Children may experience leg fractures at some point in their lives. How long does it take for a child's leg bone to heal? What are the most important tips that must be followed to heal fractures faster? Learn more about that in the article that follows.
Falls or exposure to accidents may cause a leg fracture in children, and malnutrition, a low-calcium diet, and obesity can increase a child’s risk of fractures. In the lines that follow, let's examine how children's long leg bones heal:
Duration of leg bone healing in children
Despite the fact that children's bones are softer than adults', children's broken bones heal more quickly than adults', and fractures in adolescents generally heal more slowly than those in children.
Depending on the severity of the fracture and the broken bone's length, children's leg bone healing takes between three weeks and two months on average. Parents can speed up the healing process by taking a few easy steps, such as:
- Follow the instructions given by the doctor, including follow-up clinic visits, as some fractures require close monitoring and weekly appointments to check alignment for the first three weeks.
- Helping the child avoid further injury by reducing activity and movement; To prevent re-injury or injury to the opposite party.
Stages of healing of leg bones in children
During the healing period of a child's leg bones, there are three stages that the healing process goes through, and they are as follows:
- inflammatory phase
When a leg bone breaks, the body sends signals to special cells to visit the injured area. These special cells then work to inflame the area and bring about symptoms such as redness, swelling, and pain. This prevents the body from using the injured area until it heals.
Other cells create a tumour or a blood clot around the broken bone at this stage.
- reform phase
Within a week of the fracture process, this stage starts, and the soft bone binds the bone together but is not strong enough to use the body part. The soft bone replaces the blood clot that formed in the inflammation stage.
The soft bones solidify over the coming weeks, and in two to six weeks the hard bones are strong enough to be used in the body.
- Reconstruction phase
Approximately six weeks after the injury, this phase starts. In this phase, healthy bone takes the place of the soft bone that solidified during the repair phase. Within a few months, the bone is reshaped so that it returns to its pre-injury shape.
Tips for accelerating the healing of leg bone fractures in children
Here are some pointers to help your child heal more quickly after learning about the time it takes for children's leg bones to heal as well as other crucial information:
- Consume a healthy diet rich in calcium and vitamin D.
- Take good care of the splint .
- Observe the doctor's advice to rest and refrain from exercising.
- Go to all follow-up and follow-up appointments with the doctor.
Tips to reduce the risk of a broken leg in children
There are several ways to lower the likelihood that kids will break a leg, but the following are the most crucial:
- Avoid exposing kids to high-risk activities that could result in serious falls or accidents.
- Prior to the child mounting the bike, check to see if they are properly balanced and that the gear is the appropriate size and condition.
- Assure that whenever your child rides a bike, they are wearing a helmet.
- Make sure your child is wearing the proper safety gear while engaging in organised sports.
- Encourage your child to engage in weight-bearing exercises like walking, running, dancing, skipping rope, and other similar activities.
- Make sure your child consumes a balanced diet that is low in fat and high in protein, fibre, calcium, and vitamin D.
- Encourage your child to engage in prolonged sitting-related activities, such as computer games.
Cases that require immediate medical attention
When children's leg bones are healing, there are certain signs and circumstances that necessitate a doctor's evaluation right away. These include:
- Vomiting and nausea very badly.
- New pain or worse pain.
- The child's feet are cold, pale, or discolored.
- Tingling, weakness, or numbness in a child's toes.
- Narrowing in the cast.
- The appearance of signs of a blood clot in the child's leg, called deep vein thrombosis, such as: pain in the calf, the back of the knee, or the thigh, or redness or severe swelling in his leg.