injuries and poisoning
Overview of Fractures
Symptoms of Fractures
The most obvious symptom of a fracture is Pain The injured part hurts, especially when people try to put weight on it or use it. The area around the fracture is tender to the touch. Other symptoms include Swelling A part that looks distorted, bent, or out of place Bruising or discoloration Inability to use the injured part normally Possibly loss of feeling (numbness or abnormal sensations) Fractures typically cause swelling, but swelling may take hours to develop and, in some types of fractures, is very slight. When muscles around the injured area try to hold a broken bone in place, muscle spasms may occur, causing additional pain. Bruises appear when bleeding occurs under the skin. The blood may come from blood vessels in a broken bone or in the surrounding tissues. At first, the bruise is purplish black, then slowly turns green and yellow as the blood is broken down and reabsorbed back into the body. The blood can move quite a distance from the fracture, causing a large bruise or a bruise some distance from the injury. It can take a few weeks for blood to be reabsorbed. The blood can cause temporary pain and stiffness in the surrounding structures. For example, shoulder fractures can bruise the entire arm and cause pain in the elbow and wrist. Pain, as well as the fracture itself, often prevents a person from moving the fractured part normally. Because moving the injured part is so painful, some people are unwilling or unable to move it. If people (such as young children or older people) cannot speak, refusal to move a body part may be the only sign of a fracture. However, some fractures do not keep people from moving the injured part. Being able to move an injured part does not mean that there is no fracture. 