Types of Bone Fracture

Today I am going to share to you information about the types of bone fracture and their treatment. Here are some of the more common types of fractured bones:

(a)Simple fracture

(b)Stress fracture

(c)Comminuted fracture

(d)Impacted fracture

(e)Compound fracture

(f)Complete fracture

(g)Incomplete fracture

The doctor should first determine the type of the injury then he starts treatment according to the injury. So now we will discuss about fractures in short details as follows:

(i)In the case of a simple fracture, the bone breaks into two pieces and the area of the second part does not work properly.

(ii)In the Stress fracture, there is a hairline break that is often invisible on the x-ray for the first six weeks after the onset of pain.

(iii)In the Comminuted fracture, the bone breaks into several pieces.

(iv)One fragment of bone is embedded into another fragment of bone in the Impacted fracture.

(v) In Compound fracture the bone protrudes through the skin. It is also called an open type of fractured bone.

(vi)Bone snaps completely into two or more pieces in complete fracture.

(vii)Bone cracks but doesn't separate in an incomplete fracture.

The first treatment is the immobilization of the fractured area using a cast or splint. It is very important in the time of recovery from the injury.

The second step is the setting of bone through surgery. When surgery is needed, the procedure is called an open reduction. The doctor will give you local or general anesthesia. General anesthesia will put you to sleep. During the surgical procedure, the doctor may insert a rod, pin, plate, or screw into the injury to hold the bone in place. 

 Surgery can be advantageous in some ways such as early mobility of injured bone and some use of the injured bone within weeks rather than month. However, it is only recommended when nothing else can be done about the injury.

Guide to Bone Fracture

"BONE FRACTURE" refers to a broken bone. However, it is a very painful injury. To heal it, it could take weeks or months. The severity of fractured bones increases with age. Children's bones are more flexible and less likely to break. Falls or other accidents that do not harm children can cause complete fractures in older adults. Older adults suffer from fractured bones more than children because their bones are more likely to be brittle.

The most common symptoms of fractured bones are swelling around the injured area, loss of function in the injured area, bruising around the fractured area, or deformity of a limb. These are common signs that you should watch out for to detect broken bones early on.

The natural process of healing a fracture starts when the injured bone and the surrounding tissues bleed, forming a hematoma. The blood coagulates to form a blood clot situated between the broken fragments. Within a few days, blood vessels grow into the jelly-like matrix of the blood clot. The new blood vessels bring phagocytes to the area, which gradually remove the non-viable material. The blood vessels also bring fibroblasts in the walls of the vessels and these can multiply and produce collagen fibers. In this way the blood clot is replaced by a matrix of collagen. Collagen's rubbery consistency allows bone fragments to move only a small amount unless severe or persistent force is applied.

The seriousness of the fracture depends on the age of the individual and location of the fractured bone. Some fractured bones only require temporary protection (crutches, splint). More serious fractured injuries may require surgery.

Phases Involved in the Fracture Healing Process

Do you know what happens with the broken bone after you met an accident? Have you ever thought how the broken bones heal and what are the phases involved during the fracture healing process? This is an interesting process. I will let you know what happens after the injury and what the phases of fracture healing are. You can hear a cracking sound if you have a broken bone. The fractured area gets swollen and you will feel pain. 

 Also there may be an irritation or inflammation around the fracture. As soon as the bone breaks, it starts bleeding. You must consult a doctor immediately so that you come to know about the severity of the broken bone. After knowing the type of fracture you have, you will get proper treatment. But do you know that before the treatment has started, the bone starts a healing process by itself? 

There are three major phases involved in the process, such as the following:

1.     Reactive phase: It is known as the inflammatory phase. The vessels stop bleeding and a clot is formed called hematoma. The outer cell of hematoma degenerates and dies. But some inner cells called fibroblasts remain alive and replicate. They form a loose layer of cells called granulation layer.

2.     Reparative phase:  After some days of fracture the inner lining of bone periosteum   also replicate to form chondroblasts. These chondroblasts fill the gap in the broken bones by making a net-like structure. The fibroblasts in the granulation tissue also develop into chondroblasts to form the hyaline cartilage. The process continues until the fractured gap is filled completely. This process is called as callus formation.

Problems I Faced Due to Bone Fracture

We all know that fracture means break in the bone. When we have fractured limbs I’m sure it becomes quite difficult to perform our daily activities with efficiency. Today I am going to share my experience about the problems I faced due to a fractured limb when I had a fractured bone in my hand near the wrist.

I had a bone fracture when I was twelve. I accidently fell down from a chair. My right hand wrist struck to the table. I was crying due to pain and the fractured area got swelled up. My parents immediately consulted a physician and I had an x-ray of my wrist. From the x-ray, the physician assessed that it was a closed fracture.

It would take about a month to heal the injury to my limbs. Splinting was the only option for the treatment. So, splinting was done on my right hand. Due to splinting, I was unable to perform in my school cultural program. I wished that the speed of bone healing becomes faster in any way.

Do you know some ideas or tips to speed up the process of fracture healing?

I am sure you want to know about the tips to make faster bone healing.

Besides medicine drink green tea. Green tea has some anti-oxidants which will improve the speed of fracture healing.  Applying heat and warmth to the injury site is another remedy for faster bone healing.

Thus you can follow these techniques whenever you get affected by a fractured bone for temporary relief.

Relationship Between Osteoporosis and Bone Fracture

Osteoporosis disease happens only due to low bone mass and loss of bone tissue that may lead to weak and fragile bones. If you are suffering from this disease then the risk of having bone fracture is so high. It may be in the hip, spine or wrist. The damage from osteoporosis begins much earlier in life because peak bone density is reached at approximately 25 years of age. It is important to build strong bones by that age, so that the bones will remain strong later in life. Adequate calcium intake is an essential part of building strong bones.

 Most people who have osteoporosis won't ever know it before they fracture a bone. Not even an x-ray done at your doctor's office is helpful, since a person would need to lose 30-50% of their bone density before it could be detected with a normal x-ray test.

Women are the ones mostly suffering from osteoporosis. According to studies, you can find more than 80% of the total population of women suffering from Osteoporosis. And this percentage is increasing from year to year. In other countries like the United States, there are 10 million people already have Osteoporosis.

There is test which is used to check your bone density and determine if you are at risk for fracture. It is called DEXA, which stands for Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry. The test will produce two scores that are used to determine your risk to having bone fractures.

Osteoporosis occurs when there is an imbalance between the new bone formation and old bone desorption. To avoid fractures, you have to take the precaution to save yourself from Osteoporosis too.

 

Bones and Bone Fracture

                                               

Today, I am going to tell you about the three major functions of the bone.

The first function involves the structure support for your heart, lung, marrow or the other organs and attachment sites for the muscles so that you can move your arm, leg and head.

The second function involves the protection for your brain and the internal organ.

The third function bone is that it acts as a mineral storage bank of calcium and phosphorus to maintain a proper acid/base balance in your body called pH.

You can say that your bones have more than just one function, which is why it is such a loss when you have bone fractures.

Now, I am going to share with you the importance of bone quality. Bone quality describes the components of strong and fracture free bones. So by weight, bone is composed of about 10% collagen matrix, 65% minerals and 25% water. It is not just the minerals but all three components working together that keep your bones strong and free from the risk of getting fractured.

When it comes to bone density numbers, a test is necessary called the DEXA test. By the DEXA test, you would be told if there is a change in your bone density. Your bone density was either normal or you received a diagnosis of osteoporosis or osteopenia.The DEXA score you received only tells you about the mineral density and content of the bone.

It is important to learn that no one factor by itself can predict fracture risk. This is why it is best to prevent the injury first.

Fracture and the Patient’s Age

Bone fracture occurs when the bone tissue is subjected to tensile, compressive, or sheer force in excess of its strength. Both the strength of the bone tissue and the nature of the forces acting on the bone change from infancy to old age, both normally and as a result of a disease. Fractured bone sometimes develops slowly rather than suddenly. Fatigue, or stress, and the incidence and type of fractured bones change with age.

Most fractured bones occur without skin injury. The skin wound in open fractures is caused either by severe direct trauma or by a sharp bone fragment that pierces the skin from within.

The bone tissue in young adults has high resistance to mechanical deformation. A fractured cortical bone in adults require tremendous forces, such as those encountered in motor accidents, and are therefore often associated with severe skin injuries and other lesions of soft tissue. Bones in children are springy and resilient, and the membrane enclosing the bones—the periosteum—is thick. Angular deformation of long bones in children therefore often results in incomplete, or “greenstick,” fractures. In the elderly the bone tissue becomes more brittle, especially the chancellors bone in vertebrae and in shoulder, wrist, hip, and knee joints.

The forces acting on the skeleton of a child normally are defined by body size and weight. Fractured bones in children are therefore rarely severely displaced or associated with severe soft tissue injury. In adults age 20 to 50, fractured bones are often caused by direct high-energy forces that have an explosive effect on bone and soft tissues and may cause severely displaced open fractures. In the elderly, the injury is usually caused by mild forces acting on brittle bone. Such fractured bones are rarely associated with soft tissue injury and often involve cancellers rather than the cortical bone.

Understanding How Fracture Healing Could Happen Naturally

Do you what happens immediately when your bone is broken? What is the procedure going on inside the bone while it is healing after a fracture? The bones do not have a rigid structure as we all see them. They play an important role in the body. They not only form a skeleton, which gives shape to the body and provide mobility, but it also helps in other essential procedures.  They have a hollow cavity inside them as well as a bone matrix. These bone matrixes have the capability to produce blood content like white blood corpuscles and red blood corpuscles. These blood cells are necessary components of the blood. White blood cells are responsible to fight against the diseases while the red blood cells carry oxygen to the various parts of the body.

Bones have the ability to heal themselves. The bones carry out some physical and chemical processes to repair themselves. There are some cells are present on the inner surface of bone called osteoblasts.  The surface is called as periosteum. This layer also forms chondroblasts which helps in the process of fracture healing.

Several phases of reparation and regeneration take place in the process of healing. The process of fracture healing depends upon the angle of the bone fracture. It also depends on the fitness of the individual person. Age is another factor responsible for the healing speed. It is faster in children as compared to the adults.

But aside from letting your bone heal naturally, you can always get your doctor to help you find the right treatment to hasten the healing process. This is when common treatments such as splinting, casting, and even surgery come in.

Some Facts About Fracture

First Aid for Fractured Bones

1.    Do not move the patient if it is not necessary. Care must be taken in case of head, neck and back fractures.

2.    You can tie a piece of cloth in the form of a splint. It is done so that the broken bone does not move.

3.    You can apply ice patch to prevent swelling. Applying an ice pack can reduce pain.

Healing

Green tea has some anti-oxidants which prevent us from cancer. It also works as a healing agent.

 Researchers believe that drinking green tea increases the density of bone by increasing bone minerals. The bone mineral density of green tea drinkers is comparatively higher than the non –tea drinkers.

The length of the entire process of healing fractured bones can depend on the body part where the injury has taken place. It can be two weeks for the fractured upper body parts and three to four weeks for the fractured lower body parts.

The bones get regenerated before the entire span of the treatment.  The remodeling phase also completes before the removal of cast.

Compression Fracture

There is a certain type of fracture is associated with osteoporosis. It is the disease which occurs due the lack of calcium in the body. Bones become weak. Our body needs calcium for other functions also. Bones are the reservoir of calcium but this calcium is used up by other mechanisms thereby resulting in thinning of the bone. This can also cause osteoporosis, which may lead to knee pain and arthritis. It is also responsible for the collapse of the vertebral column. This is called as compression fracture.  So, it is important to know its cause. Prevention is better so take adequate amount of calcium regularly in the form of your food.