What are the primary causes of fractures?
Fractures develop due to three leading causes:
Trauma
If your bones are healthy, it takes a solid impact to fracture them. Traumatic fractures usually happen during sports injuries, falls, playground injuries, and car accidents.
Overuse
When your muscles become fatigued, often due to overtraining, they don’t absorb shock the way they usually would. This places extra stress on your bones and, over time, the stress causes small cracks called stress fractures.
Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis weakens your bones, making them so brittle that they can break without significant force. For example, you could break a bone while simply bending over or coughing.
What symptoms indicate I need fracture care?
Most fractures share similar symptoms. You can experience one or more of the following:
- Pain
- Swelling
- Bruising
- Loss of motion
- Inability to put weight on the bone
- Deformity when the bones are misaligned
It’s important to get prompt care when your symptoms suggest you have a fracture, especially if you have an open wound caused by the bone breaking through the skin. Without treatment, an open fracture can easily cause an infection.
What should I expect during fracture care?
The Orthopaedic Institute of Henderson explores all treatment choices and provides thorough care that can sometimes include surgery.
After an exam, they often take X-rays to determine the extent and type of fracture you’ve suffered. Then they develop a treatment plan based on your injury.
Rest and immobilization
All fractures require rest, activity changes, and immobilization with a sling, brace, and/or cast. The ends of the broken bones must stay next to one another and in proper alignment to be sure the bone heals correctly.
Bone realignment
Complex fractures happen when the bones are out of place, the bone breaks into several pieces, or you have an open fracture with a wound. Your provider needs to realign and stabilize these bones, with or without surgery, depending on how severe the fracture is.
Physical therapy and rehabilitation
Your ongoing fracture management includes routine follow-up appointments to monitor the bone’s healing progress. After your bones heal, you start a physical therapy and rehabilitation program to restore your muscle strength, flexibility, and range of motion.
Fracture prevention
Orthopaedic Institute of Henderson also teaches you how to prevent fractures in the future. They can help you adjust your training regimen or teach you about dietary and exercise changes that help build stronger bones.
To get comprehensive fracture care, call the Orthopaedic Institute of Henderson today or book an appointment online.
