Exercise Could Help Broken Bones Heal Faster – Here’s How

Another 2021 study conducted in zebrafish showed that mechanically stimulating osteocytes helps improve bone healing and suppress inflammation – which are both important for helping repair fractures. Like humans, zebrafish have osteocytes – meaning these findings may be similarly reflected in humans.

So how would this work in practice? Of course, you should always listen to the advice your doctor has given you when it comes to exercise, especially taking into consider age, fitness level and the severity of the fracture.

But if you have a broken leg in a plaster cast, for example, exercise might involve laying on the floor, lifting the leg into the air and holding it for five seconds before lowering. Do this around ten times. While sitting, you can also press the foot against the floor for five seconds and released – again repeating for ten times. Wiggling and curling your toes is also beneficial for sending blood flow to and from the extremities.

If you have a broken wrist, you could bend your elbow, hold a strength ball, squeeze the ball and relax. Again, repeat the exercises ten times. As the broken bone begins to heal, your doctor will typically ask you to progress to partial and full weight-bearing exercises.

It usually takes six to eight weeks to heal a minor fracture and 20 weeks for more major ones. But while we know exercise improves bone healing, it’s difficult to quantify just how much quicker it helps bones heal. Healing time may also depend on a variety of other factors – such as age, pre-existing illnesses, physical fitness, lifestyle and whether a person actually performs the exercises.

Livia Santos, Senior Lecturer in Tissue Engineering and Mechanobiology, Nottingham Trent University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the llamativo article.