Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related FFQ: So, what is a Broken Arm like?

Elisabeth and I have been blessed. Neither of us has had any broken bones and neither has the girls.

However, I have a character that needs to have a broken arm, so I need all the particulars for a SIMPLE FRACTURE of the forearm.(no compound, no bones sticking out. nothing really gross, just a simple break.)

1. What does it feel like to have a broken forearm bone?
2. How long does it hurt?
3. How long should it take to heal?
4. How bad will it swell?
5. How long will it take for the swelling to come down?
6. Anything I may have forgotten?

James

I haven't had any broken bones (just a badly sprained ankle few years ago), but my brother has had a broken wrist last year while he was working: can it help you? I don't think it hurt so much because he drove himself to E.R., juggling steering wheel and gears with one hand (usually he doesn't make a fuss about things); the swelling came down in few hours; they've taken off his plaster cast after four weeks and he was completely ok two weeks after. I can't tell how it feel to have a broken bone (it was his, not mine), but I don't think he was too uncomfortable after few days, when he left for an holiday in Ireland alone with his backpack ( I don't know how he managed with that giant thing).

Simona

Hmmm, thank you for responding, but that doesn't quite fit the bill.

James

Like you, I've been blessed not to have gone through this with my own kids so far, and it's been a very long time since I've broken my arm, so my memories are a little fuzzy. But I did break the same arm twice (same place, two years in a row) when I was a kid (ages 7-8 roughly), and I'll tell you what I can remember and you can decide if any of it is helpful.

1. What does it feel like to have a broken forearm bone?

Well, it hurts . I do remember that! But the first time it didn't look bad at all and it didn't hurt SO much that my parents rushed me to the ER. It ached a lot, but they thought it was probably just a sprain and put me to bed. When I was still complaining of it a couple of hours later, they took me to the ER. The second time the break was worse and it was more obvious - i.e., they could see that the bone was out of alignment. Oddly enough, though, I don't recall it really hurting any worse the second time. Like I cried when I first fell, but not all the way to the hospital. It still hurt, but it was the kind of pain I could be distracted from, if that makes sense.

2. How long does it hurt?

I think it probably hurt the whole first night, off and on, and then not too much after that.

3. How long should it take to heal?

Seems like I was in a cast about six weeks both times.

4. How bad will it swell?

Don't remember any swelling. That doesn't mean there wasn't any, but I don't think it was profound, or I'd remember it.

5. How long will it take for the swelling to come down?

See above .

6. Anything I may have forgotten?

The two biggest things I remember about having a broken arm are that it itches horrendously after a week or two in the cast and - since it was my right arm and I'm right-handed - it was horribly inconvenient. There were lots of things I couldn't do while my arm was in the cast. And then when the cast comes off, your arm looks creepy and scaly for a couple of days and STILL itches. I really remember the itching a lot more than I remember the pain, probably because it went on a lot longer.

Anyway, I hope something here helps, and if not, it was a fun little trip down memory lane! Some other time, I'll tell you the story of the time I knocked out all my teeth... or the time I put my hand through the window... or the time...

My parents are still kind of amazed I lived to adulthood!

Caroline

When I broke my arm in my early teens it matches Caroline's description. One other thing that happened to me. The arm was weak after I had the cast removed. It was late fall and when I put on a heavy coat to leave the doctors the arm of the coat straightened my arm out when I wasn't paying attention. Didn't last long, I got used to using the arm in a hour or so but you can be awkward for a while.

all depends on the type of break of course


when I was 8 I fell out of a tree and got a Greenstick fracture in my upper arm...

this meant that the bone did not snap, but bent.....
treatment included the physician anaesthetising me, and then pressing the bone back into the correct shape (as if it was made of a tough rubber or something) before he put me in a cast

there are also
stress fractures

et al... bone fractures


but in summery, 6 weeks sounds about right to me

Well, I broke my leg, and the one thing I haven't seen mentioned is that the cast ITCHES! Jeez Louise.

And ditto to the other comments. The story is, I tripped when I was 3 and wound up with a spiral fracture and cast that covered my entire leg. It definitely hurt and I'm sure I cried hah. I don't remember my actual reaction. But strangely it doesn't hurt as phenomenally as you think it would, and dad was able to drive me to the doctor just fine. The scariest part about the whole thing for me was SO the technician sawing off the cast after my leg healed. But then again, saws and 4 year olds don't really mix. :p

JD

Well, I cracked the bone in my forearm a few years back. At first I thought I'd just bruised it bad, or pinched a nerve, but when I got x-rays, it showed a crack. Then I had a cast on for a few weeks, I don't remember exactly how long. For a full break though, I would expect 4-6 weeks. It didn't hurt too much except when I tried to use my hand. I don't know how it would be if the break were further up the arm, but suspect the muscles around the bone would hurt to use while it was broken, and yes, if the cast has been on awhile, the muscle under it never really gets used, so it can atrophy quite a bit. I know this more from each leg at different times. I'd have to hop around on one foot sometimes, so when the cast came off, the muscle development was hugely different from one leg to the other. Ditto the itching as well. You've all that had itch in the middle of your back that you can't reach. Well, this is like that only the itch is almost visible cause you can look at the cast and wish that you scratch under it but be denied. You soon learn how far the fingers of your other hand can reach though.

As for how it felt right after, my wrist just felt like it was buzzing for a couple of hours. 6 hours later most of any pain was gone.

Then on the swelling. It'll puff out a bit, just enough to notice but not huge. and once you don't keep tweaking the swelling will go away in a day or so. They had me wear a wrist guard for a couple of days to make sure the swelling was gone before putting on the cast.

PERFECT! That is exactly what I needed. In fact, Woody, I kind of sort of quoted you.

Woody
From Fic.
Thanks guys!

James

Yay, I've been quoted.

Woody, if I ever publish the story (sniggers at the thought), I'll make sure you get credit. I'll even give you 2 cents of every dollar profit I make from posting it the fic-boards.

James

well, pinched nerve or not...


I'll tell you one thing though.... bruised bones can still hurt like hell

on top of falling out of a tree at 8
I did something on an orchestra camp once when I was 14 or so (think: there was this one time, at band camp.... but I played the violin....)

anyway, I hurt my arm after a fall from 2m, and then bc there was no obvious break continued for another week playing the violin for 8 hours a day with an arm that turned out was broken, only the first xrays did not show up bc of the position of the break, and the arm was twisted during a week of stress from the music and hence the break turned out to be a break and not a bruise.....


if you want to know how I fell...
I fell off the bed.... yes a bunk bed..... (my friends and I were telling jokes and I laughed so hard I fell off) embarrassing I know

Never had a broken arm. I broke the same ankle four times, though -- once at the age of 14, falling out of a tree, once at 32, falling down a
flight of steps, and twice, a year apart, in my 40s because the tendons in the ankle had stretched, making it easier to turn. Haven't done it since, though, in spite of plenty of opportunities. I did a lot of walking with weights on my ankles and it seems to have strengthened the muscles enough that it has protected the ankle whenever I've managed to turn it after that.

Anyway, there's one thing that no one mentioned about the itching, and as a nurse I know you're not supposed to do it. The thing is, it's realistic to mention it because it's done a lot. A great many people take a wire coat hanger, straighten it out and use it to reach down inside the cast to scratch the itchy spots. You can cause infections that way, although I've never seen it happen, but believe me, the agonizing itching makes it worth the risk. (I know, I know. Bad medical advice, but it still gets done, even by supposedly responsible adults, including yours truly ...)

Nan

I thought when a broken bone healed it was supposed to be stronger than the original bone. Is that an old wives tale or did you manage to find a weak spot three additional times?

Elisabeth
who is just curious

nope, a broken bone (once healed) is actually weaker than a never-been-broken bone.....


trying to think of an analogy....

like using a weak glue to stick together a vase after it is broken
the old cracks mean the structure can never regain the original strength...

so instead of a single piece of bone-structure
you are left with a bone that has been pieced together like a puzzle or broken vase, often the cracks heal into odd shaped scars (note lois' ankle story and how clark x-rayed it...)

Imagine a single piece of cardboard vs. a jigsaw puzzle that has been glued back together....

When I was *very* little, I broke my arm. I don't remember much about the actual breaking experience -- Mom says I was very quiet and had turned slightly gray; Intuition was the only tip-off that something was wrong with me.

What I *do* remember is being in a sling and having no clue why I couldn't move my arm. To this day, I'm not sure if that was the just sling immobilizing me, or if I had actually lost contact with my arm.

Other than that, I don't recall any pain or itching, but then it was long ago and I've always been low maintanence.

well, for me the first time there was no cast b/c
1- it was a green stick fracture and only needed to be bent back into shape
and 2- it was just below the shoulder, and I was only 8 so....

the second time (the same arm, both times not my dominant side so damn, no getting out of homework...) was a crack near the wrist, that took a week of violin playing to show on x-ray (the violin playing stressed out the posture....) that one did get a cast and boy, did it itch...

bc that time I was 14, and after 4 weeks it stopped hurting, so I removed the cast myself (was only P.O. Paris... with some silk bandages for comfort) bad idea.... the freedom allowed the weakly healed bone to bend a bit too much, sort of like the green-stick scenario


umm is really late here, and am tired so...