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Broken Leg Bones – Tingle, Mingle, Single
There are hundreds of combinations that describe broken leg bones and the related symptoms.
When a leg bone breaks it can cause a tingling sensation for example. The break may be a simple single break that doesn’t go all the way through the bone, or it can be a multiple fracture, and the bones slip apart. This is the kind of mingling you hope to avoid in your life!
In most cases, the broken leg bones will cause a significant amount of pain and swelling. It's almost impossible to put any weight on the leg without increasing the level of pain.
There can be obvious signs of breakage too. For example, with a compound fracture the broken end of a bone pierces the skin (ouch!). In other cases, there are signs of bleeding where your broken bone mingled with soft tissue causing damage.
Of course, the interior of the bone is composed of spongy tissue containing blood vessels, so a break can cause bleeding until the vessels clot.
Recommended immediate first aid for broken bones is relatively simple. The leg should be elevated and immobilized. You can also apply ice. Using ice and elevating the leg will reduce swelling.
Immobilizing the leg will prevent the situation from becoming worse. If you have a broken leg and try to walk on it, more damage can be caused. For example, a complete bone fracture can be turned into a complex fracture with associated soft tissue damage.
A bad situation is turned into a worse one.
There are actually four bones in the leg:
• Femur or thigh bone
• Patella or knee cap
• Tibia or shin bone
• Ankle
Any of these bones can break for many different reasons. Broken leg bones are serious, because they play such an important role in the ability of the body to stand upright, walk, sit and do a number of other activities.
When leg bones are broken, they can also affect the bones in the hip and back due to the inability to walk correctly.
Fortunately, leg bones are quite strong due to their dense bone mass. Broken leg bones are usually the result of some kind of trauma such as a car accident or sports injury. Constant pounding of the leg bones can cause stress fractures.
A stress fracture is crack in the bone, but the bone doesn't separate. A common cause of broken leg bones in older women is osteoporosis where the bone mass has declined.
Immediate first aid treatment for broken leg bones is only intended to get the person to a doctor without causing additional damage to the leg. Almost all broken leg bones will require immobilization.
The doctor will put the leg in a splint or cast to be determined by the severity and kind of break. In many cases, a broken leg requires surgery in order to realign the broken bones though sometimes clean breaks can be set without surgery.
During surgery the bones will be pinned or screwed back together to hold them in place until the new bone growth is complete.
There are other techniques used also including adding a rod to the leg to add stability and strength to the broken bones.