How Do Broken Bones Heal?

When you break a bone, it's best to go to a doctor -- though your body begins the healing process before you even get there. Learn how broken bones heal (with medical help) in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://health.howstuffworks.com/human-body/systems/musculoskeletal/heal-broken-bones.htm

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio.
Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Bogle bomb here. If you experience
engine trouble, you take your car to or mechanic. If
your pipes leak, you call a plumber. And if you
fracture a leg, the usual course of action is to
visit a doctor. But unlike other things that may break

(00:23):
in life, bones begin healing on their own before you
even set foot in a waiting room. Doctors often play
a vital, sometimes life saving roll in a bones healing process,
but these experts basically help the body heal itself. Doctors
provide optimal conditions for bone repair and healing to take place.

(00:44):
The rest is up to your cells. Sometimes broken bones
can heal so thoroughly within a few months that even
an X ray can't determine the original fracture line. So
how does this amazing biological process work? How can a
fractured live m grow back to its former strength. Let's
first take a closer look at just what bones are

(01:05):
made of and how alive they really are. It's easy
to think of your bones as solid, lifeless matter upon
which all of our living tissue just sits. But your
skeleton is as much a living part of your being
as your softer tissues and organs. The body stores minerals
in the hard compact bone itself, and inside the center

(01:26):
of the bone, the body produces red blood cells and
the red marrow, and stores fat and the yellow marrow.
It's important to remember that your bones are constantly changing.
Cells called osteoclasts break down old bone so that osteo
blasts can replace it with new bone tissue, a process
called bone remodeling. Another type of cell called the chondrablast

(01:49):
forms new cartilage. These are three of the primary cells
responsible for bone growth, and not just the bone growth
you experience early in life. This constant bone remodeling gradually
replaces old bone tissue with new tissue over the course
of months. But what happens when a bone breaks? Almost
immediately after the break, the body begins to try and

(02:11):
put itself back together again, and doctors often divide the
overall process into four phases. First, there's a fracture hematoma.
When a bone breaks, the fissure also severs the blood
vessels running down the length of the bone, and blood
leaks out of these veins and quickly forms a clot.
That's the fracture hematoma. This helps to stabilize the bone

(02:35):
and keep both pieces lined up for mending. The clot
also cuts off the flow of blood to the jagged
bone edges. Without fresh blood, these bone cells quickly die.
Swelling and inflammation follow due to the work of cells
removing dead and damaged tissue. Tiny blood vessels grow into
the fracture hematoma to fuel the healing process. After several days,

(02:59):
the fracture he toma develops tougher tissue, transforming it into
a soft callous. The cells, called fiber blasts begin producing
fibers of collagen, which is the tough protein that mostly
makes up bone and connective tissue. The condrablasts then begin
to produce a type of cartilage called fibro cartilage. This
forms up through the callous, transforming it again into a

(03:21):
tougher fibro cartilagenus callous, which bridges the gap between the
two pieces of bone. This callous generally lasts for about
three weeks. Next, osteoblasts move in and produce bone cells,
transforming the callous into a bone callous. This hard shell
lasts three to four months, and it provides the necessary

(03:42):
protection and stability for the bone to enter the final
stage of healing. At this point, the body establishes the
position of the bone within the flesh, begins reabsorbing bits
of dead bone, and has that hard callous to bridge
the gap between the two pieces of bone. However, this
bulge of tissue needs a lot of work before the

(04:02):
bone can take any strain. Osteoclasts and osteoblasts spend months
remodeling bone by replacing the bone callous with harder, compact bone.
These cells also decrease the callous buld, gradually returning the
bone to its original shape. The blood circulation within the
bone improves, and the resulting influx of bone strengthening nutrients

(04:25):
such as calcium and phosphorus strengthen the bone. However, even
in the best of cases, fractures often require medical attention
to heal as smoothly as possible. Of first, there's the diagnosis.
Before any further treatment can happen, the doctor must determine
whether a fracture occurred at all, and, if so, the
severity of the injury. Doctors generally accomplished this by examining

(04:49):
the patient and inspecting X rays or other images of
the damaged area. Then, once they figure out what needs
to be done. There's immobilization. This is how the doctor
helps your body line up the broken bone and limit
mobility so that the growing calluses aren't damaged. They can
help immobilize the affected area with a splint, cast brace,

(05:09):
or sling. A realigning broken bones can be painful, so
during this step a patient might need anything from local
anesthetic to spinal anesthesia to temporarily lessen the pain. In
the case of more complex fractures that require very specific immobilization,
the doctor may apply traction, which is a system of weights, ropes,
and pulleys that constantly pull on fractured limbs to maintain alignment.

(05:35):
Most fractures can be treated without surgery, but sometimes doctors
perform surgery to remove foreign materials or bone fragments, or
sometimes the best way to stabilize certain fractures is to
go in and align the bones with metal rods, implanted screws,
and pins. Some fractures, such as those to the hip
and joints, require artificial replacements. Finally, there's rehabilitation. The same

(06:00):
bullization that keeps stress off the healing bone also leaves
the surrounding muscles with little to do. This leads to
the loss of muscle mass, strength, and flexibility. The special
exercise regimes allow individuals to gradually rehabilitate their newly healed
limbs without risking re injury. Today's episode is based on

(06:23):
the article how do broken bones Heal? On how stuff
works dot com, written by Robert Lamb. Brain Stuff is
production of by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff
works dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Clang. The
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