In the case of childhood bone fractures, it is particularly important that the child’s skeleton is not yet fully mature. The periosteum is still soft and often remains intact when injured, while the underlying bone tissue, which is already more stable, may be broken. This is then referred to as a so-called greenwood fracture.
Dangerous are also bone fractures in the area of the growth plate (epiphyses), because injuries here can lead to growth disorders. It is therefore important to treat the fracture appropriately and to ensure safe healing. In general, children tend to have more frequent fractures, but these heal well and quickly. The most common fractures in children are fractures of the forearm, babies sometimes break their lower leg especially when they fall while learning to walk. These fractures are often harmless.
Physiotherapy
Physiotherapy is based on the previous therapy. If the fracture has been treated surgically, the doctor’s instructions regarding load and extent of movement must always be observed. However, only about one third of child fractures require surgery.
Unstable fractures, fractures involving joints or fractures that could result in consequential damage are stabilized with wires or nails. After the operation, the child is usually allowed to move again very quickly. However, not all directions of movement may be allowed, and support and weight-bearing may also be restricted.
In physiotherapy, the muscles around the fracture are strengthened and the mobility of the joints is restored by a targeted active mobilization program. The child should learn how to correctly load the fracture and not to subject it to heavy loads in everyday life. Treatment after treatment with a plaster cast is also important.
Here, the child had to take care of the affected body part for a while and was not allowed to put any strain on it. in physiotherapy, the child learns to gradually reuse the extremity fully and without fear. Muscular imbalances, which may have arisen due to immobilization, are trained and relieving postures, which may lead to consequential damage due to overloading of certain structures, are corrected.
Losses of movement in the surrounding joints are improved and, if possible, completely eliminated through targeted mobilizing training. Physiotherapy should always be done in a child-oriented and playful manner, so that the child is motivated to participate in the exercises and is included so that he or she understands, within a certain child-oriented framework, what the exercises are important for. Your child has a radius fracture?
