The world can be a dangerous place. After all, there is an endless number of ways to get hurt. And there are few things more painful than the experience of breaking a bone. This article is a comprehensive guide on treating a broken bone.
Did you know there are 206 bones in the human body? When you think about it for a moment, it’s kind of a miracle that bones don’t break more often than they do.
If you’ve ever wondered how to treat a broken bone, you’ve come to the right place for answers.
This article takes a look at common treatments for a fracture as well as managing pain from a broken bone. Keep reading to get the inside scoop.
Avoid Moving the Break
When you break a bone, the first thing you’ll want to do is keep the injury as stable as possible. This can be challenging, especially if you are outdoors or away from home.
It’s important to not attempt to straighten the injury yourself because this could actually end up causing more damage.
If you notice any bleeding at the point of injury, apply direct pressure with a cloth or gauze. And if the bone has broken through the skin, go ahead and cover the would with a loosely-wrapped gauze, but don’t attempt to press the bone back into place. This is called a compound fracture and requires immediate medical attention.
Cut Away any Clothing Around the Break
Next, you’ll need to remove any clothing from around the break. You’ll quickly discover that this isn’t easy due to the pain involved with moving too much or trying to remove a shirt or pants.
The best solution is to simply cut away the article of clothing in question. For example, if you’re dealing with a broken leg or arm, use scissors to cut all the way up the sleeve or the leg of the pants.
This will enable you to have access to the would so that you can begin the next step of treatment.
Ice and Elevate the Break
Now, you’re ready to ice the injury. Applying ice is crucial at this stage in order to minimize swelling.
Managing the ice or cold pack is important. Keep in mind that you don’t want to leave the ice on the injury for more than 20 minutes at a time. It’s best to apply the cold for 20 minutes every 3 to 4 hours. This will help to keep both the swelling and pain to a minimum.
When applying cold to the injury, wrap the ice or cold pack in a cloth or thin towel. This will help prevent injury to your skin. (q2stadium.com)
Once the ice is applied, gently raise the injury so that it’s elevated above the heart. This will ease swelling.
Apply a Makeshift Splint
Next, you’ll need to create a splint to keep the broken bone from moving until you can receive proper medical care.
The purpose of the splint is to simply hold the injury in place to reduce pain. The splint can be made from anything as long as it’s rigid enough to secure the wound until you can get to a hospital or doctor’s office.
If possible, place some type of soft padding around the injury before setting the splint in place. The splint can be made of rigid cardboard, sticks, or even rolled-up newspaper when nothing else is available. Then you’ll need to wrap the splint with some type of tape to hold it secure.
Once the splint is secure, you’ll need to seek medical care as soon as possible so that the break can be set.
Get Medical Care as Soon as Possible
It’s important to understand that you really won’t know the severity of the injury until you’ve been examined by a medical professional. Keep in mind that X-rays might be required.
Your doctor can assess the break, set it so that it will heal properly, and then apply a cast. They will then offer advice regarding proper care and likely prescribe medication for pain management before sending you home.
Be sure to check out MedNow Urgent Care.
Eat a Balanced Diet
Believe it or not, eating a balanced diet can be very important for the healing process when you have a broken bone. This is because bones need more nutrients than normal in order to heal as quickly as possible.
Eating a well-balanced diet is obviously an important part of keeping your body healthy, but it’s even more important when recovering from a serious injury. This includes eating plenty of protein and other nutrients that will help keep your body strong and making an effort to limit your sugar intake.
Avoid Excessive Calcium
Speaking of giving your body plenty of quality nutrients, you should keep an eye on the amount of calcium you’re consuming.
Why? Because taking excessive amounts of calcium won’t speed up the recovery process. In fact, taking extra doses of calcium doesn’t help bones heal faster, and could actually cause the break to heal slower.
Avoid Smoking
Smoking is one of the least healthy things you can do for your body and a habit you should avoid at all costs.
This is especially true when healing from a broken bone. Because the simple truth is smokers typically heal more slowly because smoking alters normal blood flow to the bone, thus it inhibits the flow of the necessary nutrients to the cells of the injury.
Get Physical Therapy
The next step in the process of healing a broken bone is to attend physical therapy. An experienced physical therapist will understand how to speed up the healing process by manipulating the body in specific ways.
A good PT can help reduce pain as well as the overall time requires to fully heal from the injury.
A Complete Guide On How to Treat a Broken Bone
There’s nothing fun about getting injured. Fortunately, these tips for how to treat a broken bone will help keep the healing period to a minimum.
Keep scrolling to discover more great lifestyle tips and advice for your lifestyle.
