during exercise. Management offracture so that you can recuperate faster and
shin splints involves rest; if the symptoms still persistresume to normal activity. During rehabilitation, your
after two weeks, a stress fracture is suspected.activity may be limited to the extent of the pain
When the pain has persisted for six weeks or more,threshold of the fracture. By the time the bone
a stress fracture is the likely cause.becomes strong again, you may have to undergo
The first step in describing a fracture is whether it iscertain exercise to strengthen the muscles
open or closed. If the skin over the break issurrounding the bone fracture so that it can function
disrupted, then an open fracture exists. The skin canagain normally. The exercises will increase in activity
be cut, torn, or abraded (scraped), but if the skin'sover time until the fracture is completely healed, and
integrity is damaged, the potential for an infection tonormal skeletal activity is restored.