Fractures are an injury to the bone. A fracture is commonly referred to as being only part of the bone that has been injured or cracked, whereas a break goes through the entire bone, however, clinically they are both categorized as types of fractures. Several different types of fractures can occur, some of which are more common in certain areas of the body compared to others. Here is a list of a few of them. There are more than just these that can occur.
Transverse: the fracture goes straight across the bone (left to right or vise versa direction). This type of fracture is easy to splint but takes a long time to heal.
Oblique: this fracture also goes across the bone, but breaks on an angle, making it harder to splint and keep in place but doesn’t take as long to heal as transverse fractures
Spiral: this fracture spirals around the bone, and usually happens when the bone is being twisted
Comminuted: a fracture that makes the bone break into 2 or more pieces, making it very unstable
Avulsion: ligament pulls off a layer of bone during a severe sprain; may also be called a bone chip fracture
Osteochondral: fragments of cartilage are sheared from a joint surface, usually occurring when a dislocation happens.
Compression: extreme pressure is put on the bone, causing the bone to be crushed
Greenstick: this type of fracture most commonly happens in children. It is where the bone bends and may splinter, much like when you bend a branch from a live tree.
Perforation: a fracture that occurs when something, like a bullet, hits bone (high-velocity object goes through the tissue and passes completely or partially through the bone).
Stress: cracks in the bone that happen when it is being overused or with repetitive actions
Segmental: in the break, there is a piece of the bone that is floating within the tissue.
Fractures can happen for many different reasons, usually happening in accidents, such as in car accidents, or when falling. However, some conditions can make a person more prone to having a fracture, and they include, but are not limited to osteoporosis, some cancers, or even some treatments for cancers. When it comes to osteoporosis, women are more likely to develop the condition then men are, especially if they have had children. This is usually because, while a woman is pregnant, and they don’t have enough calcium in their diet, to support a growing fetus, calcium from the mother’s bones will be depleted to give it to the fetus for development. Aging can also cause osteoporosis.
Massage therapy is not able to directly fix a fracture in a bone, and direct work on the fracture or below it, are not able to be done until later on in the healing process. What massage can do, is help with decreasing pain and swelling, along with treating surrounding areas that are affected by the injury. This may even include, if you have a fracture in the leg, that your arms may need to be worked on due to using crutches, or working on the hip due to the leg being in a new position from wearing a cast (either holding the lower leg up so it doesn’t touch the ground, or if you are walking with the cast, but the cast is thicker under the foot compared to the shoe on the uninjured foot).
Later on, in the healing process, massage will be able to help with mobilizing the joints that were immobilized during the beginning stages of the healing process, such as when casts are used. And are also able to help with getting muscles to work in a balanced fashion again, which can be affected by having a cast on, or from having a protective muscle spasm.
If the fracture breaks the skin, there will also be a scar present. Even without having to break the skin, there will be some scar tissue formed in the injury area, meaning that there will be some tissue restrictions in the area, which can be treated using massage therapy. You can check out my Scar Tissue article and Compensating Structures & Postural Imbalances article for more information.