Content

• Steps
• Advice

A fracture occurs when enough force is applied to a bone, such as falling from a swing or tripping on a platform, or more seriously, in a car accident. A fracture should be evaluated and treated by a medical professional to reduce potential complications and maximize resilience of the bones and joints. Although fractures are common in children as well as adults with osteoporosis, about seven million people of all ages fracture each year.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Situation assessment

1. 

   Find out what happened. If you are the person experiencing an injury, determine what happened right before the pain. If you are helping someone, ask them what happened before the accident. Most fractures require an applied force large enough to fracture or fracture a bone. Identifying the cause of your injury helps you assess whether your bone is broken.
   • The force is large enough to cause a bone fracture that can occur when you fall, have a motorcycle accident or hit a bone directly, for example during a sport.
   • Bones can also fracture in violent situations such as abuse of the body, or subject to repetitive force such as running.

2. 

   
   
   Determine if you need other support services. Knowing the cause of your injury not only helps you assess the likelihood of a fracture, but also determines if you need help.You may need to contact emergency services, call the police in the case of a car accident, or child support services when it is a child abuse case.
   • If the injury is less likely to cause a fracture (such as a sprain, when the ligament is overly stretched or even torn), but the victim appears very painful, then you should call 911 or offer to take them to a nearby clinic or hospital if the injury and / or pain is not too urgent (eg, the wound is not bleeding much, the victim can still talk normally, without interruptions, etc. ..).
   • If the victim is unconscious or unable to communicate, or if they are able to communicate but the information is incoherent, you should call an ambulance as this is a sign of head injury. See Part Two below.

3. 

   
   
   Find information about what was felt or heard during an injury. Ask the victim how they were feeling or encountered at the time of the fall. People with a fracture often describe hearing or “feeling” a click in the fracture. So if they say they've heard a click, this is a clear sign that something has broken.
   • They may also describe the sensation or a throbbing sound (such as the sound of bones rubbing together) when moving the area, even if they don't feel pain at the time.

4. 

   
   
   Find information about pain. When a bone breaks, the body reacts immediately with the sensation of pain. The fracture itself and any injury to the muscle tissue near the site of the break (such as muscles, ligaments, nerves, blood vessels, cartilage and tendons) can cause pain. There are three levels of pain to watch out for:
   • Acute pain This is an intense pain sensation that usually occurs after a bone has broken. If you experience extreme pain this could be a sign of a fracture.
   • Subacute pain This type of pain occurs during the first few weeks after a fracture, especially when the fracture is healing. Essentially the cause is muscle tension and weakness, which is the effect of immobilization while the bone heals (such as a cast or bandage).
   • Chronic pain This is a lasting pain, even after the bone and tissue has healed and can persist for weeks or months after fracture.
   • Note that you may experience some or all of these types of pain. Some people experience acute and subacute pain but not chronic pain, while others may experience a fracture with little or no pain, like when the little toe or spine is broken.

5. 

   Look for outward signs of a broken bone. There are several signs that may indicate a bone has broken, including:
   • The fracture position is deformed, moving in an unusual direction
   • Hematoma, internal bleeding or bruising
   • Difficulty moving where there are broken bones
   • This area looks shorter, twisted, or curved
   • Loss of energy in the area of ​​the injury
   • Loss of normal mobility in the area
   • Shock
   • Swelling a lot
   • Numbness or tingling inside or below the area where the fracture is suspected

6. 

   Look for other symptoms of the fracture if you don't see any. In the case of a minor fracture, there may be no signs of deformation and only slight swelling, so it is difficult to see with the naked eye. So you have to do a more detailed assessment to determine if the bone is broken or not.
   • Usually a broken bone causes people to adjust their behavior. For example, they often avoid putting pressure or putting pressure on the affected area. This is a sign that something is wrong, even if you cannot see the broken bone with the naked eye.
   • Consider the following three examples: a broken bone in the ankle or leg will cause so much pain that the victim doesn't want to bear weight on that leg; pain from a broken bone in an arm or hand often makes you more inclined to protect and not use that arm; pain caused by a broken rib that makes it impossible to take a deep breath.

7. 

   Look for point pain signs. A broken bone can be detected by a single point pain sign, meaning that when you press the area where the bone is broken, the pain is concentrated in one spot, unlike pain over a large area. In other words, pain peaks whenever pressure is applied near the broken bone. When there is pain at one point, the bone is more likely to have broken.
   • Large-scale pain to the touch (slight pressure or push) with a width greater than three fingers is more likely to result from damage to a ligament, tendon, or other tissue.
   • Note that bruising or excessive swelling immediately after the injury is a sign of tissue damage, not a fracture.

8. 

   Be careful when taking care of children with suspected fractures. Keep the following factors in mind if you want to determine if a child under 12 has a fracture. In general, it's a good idea to take your baby to see a doctor for an official diagnosis if you suspect your baby has a fracture, as it may affect bone development. This way, your child will be properly and promptly treated.
   • Young children often cannot recognize the exact sensation of pain in one spot. Their pain responses have more general characteristics than that of adults.
   • It is difficult for children to judge how much pain they are feeling.
   • Childhood fracture pain is also different because their bones have different elasticity. Baby bones are more prone to bending or breaking instead of breaking.
   • You are the one who understands your baby best. If your baby's behavior shows more pain than a normal injury, he or she needs medical attention.
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Part 2 of 3: Immediate care

1. 

   The general rule of thumb is not to move the victim. Only move the victim if there is imminent danger in the case of a broken bone due to a strong fall or a motorcycle accident. Do not attempt to rearrange the bones or move the victim if they are unable to move on their own. This is to avoid hurting them further.
   • Do not move anyone with a hip or hip fracture; A broken pelvis can cause a lot of blood to flow into the pelvic cavity. Instead, call an ambulance and wait for them to arrive. However, if a person has this trauma and has to be transported before an emergency arrives, then you need to put a pillow between their legs and tie your legs together. Roll them on a board to keep them in place, roll the whole body as a whole. Keep shoulders, hips, and feet aligned and roll the entire body while someone else slides the board under the victim's hips. The plank should be long enough from the center of the back to the knee.
   • Are not moving a person at risk of a back or neck fracture. Leave them in their detected position and call ambulance immediately. Don't try to straighten your back or neck. Let the ambulance officer know if you suspect the victim has a broken back or neck and why. Moving a victim can cause serious long-term harm, including polio.

2. 

   Hemostasis after an accident or injury. Take care of all wounds before treating a broken bone. If the broken bone is coming out of the skin, do not touch or attempt to push it into the body. The bones are usually gray or light beige, not the white you would see in Halloween skeletons and medical models.
   • If the bleeding is heavy, always take care of the bleeding site before treating the broken bone.

3. 

   Immobilize the area of ​​the injury. Only take care of a broken bone if emergency services cannot be immediately available. If emergency personnel are coming up or you are on your way to the hospital, splinting the area can do more harm than good. However, if you cannot access a medical facility right away, then these guidelines should be used for bone immobilization and pain relief.
   • A support brace supports a broken arm or leg. Don't try to rearrange the bones. You can use material that is available or found nearby to make a splint. Find hard material to make the splint, such as wooden bars or boards, curled newspaper, and so on. If the part of the body is rather small (like a toe or finger), tape it on the toe or next finger to provide stability and a firm brace.
   • Wrap the splint around the brace with clothing, towels, blankets, pillows or anything else soft available.
   • Extend the splint over the joint above and below the fracture. For example, if the lower leg is broken, use a brace that extends over your knee and ankle. Likewise, fractures in a joint need to be splinted on both sides of the bone adjacent to the joint.
   • Tie the splint firmly to the area where the bone is broken. You can use a belt, rope, shoelace, or anything else that is available to keep the splint in place.Be careful when tying the splint so that it does not cause other bodily injury. Wrap the splint properly so that it does not add pressure to the injured area but only immobilizes it.

4. 

   Make a sling for a broken arm or hand. The bandages help support your arms and prevent muscle fatigue. Use a piece of fabric about 1 square meter cut from pillowcases, bed sheets or any other large piece of fabric. Fold the cloth into a triangle. Slide one end of the tape under the broken arm and over the shoulder, crossing the other end over the other shoulder so that the tape is wrapped around the arm. Tie the ends of the tape at the back of the neck. advertisement

Part 3 of 3: Finding medical attention

1. 

   Call 911 immediately if the fracture requires medical attention. If you notice any of the following, you need to call an ambulance. If you cannot call for an ambulance directly, ask someone else to call it right away.
   • The suspected fracture is part of another serious injury.
   • The victim did not respond. In other words, they cannot move or talk. If they are not breathing, give CPR.
   • The victim was breathing heavily.
   • The limb or joint appears to be deformed or bent at an abnormal angle.
   • Areas with broken bones are numb or bluish at the apex.
   • The suspected broken bone is located in the pelvis, hip, neck, head or back.
   • Excessive bleeding.

2. 

   Care should be taken to prevent shock. A fracture that occurs in a serious accident can lead to shock. While waiting for emergency personnel to arrive or on your way to the hospital, keep the victim upright, feet above heart and head lower than chest if possible. If you suspect a broken leg, do not elevate it. Cover the victim with a jacket or blanket.
   • Remember not to move them if you suspect that their neck or back is broken.
   • Help them lie comfortably and stay warm. Use blankets, pillows or clothing to cover the affected area. Talk to the victim to help them forget the pain.

3. 

   Use a cold compress to reduce swelling. Take off clothing around broken bones and use cold compresses to minimize swelling. A cold compress will help the doctor when the bone has to be rearranged and also relieve the pain of the victim. Do not apply directly to the skin, but wrap a towel or other material around the ice pack before applying.
   • You can also use a bag of frozen pods instead of ice, if available.

4. 

   Always keep in touch with your doctor. You should make an appointment with your doctor or go to the hospital to take an x-ray if you find symptoms that did not appear at the time of the injury. Go to the hospital if you or the victim feels pain in the injured area but does not improve significantly after several days, or when you have no pain at one point a few hours after the accident but one or two The next day, this feeling appeared. Sometimes muscle swelling can inhibit the sensation of pain or pain in one spot to the touch.
   • While this article is intended to help you identify a fracture without having an X-ray, you should go to the hospital as soon as possible if you suspect a fracture after a fall or accident. If you continue to use a broken arm, leg or part for a long time, intentionally or unintentionally, it could lead to a permanent injury to that part.
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Advice

• You should not be stubborn without going to the hospital thinking that everything is okay. A fracture is a very serious injury, and if a broken bone penetrates the skin, it becomes even more difficult to rearrange the bone, and then you will require medical attention.