Bone Healing

How do bones heal?

The bone healing process goes thru three phases, inflammation, bone production and bone remodeling.  Bone inflammation starts right after a fracture and will last for several days.  Bone production begins when the clotted blood formed is replaced with fibrous tissue and cartilage known as soft callus.  Bone remodeling is the final phase of bone healing and goes on for SEVERAL months.  As a rule of thumb most bone healing can take 6-8 weeks to heal. 

Several things will help your bones heal faster.  You will need to stop smoking, control your blood sugar, immobilize the break by a cast or brace, and of course minimize the amount of movement to allow time to properly heal. 

There are some things that can hinder a bone from healing.  Smoking, diabetes, hormone related problems, vascular disease, certain medications, and poor diet. 

If the bone is not healing as expected several things can be done to improve your outcome.   Your doctor might continue longer immobilization, bone stimulation, or surgery with bone grafting, or the use of bone growth proteins.