Injuries, in particular fractures, often occur in people's lives. Many are interested in how much the fracture heals. Healing periods may vary, depending on the degree of damage to a particular part of the body.
Severity of injury
How much a bone fracture heals depends on the severity of the damage. There are three degrees of severity:
- Light fractures. The healing time is about 20-30 days. This group includes injuries of the ribs, hands and fingers.
- Fractures of moderate severity. Healing is carried out in the period from one to three months.
- Severe fractures in most cases require surgical therapy, and the time of full recovery can reach a year.
Also, according to the type of injury, closed and open fractures are distinguished. This also affects how much the fracture heals.
Bone Regeneration Stages
In medical practice, the following regeneration stages were distinguished:
- Catabolism of tissue structures and cell infiltration. The tissue dies after damage, cells decay into elements, hematomas appear.
- Cell differentiation. This stage is characterized by primary bone growth. If the blood supply is good, fusion is carried out as primary osteogenesis. Its duration ranges from ten to fifteen days.
- Stage of primary osteon formation. Bone callus begins to form on the damaged area. Primary fusion is carried out. The tissue breaks through capillaries, its protein base hardens. A chaotic network of bone trabeculae sprouts, and they, when combined, form the primary osteon.
- Sponging corn. This stage is characterized by the appearance of bone plastic cover, a cortical substance is formed, the damaged structure is restored. Depending on how severe the damage is, this stage can last several months or three years.
A prerequisite for a normally fused fracture is the course of the recovery stages without disturbances and complications.
Varieties of Bone Callus
Types of bone callus are understood as primary and secondary fusion. Fusion of a bone fracture occurs through the formation of bone marrow. The following varieties are distinguished:
- external (periosteal) callus is created mainly due to the periosteum;
- the internal (endostal) callus is formed from the endostasis;
- intermediate corn fills the cleft at the junction of the compact fusion of bone fragments;
- paraossal corn is formed in the form of a bridge between parts of bone fragments.
The state of bone fragments (contact density, level of displacement, fixation strength) affects various types of bone tissue repair. If the fragments are juxtaposed well and tightly adjoin, are firmly fixed, then the fusion is characterized by a minimum of periosteal callus and mainly due to the intermediate callus.
The formation of endostal and periostal callus
Initially, fusion of bone fragments occurs through the formation of endosteal and periosteal callus. As soon as the fragments are held tightly by corns, an interstitial (intermediate) callus appears, which is of primary importance for all types of fracture fusion.
When the fusion is formed by the intermedical callus, the endostal and periosteal calluses are reduced, and the intermediate turns into the morphological structure of the normal bone.
A normally fused primary type fracture becomes the most optimal (perfect), gives a fusion earlier with the best structure of bone restoration.
If the fragments are displaced during a comminuted fracture, the main role in the fusion lies on the periosteum, and the fracture heals in the form of a secondary one, when an obvious periosteal callus forms.
The rate of healing of various fractures
The mechanism of a normally fused fracture is complex, the process takes a long time. With a closed fracture of one place in the leg or arm, the healing speed is high, it ranges from nine to fourteen days. Multiple damage heals in about a month. The longest and most dangerous for regeneration is an open fracture, the healing time in such situations is more than two months. If the bones are displaced in relation to each other, then the duration of the restoration process is further increased.
The reasons for the slow recovery rate of a normally fused fracture can be an excessive load on the affected limb, improper therapy or a lack of calcium in the patient's body.
The rate of healing of childhood fractures
In a child, fracture treatment is faster by 30% compared with adults. This is due to the high content of ossein and protein in the children's skeleton. The periosteum is thicker, it has excellent blood supply. The skeleton of children is constantly increasing, and the presence of growth zones accelerates bone fusion even more. In children from six to twelve years of age, with damaged bone tissue, correction of fragments is observed without surgical intervention, and therefore, in most situations, specialists manage only by applying gypsum.
As in adults, the healing rate of an injury is affected by age, as well as how close the fracture is to the joint.
The smaller the childโs age, the higher the bodyโs ability to correct bone fragments. The closer the disturbance is to the growth zone, the sooner it will heal. However, biased injuries recover more slowly.
The most common childhood fractures:
- Complete. In such cases, the bone is divided into several parts.
- Compression fractures occur due to strong compression along the axis of the tubular bone. Recovery occurs from 15 to 25 days.
- Type of fracture "green branch". The limb bends, and fragments and cracks form. It occurs if the force is excessively pressed, which is insufficient for absolute destruction.
- The bend is plastic. Appears in the elbow and knee joints. Partial destruction of bone tissue without cracks and scars is noted.
The average recovery time in adults
The process of bone growth in adults lasts longer. This is due to the fact that the periosteum becomes thinner with age, and calcium is eliminated from the body with harmful substances and toxins. Slow fracture of the arm occurs. A fractured arm fracture, however, is less dangerous for a patient than a leg fracture.
So, consider the healing time of fractures of various bones of the body.
They heal over the next time:
- Elbow bone - from 61 to 76 days.
- Forearm bones - from 70 to 85 days.
How many finger fractures are fused? In time it takes:
- Phalanges of the fingers - 22 days.
- The carpal bones are 29 days old.
- Radial bone - from 29 to 36 days.
- Shoulder bone - from 42 to 59 days.
Of course, a broken arm is very unpleasant. A fused arm fracture can be normal or abnormal.
Leg fracture healing period:
- Heel bone - from 35 to 42 days.
- Is the metatarsal fracture fused? Yes, at a rate of three weeks to 42 days.
- Ankle - from 46 to 60 days.
- The patella is about a month.
- A normally healed hip fracture can be observed from a month to two.
- Pelvic bones - about a month.
In adults, only within the period from 15 to 23 days after the lesion do primary foci of callus appear in the bone, on X-ray they are clearly visible. Along with this or earlier, the ends of bone fragments become blunt for 2-3 days, and their contours in the corns area become dull and smeared. The ends for the second month become smooth, the corns appear clear-cut. It condenses over the course of the year and gradually aligns along the bone surface. The crack itself passes only 6-8 months after the injury.
The healing time cannot be determined even by the most accurate orthopedist, since all indicators are individual, depending on a large number of factors.
How long does the fracture heal and what does it depend on?
Factors Affecting Bone Fusion Speed
The restoration of a broken bone is determined by a number of factors that either accelerate it or hinder it. The regeneration process itself is individual in each case.
The decisive role for the speed of healing belongs to first aid. It is important when an open fracture to prevent infection from entering the wound, as suppuration and inflammation will slow down the recovery process. There will be faster healing if small bones have been broken.
The speed of recovery also depends on the age of the patient, the location and area of โโthe lesion of the bone cover, as well as other conditions.
Bone fusion will be more effective in the presence of such factors:
- following medical recommendations;
- wearing gypsum for the entire designated time;
- reduced load on a broken limb.
With open fractures, bone marrow forms much longer if a wound infection develops, which is accompanied by bone sequestration and post-traumatic osteomyelitis. That is why, with improper fracture therapy, bone marrow formation slows down or does not occur at all. In such situations, long non-fused fractures appear, characterized by slow consolidation, as well as false joints:
- If patients suffer from hypovitaminosis and vitamin deficiency (osteomalacia in pregnant women, rickets, scurvy).
- If there is a violation of the parathyroid glands (a decrease in the concentration of calcium in the blood) and adrenal hyperfunction.
- In chronic diseases (syphilis, tuberculosis, syringomyelia, diabetes mellitus, tumors of the spinal cord and brain). Peripheral nerve disturbance negatively affects fracture consolidation. Bone regeneration also slows down during cachexia, anemia, and radiation sickness.
- If hormonal drugs are taken for a long time (Prednisolone, Hydrocortisone, etc.). The use of heparin and dicumarin lengthens the period of consolidation of fractures.
Significant factors in the healing of fractures are the viability and blood supply to the ends of bone fragments, which are often disrupted in the presence of fractures. In the bone itself, damage to the vessels of the soft tissues also occurs. In the zone of the pineal glands, where articular capsules and synovial inversions are attached, veins and arteries enter the bone.
A normally fused radius fracture is formed better and faster due to excellent blood supply to the ends of bone fragments. The lower third of the ulnar, humerus and tibia has poor blood supply, and therefore fractures of this localization are fused worse. In the absence of blood supply to one of the parts of the damaged bone, this site is not involved in the restoration (medial fractures of the scaphoid or femoral neck).
If the fracture has healed with displacement
Offset fracture is one in which the fragments lose their correct position and are displaced relative to each other. It is manifested by deformation and / or shortening, less often - lengthening of the limb. There are various types of displacement, including along the axis, along the length, rotational and angular. The diagnosis is confirmed by x-ray. If necessary, CT, MRI, arthroscopy and other studies are used. To eliminate the bias, a simultaneous reposition is performed, skeletal traction is applied, or various surgical techniques are applied.
Help with bone fusion
The fusion of bone fragments helps the presence in the patient's diet of vegetables and fruits, products containing a lot of calcium. These include sesame seeds, cheese, fish and cottage cheese.
In order for the fracture to heal faster, it is advisable to use the shell of eggs, this accelerates the coalescence due to the presence of calcium in it. The shell must be dipped in boiling water, then chopped to a powder state and taken one teaspoon twice a day.
Provides the patient's body with all the mummy necessary for him with mineral substances. Take it three times a day for half a teaspoon, previously diluted with warm water. Firring is helped by fir oil. You need to mix 3-4 drops with bread crumb and eat.
Essential Medicines
If healing occurs slowly, drugs are prescribed that accelerate the recovery process. Medicines that contribute to the formation of cartilage tissue will help: Chondroitin, Teraflex, a combination of Glucosamine and Chondroitin. Reception is prescribed exclusively by the attending physician.
When bone marrow is formed, vitamin D, phosphorus, and calcium preparations must be taken before bone restoration is completed. A prerequisite for the use of these funds is a medical appointment.
To prevent the occurrence of osteomyelitis, people with open fractures are prescribed immunomodulators: Timalin, Levamisole and sodium nucleinate.
To regulate cellular immunity and phagocytosis, lipopolysaccharides are prescribed: "Prodigiozan", "Pyrogenal".
Elderly patients are prescribed calcitonins (Calcinar, Calcitrin), in rare cases, fluoride extracts and biophosphonates. In situations in which the fusion of fragments is impossible on their own with the human body, anabolic steroids are used.
An effective folk recipe is considered to be a rosehip tincture. To cook it, you need to take a tablespoon of crushed rosehip berries, then pour them with boiling water and insist for six hours. Be sure to filter the broth, taken 5-6 times a day for a tablespoon. Rosehip allows you to speed up the recovery process, bone regeneration and strengthens the immune system.
Forecast and Slow Consolidation
To predict fracture fusion, it is necessary to proceed from the usual course of repair processes, which are described in the sections of traumatology.
The consolidation of delayed fractures is due to improper treatment. Slow consolidation is clinically manifested in the form of elastic mobility of the broken site, pain during axial load, in some cases, redness of the epidermis at the fracture site. A radiological fuzzy manifestation of bone callus is detected.
Delayed consolidation therapy can be surgical and conservative. Conservative treatment consists in continuing critical immobilization for the period required for fusion, as if with a fresh fracture (from 2-3 months or more), which can be achieved using plaster bandages, compression devices, wearing orthoses (orthopedic devices).
To conserve bone marrow formation, other conservative methods are also used:
- the introduction of autologous blood (from 10 to 20 ml) between the fragments by means of a thick needle;
- use of congestive hyperemia;
- physiotherapy: electrophoresis of calcium salts, anabolic hormones (retabolil, methandrostenolone, etc.), UHF;
- striking the fracture site with a wooden hammer (Turner method);
- electrical stimulation with low currents.
The article told how long the fracture healed and what factors affect the timing of recovery after an injury.