An acute fracture is a broken bone from a traumatic injury. Sometimes, fractures are serious. You should get emergency care right away if you think you have an acute fracture.
Learn more about fractures and how to treat them.
What Is a Fracture?
A fracture is a broken bone. Fractures usually result from traumatic events.
There are many ways to describe fractures. How recently the fracture occurred is one way to describe the type of fracture it is.
Fracture classifications include:
- Acute fractures, which happen within the first four days after the injury.
- Subacute fractures, which happen between days five and 13 after the injury.
- Post-acute fractures, which happen 14 days or longer after the injury.
Acute fractures:
- Are the result of a traumatic injury.
- Should receive emergency treatment.
Understanding Fractures
Though bones are strong living tissues that can sustain a wide range of activity and motion, they have their limits. Some people get smaller fractures that they don’t even notice. Other times, fractures are very painful and debilitating.
Fracture severity usually depends on the force that caused the break. If a bone’s limit is only pushed a little, the bone may crack rather than split all the way through. Extreme force, however, can cause the bone to shatter.
What does a fracture feel like?
A broken bone can often feel like a very deep or sharp pain.
Symptoms may vary depending on which bone you fractured. In addition to pain, other symptoms may include:
- Bruising
- Stiffness
- Swelling
- Warmth
- Weakness
If you think you have an acute fracture of a bone, get medical help right away.
How Do Doctors Diagnose Acute Fractures?
A health care provider can diagnose a fracture by examining the injury and using imaging tests, such as x-rays, CTs, and MRIs.
Because there are so many bones in our bodies and so many ways to break them, there are additional terms for fractures, as well.
These include:
- Closed fractures — don’t break through the skin.
- Compound or open fractures — break through the skin.
- Partial fractures — don’t break all the way through the bone.
- Complete fractures — break the bone completely into two or more pieces.
- Displaced fractures — broken bone pieces no longer line up in the body.
- Nondisplaced fracture — broken pieces still line up properly in the body.
There are also several other terms for the way the bone breaks. They include:
- Stress fractures — haven’t displaced and typically result from overuse or a weakened bone.
- Oblique fractures — the bone breaks at an angle.
- Transverse fractures — the bone breaks in a straight line.
- Greenstick fractures — the bone breaks on one side but bends on the opposite side.
- Comminuted fractures — the bone breaks into three or more pieces.
How Do You Treat Acute Fractures?
For some fractures, a cast or a splint immobilizes the bone while it heals. Others require surgical treatment with metal internal fixation.
It helps to understand how a bone heals. Right after you break a bone, your body begins to form a blood clot around the injured area. That’s why it’s important to seek emergency care with a health care provider who can properly set the bone or get it aligned right away.
The cast or splint will help keep the bone in place. It’ll protect the fractured area and give it a safe environment in which to heal.
Over the next few weeks, a soft callus will form around the broken bone. Eventually, more cells and minerals will help create a hard callus that will help the bone remodel itself and knit back together.
When your body has reached the final stage of healing the broken bone, you can probably resume all the normal activities you enjoyed before the fracture.
How long does an acute fracture take to heal?
How long the bone takes to heal depends on the bone you broke, the type of fracture you had, and the quality of the alignment. It also depends on lifestyle choices you make while you’re healing.
When you’ve reached the final stage of healing the broken bone, you can probably resume all the normal activities as before the fracture. Recovery time depends on the type of break.
How do you prevent a nonhealing fracture?
Sometimes, a fracture doesn’t heal properly, and nonhealing fracture care is necessary.
Seeking medical attention quickly after an injury and following the doctor’s instructions will also ensure a higher likelihood that your bone heals properly.
See your doctor for follow-up appointments after your fracture heals to ensure it has healed completely.
If you have concerns or questions about your healing fracture, consult your doctor.
How do you lower your risk of fractures?
Steps you can take to lower your risk of fractures include:
- Keeping your bones strong — Eat foods high in calcium and vitamin D, get regular weight-bearing exercise, and treat low bone density or osteoporosis if necessary.
- Preventing falls — Remove any tripping hazards, slow down, walk carefully on wet or icy surfaces, and wear the right shoes.
- Wearing protective equipment when playing sports.