Facing painful fracture issues and searching for a professional fracture treatment clinic in NY, your hometown? Look no further when you can have direct access to the globally acclaimed foot and ankle biomechanics, accomplishing your fractures healing job with precision & expertise.
Located at the heart of New York, Advance Foot and Ankle Solutions is all ears & eyes to your fracture treatment approach. Book an appointment right away for immediate, positive results.
The Human Foot: A Power-packed Walking Tool
The human foot is a complicated structure comprising of nearly a quarter of all the 206 bones making up the bony framework. Bones are rigid structures that can withstand great force or pressure until their threshold is reached whereby they give in to the applied force and break.
The component bones of the foot are generally short structures with high tensile strength and limited mobility at the joints. The arrangement of these bones in the form of an arch, the foot-arch, is such that it is capable of bearing the entire body weight throughout a normal lifespan.
But, accidents do happen even if best avoided. And, if the foot is involved, too in the unhappy episode it calls for immediate response and action, reducing the severity of impact to maximum extent. With respect to the intensity of accidental fracture it has been categorized into 5 major groups.
Categories of Fractures
Depending upon the intensity of the fracture from being either cracked without complete breakup or shattered on bullet impact to a broken piece/fragment sticking out of the ruptured skin, all conditions have to be dealt with professionally by a podiatric surgeon or an orthopedic specialist.
- Stable Fracture
- Open, Compound Fracture
- Transverse Fracture
- Oblique Fracture
- Comminuted Fracture
Factors Leading to Fractures
- Trauma via fall, road accident or active sports
- Overuse leading to muscle fatigue causing elevated bones usage
- Osteoporosis leading to weak & fragile bones for easy breakage.
Fractures: Signs and Symptoms
- Excruciating pain in the injured area
- Extremely restricted movement
- Visible deformity
- Swelling, warmth and tenderness around the affected area
- Wound, cut or bruise often with bleeding
Your podiatric doctor is sure to identify the fracture symptoms and initiate treatment sooner enough. For prompt and precise diagnosis, an X-ray is by far the most common way of locating and evaluating the fracture site with pinpoint accuracy.
Fractures: The Treatment Options
The treatment methods vary with the type of fracture confronted with. Go through the ones listed below:
- Immobilization Cast is a plaster-of-Paris material or a fiberglass cast used to tightly hold together & secure the broken bones once they have been relocated for natural healing process to take over.
- Movable Cast can be an option in some fractures whereby the nearby joints are permitted limited or controlled motion.
- Alignment Traction is meant for getting a single bone or multiple aligned through a gentle, continuous & steady pulling action.
- External Fixation is a complicated surgical procedure wherein metal screws or pins are drilled through two points in the broken bone, above & below the fracture site, with the screws held together by an epidermal metal plate creating a sturdy frame for the bone to heal up.
- Open Reduction and Internal Fixation is performed to reposition the shattered bone fragments via special screws or epidermal metal plate to let the pieces fuse together as the healing process progresses.
All of the above podiatric treatment procedures do call for the supervision and fracture management at the hands of a podiatric specialist in less severe cases. The more severe ones should be handled by podiatric surgeons dedicated to a specific fracture plight.
Fractures: The Probable Foot Locations
- Foot fracture: It is of varied types depending upon the location of the fracture. These have to be dealt with promptly to avoid undue aggravation in the issue.
- Ankle fracture: These fractures of the most serious type do need surgical intervention since the torn tendon usually breaks away a small portion of the bone. Sometimes, blood supply to such bones disrupts worsening the problem further.
- Toe fracture: Fracture in the toe region, though painful & annoying, seldom causes disability. Being mostly a stress fracture it usually heals up on its own without the need of surgery.
- Metatarsal fracture: Fracture of the metatarsal is generally caused out of stress or under the condition of osteoporosis or carrying bulky weight.
- Stress fractures: These fractures are chronic in nature, developed due to a continuous, repetitive stressful activity over a period of time. Sports personalities are placed at more risk of such fractures.
Recovery & Prevention
The Recovery: Depending upon the extent and location of the fracture as well as adoption of your podiatric doctor’s advice, the time period required for complete recovery varies greatly. The pain usually disappears after a few days, leaving behind the healing bone(s).
During the healing process loss in muscle potency around the injured region does occur due to their disuse atrophy. Your podiatric treatment specialist would be able to guide you through specially designed workout plan to help you with regaining your muscle strength, joint movement and overall functionality.
The Prevention: After the removal of the cast, care should be exercised in restricting your movement until the healed bone is sufficiently firm to afford normal daily activities.
A balanced, nutritious diet along with physical workout play a vital role in keeping your bones strong and able to suffice certain fractures. A calcium-rich diet fortified with Vitamin D is what your podiatric specialist would recommend to promote bone vitality.