How can you help or speed fracture healing?ġ. Remodeling goes on for months after the fracture is no longer painful and appears to be healed on x-rays. Remodeling: occurs as the fracture callus is replaced with strong organized bone. Calcium is deposited into the callus and can be seen on x-ray at 2-3 weeks after injury.ģ. This leads to the formation of a rubbery tissue called “fracture callus”. Repair Phase: lasting the next 2-3 weeks where actual tissue repair occurs and new living cells of bone, cartilage and fibrous tissue occur at the fracture site. The blood clot organizes into a protein mesh where the bone begins to “knit”.Ģ. Damage to the tissues results in cell death which is cleaned up by an inflammatory response. Bleeding around the fracture organizes into a fracture hematoma or clot on the bone ends. Inflammatory Phase: starts at the time of injury and lasts 1-2 weeks. Healing time for fractures are divided into three phases:ġ. Hand and wrist fractures often heal in 4-6 weeks whereas a tibia fracture may take 20 weeks or more. Most fractures heal in 6-8 weeks, but this varies tremendously from bone to bone and in each person based on many of the factors discussed above. This treatment is commonly used for long bone fractures in the femur and tibia. The nail acts as an internal splint to allow fracture alignment and healing. This is an “indirect” treatment of the fracture where the fracture site is not usually opened surgically. Intramedullary Nailing (or Rodding): A nail is placed in the marrow cavity of the bone and usually fixed with screws above and below the fracture. The fractured bone is actually screwed back together which allows direct bone to bone healing. This is often used in forearm and upper arm (humerus) fractures as well as for tibia and ankle fractures. Open Reduction Internal Fixation (ORIF) involves surgical exposure of the broken bone to directly repair the fracture with plates and screws. “Ex-fix” is often used for temporary stabilization of open fractures or fractures with soft tissue damage until definitive fracture repair. These are removable for hygiene.Įxternal Fixation composed of threaded pins drilled into bone above and below a fracture with an external frame. Common fractures treated in a cast include hand, wrist, forearm, lower leg, ankle and foot.įunctional Braces: These braces are usually made of molded plastic that function like a cast for specific relatively stable or healing fractures. The purpose of the cast is to maintain fracture position and immobilize the bone to allow the fracture to heal in the correct position.
Non-surgical methods of treating fractures include:Ĭast: Casts are a tried and true method of fracture treatment and may be made of plaster or fiberglass. This usually requires some sort of sedation and / or anesthesia and can be done in the office, emergency room or sometimes in the operating room. This sometimes requires that the fracture be manipulated or “set”. The goal of fracture treatment is to restore the normal alignment of the bone and anatomy so that the fracture heals in the correct position. These include age, nutrition, overall health and whether or not you smoke. Factors that influence fracture healing in addition to the type and care of the fracture depend upon the person who sustains the fracture. The more energy it takes to break a bone, the more damage to the bone and soft tissues, and therefore the blood supply to the bone.įractures are treated in different ways and while some can be treated in a cast, brace, or splint, others require surgery to repair the fracture with plates, screws, nails or pins.Įveryone who experiences a fracture will heal differently.
#Hairline fracture in foot recovery time crack#
Fractures can be nondisplaced (a crack in the bone), spiral, segmented, or comminuted (multiple pieces). When we talk about fractures, we use certain terms to describe where the bone is broken, in what sort of pattern, open or closed and if it is displaced (shifted apart) or angulated. A fracture is another term for a broken bone.
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