By 
You hurt yourself on a hike in the Lehi area, and you’ve been told you have a broken bone. Luckily, fractured bones have an amazing ability to heal. New bones form within a couple of weeks of an injury though returning to full health can take longer. Now, what happens as a broken bone heals? This healing process can be broken up into three stages: the inflammatory, reparative, and remodeling stages.
When one in Lehi fractures a bone, the body sends a signal for special cells to gather at the injured area. Some of these cells cause the injured area to swell or become inflamed. This signal tells the body to cease using the injured part so it can heal the fracture. The other cells that gathered during this first stage form a hematoma, or blood clot, around the broken bone. This process is the first bridge between the pieces of the injured bone.
Within about a week, the reparative stage begins. A soft callus, which is a type of soft bone, replaces the blood clot formed during the inflammatory phase. The callus holds the fractured bone together, but it is not strong enough for the body part to be used again. Over the following weeks, the soft callus becomes harder. It takes about two to six weeks for the callus to be strong enough so that the body part can be used again.
At around six weeks, the remodeling stage begins. At this point in the healing process, regular bone will replace the hardened callus. During this stage, if an x-ray were taken of the healing bone, it would appear uneven, but over a few months, the fractured bone would start to reshape so that it goes back the way it did before the fracture.
A cast or splint is used to aid a broken bone’s healing process by holding broken bones in place as they heal. There are even waterproof casts offered at clinics such as Advance Sports Orthopedic in Lehi. Once the new bone has hardened in about three to six weeks, casts or splints can be removed without any issue.
Common factors that can affect the healing process negatively of a bone fracture are things such as vitamin deficiency, medical conditions, consumptions of alcohol or smoking, and certain medicines.
Ways that you can help aid the healing process of a bone fracture are a healthy diet, good care of a cast or splint, following health care provider’s direction, and follow up appointments. Fortunately, a broken bone is a very common treatable injury. Most fractures tend to heal well, allowing Lehi patients to get back to all activities enjoyed before the injury.
For same-day evaluations on a bone fracture in Lehi head over to Advance Sports Orthopedic.
Comments