Yearly, nearly six million people find themselves with a fracture or a broken bone. As far as orthopedic injuries are concerned, those are by far the most common.
Bones do flex a bit to accommodate high impact activities, but if we overextend or exert, a crack in the bone can easily occur. Car accidents, gunshot wounds, or other sources of blunt trauma can cause the bone to completely shatter. This emphasizes the importance of finding an orthopedic doctor after a car accident.
Common Bone Fractures
Incidentally, the most commonly reported fractured bone is the clavicle, making up five percent of all breaks. The purpose of the clavicle is to connect the shoulder blade to the ribcage.
Because of its vulnerable location and overall slender shape, it is easily susceptible to injury. Falling with arms outstretched or getting hit on their shoulders can easily result in a fracture of this bone.
Diagnostic Testing For Broken Bones
Our Atlanta orthopedic doctors will perform diagnostic, X-ray testing when you are injured to pinpoint the exact area of injury and rarely will need to do a CT scan for a more precise picture of the damage sustained.
When injured you will notice an immediate pain because of a fractured bone. Most of our patients report hearing a crack, developing bruising, and having a constant pain with movement.
Clavicles will typically be very apparent that there is a break. Other areas of your body may not be as easy to diagnose as broken or fractured, however. Your ankles, arms, and other commonly broken bones may show bruising, swelling, and pain from injuries that are not necessarily broken, like a sprain.
Soft tissue pain from ligaments and tendons is typically an indication of a sprain. Pain from a break would be more sharp bone pain. Inability to move an area or walk is a good indication of a break also.
Listening to the sound that is made at the time of injury will help you determine if it is a sprain or a break. Sprains may make no sound at all or make a “popping” sound. Breaks tend to be accompanied by a loud “crack” sound.
The American Society for Surgery reports that the most susceptible to break areas of the body are the hand, ulna, radius, and humorous within the arm. This tends to happen to people who fall with an outstretched arm or hand.
AICA Orthopedics: Atlanta’s Primary Source For Treating Broken Bones
Many kids end up with these types of injuries with arm breaks making up 40% of pediatric bone breaks. If you have any fracture symptoms, call us at (404) 855-2141. This is especially important for children as they heal much faster than adults and incorrect healing can cause lifetime problems.
Seeking medical attention immediately after a fracture or break is imperative to proper healing. Utilizing the RICE technique of rest, ice, compress, and elevate is also important. Surgery is not always required to heal from these injuries but seeking care from our surgeons can help ensure favorable healing and long-term results and lower future impediments as a result.
