8 Most Common Types Of Broken Bones
Brian O Sutter
Personal Injury
[caption id="attachment_5835" align="alignleft" width="900"] Close up of woman wrapping her painful wrist with flexible elastic supportive orthopedic bandage after unsuccessful sports or injury. Carpal tunnel syndrome, arthritis, arm sprain concept.[/caption]When you’re a child, a broken bone wasn’t so much of a big deal for most. You would be out playing football or basketball or maybe climbing up trees and then before you know it you had everyone signing your cast. As you get older however, it isn’t so easy to recover from broken bones and then are more likely to happen from a scary event like a car accident rather than a fun one.In any case, here is a list of the most common types of broken bones. Chances are you have probable broken one of these yourself.
- 1) Arm
An arm fracture is so common it accounts for almost half of all adults’ broken bones and forearm fractures are the second most broken bone for children. The arm is commonly broken due to direct trauma or falls. Direct trauma is caused when foreign objects are the cause like with a car accident. However, the arm is just as likely to break in an attempt to protect yourself from a fall. Though having a broken arm isn’t much fun, it often protects you from a much worse breakage. - 2) Collarbone
This is the most commonly broken bone among children. These breaks usually occur while they are participating in sports though they can usually be prevented by wearing the right equipment. For example, shoulder pads in football protect the clavicle from direct trauma. Adults however, are more likely to suffer a collarbone break during a car accident. - 3) Ankle
Often fractured ankles occur when people twist, roll, or extend their foot in a manner that is unnatural. Gravity can also sometimes be a factor. For example, if you fall from a high place and land onto your ankles, the force can cause it to break. When the ankle fracture is serious in nature, the injury can prevent you from walking and may even require surgery. - 4) Foot
Did you know that the human foot contains 26 bones? With how much we depend on our feet every day and the amount of bones within the foot, it is no surprise that the foot accounts for one out of every ten broken bones. Broken feet are especially common with children because their ligaments and tendons are typically stronger than their bones are. - 5) Toe
Even if you have never broken a bone, you probably know all too well the pain that comes from accidentally banging it into the table, chair, and several other objects. Not to mention how small your toe is to begin with. So it is no surprised that this would be such a common bone to break. Most cases are not severe enough for any kind of special treatment and will only need to be taped up and kept immobilized to heal.
- 6) Hand
The human is composed of 27 bones, one more than your foot, and also tends to do a lot for us. This makes the hand pretty frustrating to break especially when it is our dominant hand. The majority of hand breaks occur because of misuse of tools, sports injuries, and falls. - 7) Finger
Okay, technically this is part of the hand, but the finger belongs in a class unto themselves when it comes to breakage. Unlike a broken toe, breaking a finger can really hinder your ability to do just about anything including write and eat.
8) Leg
A broken leg can include the femur, tibia, fibula or patella. Since these bones are typically much stronger than the rest of the bones on this list, it takes quite a bit of force to actually break them such as a large fall or a major car accident. Even worse, it is not unusual for it to be an open fracture where the bone breaks through skin and becomes visible.