Did I break my arm?

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Is my arm broken?

  • Yes - broken

    Votes: 1 9.1%

  • No - not broken

    Votes: 1 9.1%

  • Undecided - Cut your arm off & post the vid

    Votes: 9 81.8%
  • Total voters
    11
NuclearNed

NuclearNed

Raconteur
May 18, 2001
7,873
364
126
About 4 weeks ago I was doing a trail run & I wiped out. I'm not sure exactly what happened. I was moving pretty fast. I think I stepped on a slick rock/root and before I knew it I took a forward-facing dive-flop into the ground. I landed hard on my left side, particularly my left knee/hip/wrist. Everything got scraped up pretty good. Naturally, instant pain, but nothing too severe; maybe a 5 out of 10. The hurt part of my wrist is 4-5 inches above my hand, and it immediately swelled up - it literally looked like I had a boiled egg under my skin (the injury had both size & shape of a boiled egg). I remember laughing to myself "I wonder if I just broke my arm." I never went to the doctor because I didn't really believe that it was broken, and it never hurt all that much after an hour or so had passed.
Weeks have passed, and the boiled egg is still visibly there - although it's much smaller now. There is no pain, even if I push around on it. I've been doing normal weightlifting with no problems or pain.

So I guess the question is, can you break a bone with little to no pain?
 
D

[DHT]Osiris

Lifer
Dec 15, 2015
17,230
16,433
146
NuclearNed said:
About 4 weeks ago I was doing a trail run & I wiped out. I'm not sure exactly what happened. I was moving pretty fast. I think I stepped on a slick rock/root and before I knew it I took a forward-facing dive-flop into the ground. I landed hard on my left side, particularly my left knee/hip/wrist. Everything got scraped up pretty good. Naturally, instant pain, but nothing too severe; maybe a 5 out of 10. The hurt part of my wrist is 4-5 inches above my hand, and it immediately swelled up - it literally looked like I had a boiled egg under my skin (the injury had both size & shape of a boiled egg). I remember laughing to myself "I wonder if I just broke my arm." I never went to the doctor because I didn't really believe that it was broken, and it never hurt all that much after an hour or so had passed.
Weeks have passed, and the boiled egg is still visibly there - although it's much smaller now. There is no pain, even if I push around on it. I've been doing normal weightlifting with no problems or pain.

So I guess the question is, can you break a bone with little to no pain?
Click to expand...
Not a doctor, but... if you're able to put pressure on it, either it was a crack that's already healed, or you smushed something that wasn't bone. Broken bones don't like bearing weight, and they don't heal well under those circumstances.
 
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DAPUNISHER

DAPUNISHER

Super Moderator CPU Forum Mod and Elite Member
Super Moderator
Aug 22, 2001
31,757
31,735
146
NuclearNed said:
So I guess the question is, can you break a bone with little to no pain?
Click to expand...
In my experience it depends on where it is and how bad it is. For most I've had, even when the fracture didn't bother me much when it happened, later the throbbing, point tenderness, pain on movement, etc. always showed up. But I usually fractured things good and proper, with only 2 hairlines. One did not hurt much at all, but that was an orbital fracture. The distal clavicular fracture that was accompanied by a grade 3 separation I suffered, resulted in a cacophony of pain with one indistinguishable from the other. The rest all hurt, with the comminuted fracture of my left clavicle easily winning the FUCK THAT HURTS! contest.
 
KLin

KLin

Lifer
Feb 29, 2000
30,246
578
126
I'm not an orthopedist, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

I vote go see a GD doctor FFS you dummy.
 
Muse

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
40,473
9,971
136
NuclearNed said:
About 4 weeks ago I was doing a trail run & I wiped out. I'm not sure exactly what happened. I was moving pretty fast. I think I stepped on a slick rock/root and before I knew it I took a forward-facing dive-flop into the ground. I landed hard on my left side, particularly my left knee/hip/wrist. Everything got scraped up pretty good. Naturally, instant pain, but nothing too severe; maybe a 5 out of 10. The hurt part of my wrist is 4-5 inches above my hand, and it immediately swelled up - it literally looked like I had a boiled egg under my skin (the injury had both size & shape of a boiled egg). I remember laughing to myself "I wonder if I just broke my arm." I never went to the doctor because I didn't really believe that it was broken, and it never hurt all that much after an hour or so had passed.
Weeks have passed, and the boiled egg is still visibly there - although it's much smaller now. There is no pain, even if I push around on it. I've been doing normal weightlifting with no problems or pain.

So I guess the question is, can you break a bone with little to no pain?
Click to expand...
I'd think no break but an x-ray would confirm. I had a bicycle accident in an urban location a couple decades ago, was riding on the sidewalk (not something I do much) and was distracted (maybe ogling some chick) and didn't notice that a manhole cover was displaced and sticking up at an angle, probably more than 30 degrees. By the time I saw it I had no time to react and I flipped up in the air and the bike landed on top of me. My left forearm in the following days swelled up pretty big. I didn't measure, but my surgeon brother told me that there's a membrane that was surely wrecked that allowed the swelling, which amounted to a hematoma, which is what you get with internal bleeding. You might have that but sounds a lot smaller than mine. He told me that the pain of it would never completely disappear. Sounds ridiculous, but occasionally I do feel a stinging pain there. It goes away and I forget about it. Most of the time there's nothing. You might have something similar. If you can get an x-ray, I figure that's the thing to do. A doctor's input would help, obviously.

Dang, I had a roller skating accident around 3 1/2 years ago and my left leg still hurts when I sleep on my left side. Hasn't gotten any better. PT guy I'm seeing for my knee issues told me last week he'll try to determine what's up with it when I see him next in a month or so. It's below the knee on the outside. X-rays were negative. I have a feeling I might be getting an MRI on that leg sometime soon. Maybe a few things going on there. Damn skates, the wheels came off a couple times during the pandemic. I don't trust my skates now, have to look into that.
 
Last edited:
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
70,214
13,605
126
www.anyf.ca
If you have to ask if you broke a bone chances are you didn't. The pain of a broken bone is going to be very excruciating especially if you try to move it.
 
KLin

KLin

Lifer
Feb 29, 2000
30,246
578
126
Red Squirrel said:
If you have to ask if you broke a bone chances are you didn't. The pain of a broken bone is going to be very excruciating especially if you try to move it.
Click to expand...

the-more-you-know.gif
 
Muse

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
40,473
9,971
136
The only broken bone I've knowingly had was a hairline fracture of left pinky. I was 14. They showed me the x-ray and pointed out the fracture. I couldn't detect what they were referring to. They showed me again, I couldn't see. I was not in major pain, that's for sure. They put some tape in the hand and told me to keep it there a few days.

I've had a bunch of accidents. Lucky not to have had fractures. I do get my calcium in my diet and bone integrity scans show I'm doing well. Some of the things that happened to me would have crippled other people.
 
Muse

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
40,473
9,971
136
BTW, one year after my shoulder surgery in a followup appt with the surgeon he asked me if I'd thought about cutting off the arm prior to the surgery. My answer: yes.
 
Muse

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
40,473
9,971
136
The only person I know of who cut off their own arm is Aron Ralston of Between a Rock and a Hard Place fame. Real good movie made from a terrific book.
 
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