How do you treat broken bones?

Broken bone ends heal by "knitting" back together with new bone being formed around the edge of the broken parts. Surgery is sometimes required to treat a fracture. The type of treatment required depends on the severity of the break, whether it is "open" or "closed," and the specific bone involved. read more

All extremity injuries need to be treated as broken bones until an X-ray can be obtained. Signs and Symptoms of a Fracture Persistent pain and swelling following an injury warrants a trip to the doctor. read more

If you think that bones may be broken in the back, neck, or hip or of bone is exposed, do not move the person; instead, call 911 for help. In other cases, you may call for assistance or transport the person to the emergency room. read more

IMMOBILIZATION: The primary goal of most broken bone treatments is to simply let the bones merge back together. However, if they displaced or otherwise unaligned then this will be impossible. Therefore, doctors often realign, or set, the bones then immobilize them so that they do not become unaligned again in the healing process. read more