No matter if it’s a bone in your finger, forearm or lower leg that’s fractured, it is very important to make it heal properly. Otherwise, the complications will certainly limit your physical movements and capabilities.
How fast a fractured bone will heal is dependent on a handful of factors. Some of them include your age, overall health, nutritional intake, and the extent or location of the injury. It’s very important to follow the treatment course recommended by an orthopedist, a doctor specializing in the deformities and injuries of the skeletal system.
Can’t wait to get out of that cast? Continue reading. Below you will find some of the things that you may do in order to have the healing of a broken bone accelerated.
Ditch Cigarette Smoking
Everyone knows that cigarette smoking is bad for the health. Because this habit hampers proper blood circulation, it’s a good idea to scrap it if you are trying to heal a fractured bone. Impeded blood circulation means reduced supply of nutrients and oxygen to the injured bone, causing it to fuse at a much slower rate.
Quit Drinking Alcohol
According to the experts, alcohol consumption can slow down the healing of a fracture. That’s because alcohol is said to hinder the bone’s ability to respond to the signals the body sends out after the injury in order to commence repair. With the formation of new bone cells hampered, immediate recovery is less likely to happen.
Eliminate Coffee and Other Caffeinated Beverages
Drinking coffee should be avoided while you are recuperating from a fracture. It’s also a good idea to dodge sodas, teas and other beverages with caffeine. That’s because caffeine promotes loss of calcium in the bones, causing the bone-strengthening mineral to be flushed out of the body via the kidneys.
Get Sufficient Amounts of Calcium
There are many foods that are loaded with calcium, a mineral necessary for maintaining and building bones. Some of them include milk, cheese, yogurt, soybeans, dark green leafy vegetables, canned sardines, and calcium-fortified breakfast cereals, orange juice and various other products. If you cannot obtain good amounts of calcium in the diet, supplementing may be done. However, it’s not a good idea to overdose on calcium. Rather than promoting a speedy bone healing, it will only leave you with other problems.
Opt for Foods Rich in Calories and Protein
Your body requires lots of calories when injured. In fact, experts say that your body may demand as much as 6,000 calories a day just to get a fractured bone healed. Also, you should include sufficient amounts of protein in the diet. Not everyone knows that protein is a nutrient necessary for healthy bones and proper repair of damaged ones.
Eat a Well-Balanced Diet
It’s very important to opt for a diet that contains the right amounts of vitamins and minerals. Various nutrients work together in order to help the body bounce back from an injury such as a bone fracture. Including more fruits, vegetables and healthy protein sources in your everyday diet can help accelerate bone healing. Aside from calcium, you also need to supply your body with magnesium, zinc, phosphorous, copper, silicon, and vitamins B6, C, D and K.
Consider Going for Herbal Remedies
Traditional medicine is filled with all sorts of herbs that are said to promote healing of injured bones. Some very popularly used ones include burdock, horsetail grass, arnica and wild comfrey. Many of them can be easily bought at health food stores. However, it’s a must to inform your orthopedist about your plan on trying out these herbs to attain faster healing.
Be Physically Active
Getting sufficient exercise helps promote blood circulation which increases the supply of nutrients and oxygen to the injured bone. Just see to it that the kinds of exercises you intend to carry out won’t displace the fractured bone! It’s a good idea to consult your orthopedist or a physical therapist to know some of the best exercises for your condition.
