How Broken Bones Heal

Broken bones have an amazing ability to heal, especially in children. New bone forms within a few weeks of the injury, although full healing can take longer.

Broken bones have an amazing ability to heal, especially in children. New bone forms within a few weeks of the injury, although full healing can take longer.

There are three stages of bone healing: the inflammatory, reparative, and remodeling stages.

When a bone breaks, the body sends out signals for special cells to come to the injured area. Some of these special cells cause the injured area to become inflamed (red, swollen, and painful). This tells the body to stop using the injured part so it can heal.

Other cells that come to the area during this stage form a

hematoma(blood clot) around the broken bone. This is the first bridge between the pieces of the broken bone.

The reparative stage starts within about a week of the injury. A soft

callus(a type of soft bone) replaces the blood clot that formed in the inflammatory stage. The callus holds the bone together, but isn't strong enough for the body part to be used.

Over the next few weeks, the soft callus becomes harder. By about 2–6 weeks, this hard callus is strong enough for the body part to be used.

The remodeling stage starts around 6 weeks after the injury. In this stage, regular bone replaces the hard callus. If you saw an X-ray of the healing bone, it would look uneven. But over the next few months, the bone is reshaped so that it goes back to looking the way it did before the injury.

Casts and splints can hold broken bones in place while they heal. New hard bone forms in about 3–6 weeks, and the cast or splint usually can come off.

A bone might not heal as well if someone:

To help your child recover from a broken bone, make sure that they:

A broken bone is a common, treatable childhood injury. Most breaks heal well, and kids can get back to all the activities they enjoyed before the injury.