5 Most Common Broken Bones Seen in the ER: Common Causes & Signs You Should Go to the ER
Of the trauma injuries that are suffered each year and that lead to a visit to the ER, such as the excellent frontlineer.com, broken bones are one of the most common among them. Even though or bones, when healthy at least, are quite robust and well protected, all of them are susceptible to breaking. This means that if you fall or receive a knock in just the right way and under the right circumstances, you may end up suffering a broken bone or a bone fracture as it is referred to in medical circles. If the force exerted on a given bone is more than it can handle, then logic dictates that it has to give way, and that is how bone breaks occur. Those who have suffered from a broken bone can attest to the fact that broken bones can be quite painful, and given that in most cases it takes some time for one to fully heal, they also have an impact as far as one’s daily activities go from cleaning to movement and participating in sports for those that do so. The human body has got over 200 bones in it, and while all of them are susceptible to being broken, there are those that are broken more often than others. This article will therefore look to highlight 5 of the most common broken bones that are seen in the ER, their common causes as well as the signs that mean you should go to the ER as far as they are concerned.
Broken Arm
As far as broken bones go, cases of broken arms are one of the most commonly seen in the ER. Common causes leading to broken arms include falls, especially high falls as well as when one tries to break a fall with their arms. Those that participate in contact sports such as football, hockey, soccer among others are also susceptible to suffering from broken arms with yet another common cause of the same being due to motor vehicle accidents. Signs that you need to go to the ER as far as broken arms go, as per the subject matter experts over at frontlineer.com, include cases of open fractures where the bone is protruding through the skin, heavy bleeding at the site of the broken arm, one’s fingers are turning blue or are numb as well as if the broken hand was as a result of a serious accident.
Broken Foot
Cases of fractures to the foot are also quite common in the ER and some of the common causes as far as they are concerned include falls, sports related accidents especially when it comes to contact sports as well as motor vehicle accidents among others. As far as a broken foot is concerned, the signs that mean that you should go to the ER include if there is an open fracture, that is bone has broken through the skin, if there is heavy bleeding at the site of the foot fracture, one’s toes are numb or are turning blue, the fracture is in the upper leg, there is severe foot deformity due to the fracture or in cases where the broken bone was as a result of a serious accident.
Broken Clavicle
The clavicle is also known as the collarbone, and due to its positioning, that is just beneath the neck, the fact that it doesn’t fully harden until one is around 20 years of age as well as the fact that it is elongated in shape, it is usually quite prone to being broken hence why it is among the most common broken bone seen in the ER, such as the excellent frontlineer.com. Common causes of a broken clavicle include trauma injuries such as falls, accidents such as car accidents as well as when playing contact sports. Babies can also suffer from broken clavicles during child birth. Some of the signs that you need to go to the ER for the same include if the bone has broken through the skin, severe bleeding at the site of the broken clavicle, severe pain especially when trying to move the shoulder, if the fracture happened during a very serious accident as well as severe swelling, tenderness and bruising on the site of the fracture.
Broken Ribs
Broken ribs are also quite common as far as broken bones seen in the ER go, with the most common cause of the same being blunt trauma from accidents, sports related injuries, falls among others. As far as broken ribs go, some of the signs that indicate that you should head over to the ER include if you are having trouble breathing and are experiencing sharp, severe pain especially when you try to take a deep breath, cough, sneeze or laugh as well as if the broken rib or ribs were as a result of a severe accident, which means that there may be internal injuries.
Hip Fractures
Hip fractures are also quite common in the ER, and due to the positioning of the hip and its importance to the body, healing usually takes months. Hip fractures are all as a result of blunt trauma which may be due to a fall, knock, accident and many other instances. Hip fractures in older adults almost always require surgery as per the gurus over at frontlineer.com. Symptoms of a hip fracture include severe pan which radiates to the groin or upper thigh. There are no in-betweens as far as hip fractures go, with all cases requiring a visit to the ER hence symptoms of a hip fracture are all signs that you should go to the ER as soon as you can.
The above are the 5 most common broken bones that are seen in the ER, with there being more on this and other related topics over at the ever reliable frontlineer.com
