Broken bones hurt
March 3, 2008 by Marijke Durning, RN
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
There’s no doubt about it, breaking a bone hurts. Whether it’s a so-called hairline fracture or an out and out nasty break, it hurts. I broke my little toe about 19 years ago and I still remember how much that hurt.
Have you ever wondered about all the different terms that surround fractures? Why are some called compound fractures, some open fractures, and so on?
If you have broken a bone and there is also a wound in the skin, allowing the bone to poke through, this is an open fracture. When a bone breaks and fragments break through the skin, this is a compound fracture. If there is no break in the skin and the break remains completely in the body, this is a closed fracture.
If the bone has broken clean through, this is a complete fracture but if it has not broken completely through, it is an incomplete fracture. You can also have a hairline fracture, which is how the name sounds, a crack, like a hairline.
Sometimes, you hear of children having a greenstick fracture. Only children can have this because they are the result of the bones not being fully mature yet. Imagine holding a stick and snapping it in half, but only the top half breaks, while fragments of the stick keep the bottom part of the break together. That is the way a greenstick fracture of bone is.
There are many more types of fractures, but these seem to be the most common ones.
Later on this week, I’ll talk about how different fractures are treated.
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Technorati Tags: compound fracture,open fracture,closed fracture,complete fracture,incomplete fracture,hairline fracture,greenstick fracture,broken bones
I broke my wrist when I was in 5th grade. A closed fracture. I remember to this day how much it hurt, however I have sprained both of my ankles numerous degrees of sprain and I swear my sprains still make me cringe when I think about them. What does this have to do with the post…nothing really. I guess besides broken bones and pain caused by them I just wanted to express how much I hate ankle sprains.
Hi Scott,
I’ve sprained my ankles a few times and in some ways, sprains are more painful than breaks because of the tissue all around. That – and the fact that we don’t take them as seriously and tend to want to walk earlier than we should.
Thanks for stopping by.
No Problem. I also want to say thanks for not including an real pictures of open fractures…they have a tendency to make the stomach turn. I’m sure you’ve seen your share as an RN.
Oddly enough Scott, fractures in x-rays turn my stomach. In fact, just *thinking* about fractures in x-rays turns my stomach. Orthopedics is an incredible weakness for me.