If you’ve ever suffered a hard hit or fall, two questions often come to mind. Is anything broke? And if yes, how bad is the break?

With those questions in mind, we took a deep dive into the world of broken bones, identifying severity, symptoms and types.

Fractures are classified by severity:

• Incomplete fractures don’t extend completely through the bone.
• Non-displaced fractures completely break the bone but the ends stay aligned.
• Displaced fractures will cause bone ends to no longer align and have potential to damage surrounding tissue.
• Open fractures protrude from the skin.

Is it broken?

If a bone is broke it may be hard to tell.
These symptoms are common:

• Tenderness over the bone.
• Swelling, bruising or bleeding.
• Numbness or tingling.
• Limb deformity.
• Increased pain with motion.
• Limited or no ability for movement.
• Grinding or grating feel or sound with movement.
• Inability to bear weight.

11 types of broken bones

Given varying degrees of severity, numerous types of bone fractures exist:

• Avulsion – bone separates at a ligament or tendon attachment.
• Impacted – bone compresses into the bone tissue usually in the long axis of the bone.
• Spiral – sudden rotation or twist while the foot is firmly planted breaks bone.
• Oblique – a sudden twist of one end of the bone while the other remains fixed.
• Transverse – a fracture across the shaft caused by a direct blow.
• Linear – a fracture along the length of the bone.
• Comminuted – three or more fragments at the site of the break.
• Greenstick – an incomplete break in a young bone; common in adolescents.
• Contrecoup – fracture that occurs at a site opposite from point of blow.
• Depressed – a flat bone fracture that causes a depression.
• Blowout – fracture at the orbit of the eye.

Keep your workout stress-free

Stress fractures are the most common fracture injury in athletes. These fractures occur when too much stress is put on a bone by doing too much, too fast and too soon.

Tips to avoid stress fractures:

• Use proper conditioning techniques without overtraining.
• Allow adequate time to recover between workouts and competition and for rehab following sports injury.  See our video series on recovery from an ankle injury.
• Switch activities and playing surfaces.

Know what to do

Although symptoms may not be immediately clear, fracture injuries should be taken seriously. If you suspect a bone fracture, take these actions:

• For serious injury to the head, neck or back do not move the athlete and call 911.
• If a broken bone is sticking through the skin, call for help and attempt to control bleeding.
• For less serious injuries apply ice. If you’re able, splint the injury in the position found with ridged materials like a piece of cardboard, elastic bandage and tape. Seek medical care.

This post provided by Sports Wrap, from Marshfield Clinic Sports Medicine