Bone bruise is a painful injury of the bone. Although a bone fracture may not occur in this type of injury, it often leads to bleeding around the bone area. During the injury, excessive pressure generated, damages a portion of the bone. Bone bruises are often a result of sports related injuries. The most commonly affected body parts that suffer from a bone bruise are knees, ankles and foot.
How to Treat Bone Bruise?
Rest
Adequate rest is a must to promote healing and prevent further complications. Too much movement puts undue pressure on the injured bone and aggravate the pain. So, if you want to resume your day-to-day activities as early as possible, make sure that the affected area is not subjected to repetitive stress.
Painkillers
In order to reduce the severity of the pain, painkillers like acetaminophen are very useful. NSAIDS such as ibuprofen that is available under the brand name Motrin and Advil are formulated to do the dual job of decreasing the swelling and the pain.
Ice Massage
An ice massage on the affected area can also help to relieve the pain. Rubbing ice cubes for 5-10 minutes three times a day is generally recommended to get rid of swelling. One should never apply ice cubes directly on the skin. Wrapping the ice cubes with a cloth and then applying it on the skin is often advised to prevent skin damage.
Micro-current Therapy
Micro-current therapy can also be applied to promote the healing process. In this procedure, a small quantity of electric current is passed through the affected portion of the body. This therapy is indeed very beneficial to relieve the pain and repair the damaged tissues. Any injury disrupts the body's electrical fields. Micro-current therapy produces electric signals that occur naturally, whenever the body is repairing the injured tissues. This therapy tries to mimic those electric signals to allow the bone to heal faster. An important point to note here is that the amount of electric current used is so small that the person undergoing the treatment hardly feels the current. Too much electricity is not used, ensuring that the body's defense mechanism is not affected. The therapy safely reduces the swelling and is effective even for chronic pains.
Braces
One may have to wear braces to provide additional support and stability to the injured tissue of the affected area. The intention is to prevent the injury from aggravating by reducing the pressure on the damaged area. For instance, a bone bruise that affects the knee-joint may require you to wear functional or rehabilitation knee braces. These braces reduce the recovery time, alleviate pain and moreover make the knee stronger. Wearing the brace or an ACE bandage is the best support that one can give to speed up healing. These braces also restrict movement, which is necessary to recover from the injury at the earliest.
Healthy Diet
Besides quitting smoking, you need to ensure that your diet is high on nutrition. Proper nutrition can play a significant role to hasten recovery. So, in order to speed up healing, follow a rainbow diet, which essentially means eating a variety of fruits and vegetables everyday. They are loaded with nutrition, hence display amazing healing powers. No wonder, fruits like guava, cherries and vegetables such as spinach, cabbage and carrots are referred to as healing foods.
Supplements
Bromelain an important constituent of fresh pineapples, is a protein digestive enzyme helpful to treat various injuries including bone bruise. Extracted from pineapples, bromelain available at various drugstores in tablet or capsule form, is an effective treatment for this type of bone injury. It can considerably reduce swelling and pain following a physical injury. Including vitamin K and vitamin C tablets can also improve the condition. This is because vitamin C supplements, also known as 'immune system building' medications, help to decrease the recovery time whereas vitamin K is essential for a healthy bone structure. Rubbing ointments that contain vitamin K can also benefit the bruised area.
Stop Smoking
To speed up healing, apart from taking bromelain, one should avoid smoking and chewing tobacco. This is because, tobacco products contain nicotine, a substance that causes the blood vessels to compress, in turn reducing the blood circulation to the injured area. Decreased blood flow means the amount of nutrients reaching the site of injury will also decrease drastically. As we all know, essential nutrients like vitamins and minerals play a crucial role to repair damaged tissue. Considering this fact, it is no surprise that bone bruise takes longer time to heal in smokers than in people who follow healthy habits.
Exercise
Once your pain has subsided substantially and you start feeling better, the doctor may recommend low impact exercises to facilitate healing and improve range of motion. For instance, non weight bearing exercises such as stationary biking and swimming can be helpful to reduce stiffness and promote flexibility of muscles connected to affected bones. However, in case you feel your pain is persistently worsening after following these exercises, it would be best to immediately stop these workout routines.
Caution
Avoid using aspirin and take ibuprofen with caution. Although aspirin acts as a painkiller, it is basically a blood thinner and reduces formation of clots. This can actually worsen bleeding at the site of injury. On the other hand, ibuprofen at high doses provides a strong blood thinning effect. So, take ibuprofen in low doses that too for a short duration of time to prevent any untoward side effects.
Symptoms
A bone bruise can be quite irritating. Common symptoms associated with bone bruise include intense pain, stiffness and swelling. In some cases, the skin color of the affected area becomes blackish blue. Change in weather conditions can aggravate the pain. If the knee bone is injured then the person finds it difficult to walk. Normal range of motion of the injured part is severely hampered.
The injury is a precursor to a bone fracture. In this type of injury the cortex of the bone is damaged. The cortex made up of osseous tissue, is a thick outer covering of the bones. The cortex consists of a very tough fiber known as the fiber collagen. In bone bruise only a small amount of damage happens to the bone, yet it can cause bleeding. Even though not a fracture, a bone bruise causes terrible pain that does not go away easily and is likely to last for months. Bone bruises also take time to heal as the injury affects the innermost part (medullary cavity) of the bone.
Diagnosing Bone Bruise
It is difficult to detect bone bruise with an X-ray. Although aforementioned symptoms may suggest a bone bruise, it is crucial to undergo a MRI scan for accurate diagnosis. In the past, with no invention of sophisticated diagnostic tools, bone bruise was wrongly diagnosed as a fracture.
Bone Bruise Healing Time
Of all the factors, the amount of damage inflicted is the most crucial one, in determining the length of healing time. In most cases, the inflammation and discolored appearance clears within a week or two but the pain is long-lasting and may take 6-12 weeks before you can freely move the bruised area. In some cases, the pain may take more than a year to completely go away. For instance, a serious bone bruise affecting the knee can cause difficulty walking for several months. In addition to severity of injury, repetitive strain caused by inadequate rest can also prolong the healing time.
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