Fractures 

A fracture is a severance of the bone (or cartilage) due to mechanical forces which exceed the bone’s ability to withstand them. Fractures may appear for different reasons:

  • A normal bone subject to sharp overwhelming force, usually due to traumatic injury
  • Weakened bone due to a focal lesion (e.g. metastasis or bone cyst), also known as a pathological fracture.
  • A weakened bone due to metabolic anomalies (e.g. osteoporosis) or more rarely genetic anomalies (e.g. osteogenesis imperfecta). Due to insufficiency fractures.
  • Subjection of the body to continuous and unusual pressure (e.g. running), leading to microfractures and possibly to macroscopic damage (fatigue fractures).
Fractures  1

Together, the insufficiency and fatigue fractures are often grouped as stress factors.

Clinical characteristics vary depending on the cause of injury, the nature and level of the patient’s awareness. These are:

  • Pain
  • Deformity
  • Swelling
  • Loss of function
  • Muscle spasms
  • Muscle atrophy
  • Unusual movements
  • Restriction in joint movement
  • Shock
Fractures  2

Physiotherapy identifies the main cause of the problem and helps in selecting the right treatment methods. The treatment used depends largely on issues identified during your first consultation.

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