Broken leg

Bone damage most often occurs as a result of trauma, but it can also be a consequence of diseases (for example, in osteoporosis, fracture risk is much higher).

Types of fractures

By severity:

1. Incomplete fractures are cracks in the bone.
2. Complete fractures, which in turn can be biased or not biased.
3. For damage to the skin:
4. Closed - are not accompanied by tissue damage and do not communicate with the external environment.
5. Open ones are shifted fractures, when splinters of bone damage muscles and skin tissues and come out.

In the direction of the fracture:

1. Transverse - when the fracture line is conventionally perpendicular to the bone.
2. Longitudinal - the fracture line extends along the bone.
3. Fragmentation - in which the bone in the injury site is split into several fragments, and there is no single fracture line.

Symptoms

In most cases, fractures have pronounced symptoms. The exception is partial fractures, which can sometimes be taken for stretching the tendons (if it is a trauma of the tibia or ankle).

The main symptom of a fracture is pain in the limb, which increases with any movement or attempt to lean on the leg. Also, painful sensations can occur when you touch your leg in the fracture zone. Another pronounced symptom of the fracture is pathological mobility (mobility of bones in an uncharacteristic place for them). With a hip fracture, the pain can give back and groin, and the damage to the patella does not allow the leg to bend. In addition, displaced fractures can be accompanied by swelling, visible deformation at the site of injury, hematomas and tissue damage.

Treatment

Treatment of fractures is carried out in several stages. Immediately after receiving the injury, the leg should be fixed, anesthetized, and then taken to the hospital. Depending on the type and severity of the fracture of the leg or impose gypsum, or surgical intervention is performed. In the second case, the bone fragments are combined and inserted into the spoke, or the edges of the fracture are fixed with a metal plate and screws. Medicinal products, in addition to analgesics immediately after the injury, are practically not used in the treatment of fractures, with the exception of calcium preparations designed to accelerate bone fusion.

Rehabilitation after fracture

With timely and professional medical care, the leg usually fully restores its functions, but it takes from 6 to 8 weeks for the fracture to grow together. Also, depending on the damage, additional rehabilitation may be required.

Since for a long period (at least a month) the limb is immobilized, it is required to develop it to restore muscle tone and joint mobility, to eliminate muscle atrophy. Rehabilitation after removal of gypsum is carried out with the help of physiotherapy, rubbing, massages. Massage in rehabilitation will help warm up muscles, get rid of stagnant phenomena. But the main point of rehabilitation are special exercises for the development of the legs, which should be started as early as possible, but at the same time exercise caution and increase the load gradually. The complex of exercises for the development of muscles does not represent anything complex - it is walking (the more, the better), the rotation of the foot (for the development of the joint), the legs and squats.

Consequences of fractures

As a rule, fractures do not last for a long time, but in difficult cases and untimely treatment, lameness may occur. Also, with an incorrect distribution of the load after the removal of gypsum, there may be injuries to the muscles.