What Can a Broken Bone Teach about Healing?

This article explains what physicians do for their patients. Procedures and medicines tilt the balance to the restoration of health. In the end, it is the patient’s own body that heals itself.

Fractures and Sprains

A fractured bone is treated with immobilization. The ends of the broken pieces should be approximated as close to each other and kept that way until it heals. The ways to keep the edges together could range from an external plaster cast or surgery using plates, pins, and screws to assure a stable connection.

Once the fractured edges are joined together, the body starts joining the broken bone. Immobilization assures that the healing process is not interrupted by any bone movement that will cause a new broken edge. The cast, plates, and screws just contribute.

The principle is the same in a sprained joint like an ankle. The joint is wrapped with an elastic bandage or put in a splint while the body fixes the overstretched tendons and ligaments.

Laceration Care

Suturing or putting staples on a cut follows the same principle. The sutures keep the wound edges close together to keep dirt out and prevent. The approximated edges make it easier for new skin to develop and mature.

Infections

Antibiotics may kill or stop the growth of bacteria. The reduced number of bugs makes it easier for the immune system to fight the invaders. The fever and chills are the manifestations of the immune system cleaning up the remaining microbes.

Vaccinations

Active vaccines for polio, measles, and tetanus, for example, expose the body to the viruses. Again, the body’s own immune system does the main job of making the antibodies to manage future exposures and prevent infections.

Electrolyte Imbalances

In electrolyte problems like dangerously low or high sodium or potassium, the electrolytes are not entirely replaced to the normal range. The body is left to do the rest. That is because overcorrection is also as bad.

Chronic Disease Management

Diabetes, atherosclerosis, hypertension, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases are also managed in the same way. The prescription medications are only there as complementary to the primary mechanism of healing of the human body. There are mechanisms built in the human body to maintain a healthy blood sugar level, adequate blood pressure, and patent arteries.   That is why some patients with diabetes or hypertension can become drug-free and called diet-controlled diabetics or diet-controlled hypertensive. That is why Performance Status is an essential factor in cancer treatment.

Take Away Message

1. The right diet and exercise make a difference not only in preventing diseases but also in halting the progression and may even reverse the course of some illnesses.
2. The heavy-lifting to restore health lies with the condition of the body before and during the diseased state. Medicines are only secondary.

Image Credits:

• Fracture and repair By Sjbrown at English Wikipedia – Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2001775
• Intravenous therapy By K – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18460027