Can fractures be treated without surgery?

I never realized how ignorant we generally are towards health issues until I experienced something myself. I had always thought of fracture treatment to be casting and that’s about it, but it when my daughter fractured her arm I came to know a lot about how things work with fractures. When she experienced fracture we took her to an emergency service and there I was told that she needs to undergo a surgery as she seemed to have a dislocation. I was kind of shock as I never knew fractures sometimes require surgeries too. In fact I was quite skeptical about the entire idea so I thought of asking a family doctor for a second opinion and it was then I learned that some fractures do require urgent surgical procedures that are also not supposed to be delayed as they can result in a permanent injury.

Educate yourself:

Its very impost ant for us to understand and know more about fractures since fracture can turn in just out of the blue. A very basic definition of fracture is that it a broken bone. However what we must keep in mind is that not all fractures are the same. Depending on different criteria and circumstances an individual might undergo a different type of fracture. Let’s have a look at some pattern of fractures and later we will learn about the common types of fractures.

• Stable fracture: In a stable fracture the broken part of the bone remains on its place.
• Displaced fracture: In such fractures there tends to be some gap between each broken end.
• Open Fracture: In such fracture the broken bone can be outside the skin.
• Closed or a simple fracture: Unlike open fracture in a closed fracture we cannot see the bone outside the skin.
• Complete fracture: A fracture in which the bone breaks completely and two ends are completely separated is known as complete fracture.
• Partial fracture: A crack or incomplete breakage of bone is called a partial fracture.

Now that you have made yourself familiar with some common classified fractures here is a list of types of fracture for you.

• Spiral fracture
• Transverse fracture
• Stress fracture
• Greenstick fracture
• Compression fracture
• Oblique fracture
• Comminuted fracture
• Avulsion fracture
• Impacted fracture
• Segmental fracture
• Greenstick fracture

Can fractures be treated without surgery?

Now you see, with these different variations and types of fracture the question, can fractures be treated without surgery cannot be answered simply. There are a couple of factors that are responsible for determining whether or not the fracture requires surgical treatment.

Fractures that mostly require surgery

• Most commonly comminuted fractures are caused due to severe trauma and end up requite fracture treatment with a surgery however other type of fracture can also result in leading to a surgical treatment depending on the location, intensity and complication of the fracture.
• Dislocated fracture is also quite commonly treated by surgeries since in such fractures the broken piece of multiple bone fracture tends to lead to surgeries as well in most cases.
• A person who has multiple fractures may also need to undergo surgical treatment.
• A fracture leading to the damage to the adjoining ligaments often needs surgery.

Just so you know surgical treatments for fracture also varies depending on the type of a facture. Few fractures are treated with pins, implants plates, screws or rods in order to help maintain the right position of the bones during the healing period.

Get the right diagnostic:

Have an understanding that not all fractures need surgeries there are couple of other fracture treatments that are offer as per the requirement. Also a very important factor that has to be taken in consideration is you really need to choose the right diagnostic center for urgent care. The right physical examiner will take adequate steps to determine the nature of fracture and most suitable treatment.

Step by step treatment for a fracture:

Settling up:

Treatment usually begins right in the emergency room where the patient’s injury is immediately evaluated and encouraged for x-ray and sometimes also CT scan or MRI again depending on the nature of the fracture.

Immobilization:

For proper healing of most type of fractures it is very much necessary to restrict the movement. Until you are up for any kind of fracture treatment a temporary sling is attached to stop the bone for moving and cause further injury. Of course later once the line of treatment for the fracture is ready the sling is removed and preceded with the right procedure. The restriction on bone movement is what we call immobilization.

The verdict:

Once your x-rays are with the examiner a line of treatment is suggested. Depending entirely on your case the physician will prescribe either a cast for up to 6 to 8 weeks or even a surgery. Remember you cannot self-diagnose your fracture. Sometimes when people experience a stress fracture they think they can let it heal on its own. Even a hairline fracture might get complicated if not treated with urgent care. Even if for you the pain is bearable you must seek professional treatment for a fracture.

Pain management:

Once a fracture is treated what a reliable urgent care service examiner will be concerned about is to deal with the pain. We all know that fractures do not heal overnight. Ranging from couple of weeks to months fractures take their sweet time to heal and bring you back to oneself. The period might be time taking but pain management is the key to passing it with ease. Initially you might experience swelling and pain, generally a pain reliever is prescribed to reduce any inflammation and pain.

Therapy:

Lastly this is something that comes post the healing period. It’s quite recommended to follow therapy to restore the casual movement of your injury. Since that certain body part is out of movement for a long time there has to be some stiffness, therapeutic exercise will definitely help you completely heal.

Gemini urgent care specialized in handling all types of fracture treatment. We are just a call away for any information regarding the matter.