Have you ever broken a bone? How did it happen?

@veromar (1453)
Argentina
February 22, 2010 2:12pm CST
I've done it twice. The first time happened when I was 9 or 10. My brother and I were playing "traffic cop". He was riding his bicycle and I was the traffic cop. He was approaching faster and faster and I put up my hand for him to stop. When he didn't, I grabbed the handlebar of his bike. The momentum threw me across the street and I hit my wrist on the curb. Broke it in three places and had to have a cast for almost a year. It was stupid and my fault. Never did that again! lol. The next time I broke the pinky finger on my left hand. I was playing softball and the ball hit my hand as I was making a catch out in left field. I bought a popsicle with 2 sticks and "set" it myself. I was 20 at the time. It's a little crooked but it saved me a couple hundred dollars by doing it myself. What about you? Any broken bones?
4 people like this
20 responses
23 Feb 10
I've broken limbs once or twice in my lifetime. I broke my arm falling out of a tree, I broke a leg after coming off a motorbike I shouldn't have been riding, I broke the same leg a few years later after slipping and falling down a flight of steps.
@veromar (1453)
• Argentina
23 Feb 10
Oh man! Ouch! Breaking the same leg twice??? Did the breaks happen in the same spots? Sorry to say but that's probably going to come back to haunt you as you get older. Wow. I fell out of a tree once too. Fortunately, I was such a fat kid I just kinda bounced. lol. No breakage but some serious bruising!
@voldrox (7191)
• India
23 Feb 10
@allknowing (130088)
• India
23 Feb 10
The vehicle I was travelling by collided with a heavy truck leaving me injured with 7 broken ribs and 2 fractured vetebrae. I was advised rest for almost 4 months and had to go through physiotherapy to get my movements back. I am fine in a way that I can move about freely but with caution while bending and lifting heavy objects. Praise the Lord!
1 person likes this
@veromar (1453)
• Argentina
23 Feb 10
Broken ribs. Another one of those things that they can't really do much for. Sounds like you actually turned out pretty fortunate in that you didn't injure your back more. Did you have to be in any kind of traction or just bed rest? It's hard to fathom just how much your life can change from that type of injury. We take so many things for granted in everyday life and just don't realize how integral the use of that part of our body is. Glad you turned out ok.
@allknowing (130088)
• India
24 Feb 10
I was put on some back support while resting and had to lie on my back for almost 3 months and would be turned around only by nurses. Now I only put a belt when I am travelling but yes, my craving for international travel has to take a back seat as I am not confident of doing it any more, although I have covered quite a bit of the world already.
• Australia
22 Feb 10
My left leg was broken in three places when I fell on the ice at school in England. This was back in 1945, just after the war, and things were not as they are today. I was taken home and sat in the front room of the house, with no one home. I stayed there all day until my older sister came home from high school, and then waited until my mother came home from work. They half carried, half dragged me several blocks to the doctor. My sister and I laugh about it now, and wonder if my leg was broken in three places before or after I was dragged screaming all the way to the doctor.
• Australia
23 Feb 10
I can't remember the actual details of the fall, but I know it was on icy snow and I know there was a slope involved. I do remember sitting in the front room of the house all day. As long as I didn't move, the pain was bearable. I suspect the extra breaks were caused while being dragged to the doctor. Of course, if that happened today, the ambulance would be called and first class attention given immediately, but apparently it didn't work that way in 1945.
@veromar (1453)
• Argentina
23 Feb 10
Wow, Cloudwatcher. We sure take things for granted these days, like being able to call 911 for emergencies. How did you manage???? It's so hard for me to imagine having to sit there, in what must have been some fairly painful circumstances ALL DAY. Was that the common practice in that time, to take someone to their home versus a hospital in situations such as yours? I can only imagine how painful it must have been being transported in that manner to the doctor. I'm also trying to imagine exactly how you fell that would cause 3 breaks in your leg! Wow....
@jpso138 (7851)
• Philippines
23 Feb 10
Luckily I never had any experience of breaking any bone. I hope that I will also not encounter such later on. I do consider my work before as risky considering that I worked in a rescue unit for about 13 years. But I think I have been safe in most of what I do despite the fact that my job is quite dangerous considering that I never suffered any accident.
1 person likes this
@veromar (1453)
• Argentina
23 Feb 10
Well Jpso, you're certainly in the minority in this discussion! lol. Lucky you! I hope it continues for you in that way, especially given your line of work. Be safe out there and thanks for helping the people in the way that you do! It takes a special kind of person to do that sort of job. Keep up the good work!
@zoey7879 (3092)
• United States
22 Feb 10
I actually broke one of the tiny, still unfused bones in my elbow area when I was pregnant. I was walking on a damp, busy street in thin, summer shoes. Apparently they didn't have any traction. I started to fall forward onto my stomach, and instinctively my arm went out.... I came straight down on it, and SNAP!!! People were getting angry because I couldn't get up (of course, because my arm was now broken and being pregnant I couldn't raise myself up with just one arm) but of course, no one came to help me.
@veromar (1453)
• Argentina
23 Feb 10
I'm so sorry that happened to you Zoey! I can't believe nobody stopped to help you! Even worse they actually got angry at the situation! Such a sad commentary on the state of humanity, or lack thereof. Sigh. Well, thank goodness it didn't affect your baby! Hope it all turned out well for you. I'm curious to know, though, if that kind of break comes back to haunt you as you age. Hopefully not!
@zoey7879 (3092)
• United States
23 Feb 10
Yes, baby was just fine, thanks :) And yes... it definitely haunts.. It's one of those things that they don't really put casts on. I had to keep going to work, so I had it in a sling... I can't really force much pressure on my forearm or elbow area, and from time to time, it'll snap pretty good at the joint.
• Malaysia
6 Mar 10
i had a simple fracture of my ankle in the 1990's. i was running in the field and my right foot entered into a hole in the grass and the pain was terrible. my friends prepared an ice pack from the canteen and put it to relieved the pain.but my ankle swell and next day, went to hospital and the xray showed a simple fracture. was in cast and hopping around for i think 6 weeks. my fracture healed well and i do not have any pain.
@veromar (1453)
• Argentina
11 Mar 10
Wow. I had no idea there was such a thing as a "simple" fracture. lol. Sounds like your friends had some quick thinking that probably kept your injury from being worse. You're also lucky that you don't have any residual pain. A lot of breaks cause some sort of discomfort later in life.
@veromar (1453)
• Argentina
19 Mar 10
Well then, I guess my wrist was a compound fracture as I broke both bones in it. Thanks for the clarification! I worry about these things especially with my parents. My mother fell down right in front of me and I couldn't do anything to stop it. It still haunts me but thank goodness she landed on her "bum" and merely bruised herself. Hopefully I'll never have to know what a break can do to an elderly person!
• Malaysia
12 Mar 10
yes, veromar, mine was a simple fracture, meaning one bone was fractured. if 1 or 2 or more bones are fractured, its called compound or multiple fractures where the recovery period and healing period takes a little longer. fractures of hip bones are more complicated. thus, we have to be careful when we walk, run, skip, hop, skii or even driving.on old age, fractures are hard to heal . old people has to have calcium inhaler or injection to improve bone healinhg and to grow back.have a great day and praise God
• United States
22 Feb 10
When I was in high school we had two dogs an adult german shepherd and a younger german shepherd. When used to keep them in the house in large crates and when I got home I would take them both for a walk and let them roam around the house. Well since the adult dog was very calm I took him out first and he sat and waited for me to get our other dog. The younger one was very excited so when I opened the crate he bolted out, I grabbed ahold of his metal choke chain collar, and as soon as I got my finger in he started to turn around to play he kept going around in circles, twisting my finger in the chain tighter and tighter and took off running down the hall full speed. I heard and pop and a burning pain, I swore he ahd ripped my finger. Turns out he ripped my acrylic nail off and broke my finger in three places, Still to this day my finger is crooked and hurts from time to time. I think he knew he hurt me cause no everytime he sees me from that day on he just sits next to me calmly!
@veromar (1453)
• Argentina
23 Feb 10
It hurts just to even read your story! What a bizarre way for it to happen but completely believable. Man. I can only imagine what that felt like for you and the fact that you were "trapped" with no way to get yourself out of the chain. Poor puppy. They are very intuitive in that way and I'm sure it's as you say. He remembers and feels badly. I'm trying to imagine what would hurt more if that happened to me....the ripped off nail or the actual breaks! With the combination of the two I'm sure you felt that for a while.
@cher913 (25782)
• Canada
22 Feb 10
i broke a bone in my foot just after i started dating my (now) hubby. it was the summer and i was running down the stairs to help him open the door as he was carrying a plateful of food in from the back yard and i missed the bottom three stairs. my mom took me to the hospital the next day and i was lucky, they dont cast those kind of brakes, just give you crutches.
@veromar (1453)
• Argentina
23 Feb 10
There are just so many bones in the foot! How could you have lasted the night with the pain I imagine you were experiencing?!?! You didn't have to have any kind of support or brace type of thing? Only crutches? That's kind of interesting. I thought they'd pretty much slap plaster on whatever they could! lol.
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
23 Feb 10
veromar oh yes and I had to wait til I was 80 to do it, darn. I tripped and fell very hard, landing on my left shoulder on the conrete sidewalk beside my favorite restaurant. I knew I had really injured something because of the pain in my shoulder, but I just thought if was dislocated. I tried to get to my feet by putting my hands down on the concrete and pushing myself up ,but my left arm just dangled. some bystanders called the paramedics and they insisted I had to go to the hospital and be xrayed, I had said my doctor is right across the street, but they told me they did not want to leave me like that as i might have other injuries. Spires Restaurant: one of the waitresses came out but I told her the paramedics were already here. so i landed in the hospital, the xray showed I had r eally smashed my left shoulder. so I had to have the whole shoulder joint replaced with an artificial one.this whole thing cost a whopping 86000 dollars which Thank God my insurance paid. Istill have not got all the usage back of my left arm. so Idid the broken bones thing up in a big way.
@veromar (1453)
• Argentina
23 Feb 10
Well, Hatley, why'd you have to go and ruin your perfect record!?!?! lol. I think that one break is sufficient for you! At least the people in the area were willing to assist you, not like one of the earlier responders who fell while she was PREGNANT and nobody offered her any assistance! To ask as tactfully as possible....do you think the breakage was so extreme due to age? You're the only one in this discussion who's experienced a break that resulted in having to have a joint replaced. If you don't mind my asking, can you tell it's not actually your bones in there? No need to answer if I'm out of line. Sometimes I just can't contain my curiosity about things I've never personally experienced! I hope your healing process continues and you get back your full usage.
@ladym33 (10979)
• United States
22 Feb 10
Believe it or not I have not. Actually I suspect that I might have broken my pinky toe, but since there is nothing they can do about that anyways I didn't go and have it looked at but it swelled up 3 times its size and was completely purple, and it hurt like you would not believe. I dropped a 64 oz can of nacho cheese on it. I did chip my elbow a little bit too, I was roller skating and doing tricks when I was about 15 years old, I had a partner and he swung me around and I didn't land on my feet, and landed on my elbow. That really hurt too. But no actual confirmed broken bones.
@veromar (1453)
• Argentina
23 Feb 10
Well, Ladym, I'd say it's a pretty safe bet that you actually broke your little toe by dropping a 64oz can of nacho cheese on it! lol. Also, a "chipped" elbow counts as a break so you've done it twice! It's true they can't do much for your little toe break, same for the little finger which is why I set mine myself. I can almost feel that huge can hitting my own toe! What on earth were you doing with so much nacho cheese anyway?!?!? lol.
@sk66rc (4250)
• United States
22 Feb 10
I have broken my wrist once when I was young. It happened at friend's birthday party. We all were roller skating & I fell on my wrist. Then there was one time when I broke my shoulder bone. Well, it was calvicle bone. I fell foward & hit it on a rock.
@veromar (1453)
• Argentina
23 Feb 10
In my youth, roller skating seemed to be a regular culprit in the breaking of bones! lol. Breaking your clavicle? Ouch! You must have fallen a ways to break it by hitting a rock. Wow.
1 person likes this
@ifa225 (14364)
• Indonesia
27 Feb 10
i do too. i was 12 years that time. I learn new skating, and slip, my hands try to hang on but the slip just too hard, so i fell with my hands on my back. it hurtss...
• Estonia
22 Feb 10
I've broken my arm once. I was playing football. The grass was wet, because there it was raining hard recently. I was running on a high speed towards the ball when a guy from my own team ran into me. I had a long flight which ended landing on my arm. First I thought I had just twisted it severely, but then it started to hurt real hard, so I realized it's a bone fracture.
@veromar (1453)
• Argentina
23 Feb 10
Sounds like one of those breaks that happens when you land on something "wrong". Football is pretty famous for the frequency of those types of things. Yeah....those kinds of injuries can be kinda tricky to realize if they're actually breaks or not. Maybe it's our mind "hoping" it's nothing more than a bad twist.
• Canada
22 Feb 10
I "broke" my elbow in grade 4. It was actually dislocated but I ended up in a cast for the summer so I think it counts! We used to play a game we called chicken on the monkey bars at recess. It was really simple...hang by your hands from the bars, swing to the next bar, moving toward your opponent. As you came into range the goal was to wrap your legs around the other person and try to get them to lose their grip. I let go but my cousin did too and landed on top of me. When I came to my head was in my teacher's lap and my arm was off at a strange angle. It was my right arm so I couldn't write whatever year end tests they had planned. Cool. I also got to sit on the beach while everyone else went swimming. Not so cool.
@veromar (1453)
• Argentina
23 Feb 10
Yeah. I think it counts! Ouch! Where do we come up with these games when we're kids?!!? lol. I hated that aspect about having a cast too. The fact that I couldn't go in the water. Actually, because I was in a cast sooooooo long and we lived near a beach in California at the time, my mom got pretty creative rigging me up with a plastic garbage bag so I could get in the water. I just couldn't go out too far in case I'd get knocked over by a wave. The smell of that wet plaster cast can be pretty disgusting!
22 Feb 10
I broke the bone that links the toes to the foot. it's the very same bone that David Beckham made famous when he broke his a few years ago. I broke mine for the first time 13 years ago, when I was 18 years old. I don't know how it happened but when I went to the hospital they told me it was a 'marching fracture' and that the bones in my feet were deformed (too long) so they were prone to breaking. The second time it happened on the opposite foot, I was 21 then and in a plaster cast for 12 weeks. Thanfully I have managed to last another 10 years without a break...and I am crossing my finger that it will never happen again.
@veromar (1453)
• Argentina
23 Feb 10
You broke the exact same area on both feet?!?!? Wow! Now that's unusual. Were the deformities in your feet due to the breaks or vice-versa? I don't follow Beckham closely enough to know about his break. Interesting they'd call it a "marching fracture". What exactly does that mean???? Honestly, you made me think about just how many bones there are in the feet. I guess we just take them for granted that they'll work the way their supposed to! lol. Man! That had to have hurt!
@dodo19 (47034)
• Beaconsfield, Quebec
23 Feb 10
I'm lucky, because I've never broken any bones. I have actually twisted my foot, which then hurt the muscles in foot. But that was it. Nothing was broken. At first, I didn't think anything of it. My foot hurt only a little, and I thought it would be fine. I just kept on walking on it, but it began hurting more and more, until I couldn't really walk it. By that time, it was a little swollen. It wasn't really pleasant, but it was terrible.
@voldrox (7191)
• India
23 Feb 10
friend breaking my wrist sounds so painful, well i have broken my tiny toe, i slipped on a wet floor and hit the corner of the wall, my tiny toe took all the beating of my body weight and it was crushed lol, it was so painful, i could feel something inside just gave way, i had to take out an x-ray scan and i was right about it, it haven't felt that before, i mean it hurt quite much and i could know i have fractured myself.. it was then cast for months and it was uncomfortable to move around in the first few days but then i got used to it, well that the only incident i had broken my bone, don't wanna experience it again.
@malamar (779)
• Canada
22 Feb 10
Hi veromar, I have had a few little mishaps over the years. The first time was when I was about ten years and broke my collarbone on a school playground playing leapfrog. My foot got caught in the girls coat pocket and I went down HARD. The second time a motorcyle I was on stopped and I didn't - fractured my foot in that one. Another time I was visiting a friend in the hospital, slipped on some ice and broke my wrist. Very convenient though, seeing as I was only steps away from the emergency department -
@EARLZHAN (934)
• Philippines
23 Feb 10
Hi there friend.. I encountered an accident when I was just 3 year old. My joints in my right leg has been dislocated causing my right leg to be 2 inch shorter than my left leg. After 13 years I encountered another accident that caused my left leag to be broken. I was so depressed during that time but I don't have any choice but to stay strong and face my life's journey.
@summer77 (414)
• Philippines
23 Feb 10
Oh yes! I can't forget that. I had a vehicular accident. I was riding in a public vehicle, and the driver was being reckless that he overtake the other car and then he didn't know there is a truck next to it so he tried to stir it to the right and then to the left and then he lose control. The inclined to the left and then bumps to a truck parking the side of the railway. And then I broke my pelvic bone due to that accident. I had complete and comminuted closed fracture that time. I was in the hospital for 16 days and I was like 12 days bed ridden. I wasn't able to walk normally for almost 3months, I used crutches and I had therapies that time. ANd then I had 4 motnhs of not doing things like jumping, playing sports or anything extremes. And now, it's almost a year that that accident happened. How can I forget that, many things happened after that and it was a first time experience. O_o
@lovagepp (17)
• China
23 Feb 10
I have not ,maybe I am lucky!