Fractures are one of the most common orthopedic injuries, with roughly 180 million fractures happening every year worldwide.
Thomas E. Powell, MD, and the team at Powell Orthopedics and Sports Medicine provide comprehensive care for all sorts of fractures, helping patients of all ages heal and recover. In this post, learn more about partial fractures and why prompt medical care is essential for your healing and recovery.
Many fractures happen as a result of direct trauma to a limb or other part of your body. Falls, sports injuries, and motor vehicle accidents are all common causes.
But fractures can also happen for other reasons, including indirect impacts on your body, overuse or repetitive use of a limb, and degenerative conditions, like osteoporosis. Some fractures, like spinal fractures and hip fractures, become more common with age, especially among people with balance issues who are at increased risk of falling.
While many fractures extend through the bone, a partial fracture is an incomplete break that extends part-way through the bone. Some people refer to these fractures as “cracks,” although the effects of a partial break can be just as devastating as a complete fracture. Hairline fractures and stress fractures are good examples of incomplete or partial breaks.
Thinking of a partial bone fracture as just a minor “crack” can lead to delays in treatment and serious consequences later on. While minor, hairline, and partial fractures could theoretically heal on their own, all fractures benefit from medical treatment. This starts with an evaluation of the fracture to assess its severity and map out therapy.
Medical intervention early on also helps prevent complications, like a worsening fracture, delayed or improper healing, infections, or other problems that can lead to permanent disability.
In addition to supporting normal healing, medical treatment also focuses on managing pain, swelling, and other symptoms, as well as treatments that can help prevent fractures in the future. That’s especially important for people with fractures due to overuse injuries, osteoporosis, or other degenerative conditions.
Fractures, even partial ones, affect people in different ways, depending on a person’s lifestyle, health history, healing responses, and personal risk factors. Early fracture care takes all these variables into account to promote rapid and complete healing and recovery.
To learn more about fracture care or to have pain, swelling, or other symptoms evaluated by our team, call 205-606-5232 or request an appointment online with Powell Orthopedics and Sports Medicine in Vestavia Hills, Alabama. today.
