My 6 year old son broke his arm last Friday and he is seeing the orthopedic doctor tomorrow. The hospital?

Question

said he had a greenstick fracture. Do they normally put a cast on this type of break?

Answer 1

yes ,you see.the bone has to remain straight and rigid,a cast holds the arm in one position so it doesnt move and allows the bones to heal properly. your son is relatively young and a youngsters bones heal rapidly,he will most probably have the cast on for about 6 weeks. i hope ive helped you.

Answer 2

Broken bones, even greenstick fractures, need to hold still so they can knit back together. Casts are the most common way to immobilize a bone, but your doctor may decide that a removable splint could work just as well. The benefit of a splint is that your child might be able to take it off briefly for a bath.

Most casts now are made of a water-resistant material and are available in a variety of colors or designs. Unless the lining of the cast is also waterproof, your child should not go swimming with a cast.

Children's bones tend to heal faster than do those of adults, so your child's cast or splint may be removed in as little as three weeks.

Answer 3

a greenstick fracture is a kind of broken bone that usually only happens to children.

It is very similar to taking a living stick of a tree (as opposed to a dead brittle one), and bending it to the point where it almost snaps. the outer part of the bend is starting to splinter and break, while the inner part of the bend is not damaged. A tree stick thats allowed to grow will become deformed at that fracture point, with the outer part of the bend growing longer than the inner part of the bend, forcing the stick to permanantly bend in that area (okay for a tree stick, not okay for a small child's arm)

The bone has been bent to the point where the outside part has begun to break, but the inside part of the bend is still okay. The orthopedic treatment for this is to surgically break the entire bone, so that the entire bone can heal without deformity.


After surgical correction, the limb will need a cast (rigid, likely fiberglass = lightweight) for several weeks.


The orthopedist can give you a better description of what he plans to do and what can be expected in your son's case.



If this is your child's dominant arm, he may feel at a loss to suddenly have to use his non-dominant hand for all the activities he's taken for granted (writing, painting, coloring, etc). To help ease the transition, consider buying him a special coloring book and new crayons for him to practice his non-dominant hand usage.. You can help turn it into a fun challenging game, to take off the pressures and frustration at him not being able to use his dominant arm.


You and your son are in my thoughts and prayers.

Good Luck.

Answer 4

It seems they do cast it. Although the prognosis for a green stick fracture is really good, and usually heals very well. If you go to wikipedia and type in green stick fracture, you can read up on it. Good luck.

Answer 5

they probably will brace it somehow with either a hrd cast or a removable one. My son broke his leg when he was 11months old. He had a removable cast so that I could bathe him. It didn't take long for him to heal.

Answer 6

they probably will have to put some kind of brace on it, but to keep your 6 year old calm let your child draw all over it and color on it, also let his friends sign their names on it or leave little messages like "hope your arm gets better fast." it will make it easier for him.

Hope it all turns out okay!

Answer 7

here is a link...