Should You Go to an ER or Urgent Care for a Broken Bone?

Broken bones identified by the medical fraternity as bone fractures are familiar injuries happening more often than you imagine. Children and seniors are more vulnerable to breaking bones because of children playing and bone density weakening in the elderly. Unfortunately, everyone is susceptible to fractures.

Some of the most common incidences of broken bones involve the ankles, wrist, forearm, and vertebrae in the back. The common types of fractures include a stable fracture, compound fracture, transverse fracture, oblique fracture, and comminuted fracture.

The area and harshness of the bone fracture determine whether the healing process requires a splint, cast, or surgery. However, to identify the fracture’s nature and receive appropriate medical attention, you must visit the emergency room in Abilene, TX, instead of considering alternatives that might not provide the therapy you need to overcome the challenge.

Bone Fracture Symptoms

The symptoms of bone fractures can differ depending on which bone is affected, the severity of the fracture, the patient’s age, and general health. However, most broken bones involve the following. They are pain, swelling, tenderness, skin bruising or discoloration around the area, the inability of the patient to apply pressure to the affected area, and distortion on the affected area at an unusual angle. Other symptoms of broken bones involving the pelvis or femur might include pale and clammy skin, dizziness, and nausea.

Immediate Care or an ER for Broken Bones

You can visit a walk-in immediate care clinic in Abilene if you do not have any life-threatening injuries or experience severe pain from an injury to the small bones in your hands, feet, wrist, or ankle.

Immediate care walk-in clinics have on-site x-ray infrastructure to review your images to stabilize the injury and provide a referral if required.

However, you must visit an ER if the broken bone is in the head, neck, or torso, or the extended bones of the arms or legs. In such cases, you might notice the presence of severe bleeding, and the broken bone area appears deformed and misaligned. The break might restrict blood flow, and the bone seems to push out of the skin. In addition, the patient might experience challenges moving fingers if the injury is in the arms or toes if the leg is injured.

Professionals in emergency departments also have x-ray infrastructure to take images of the injured area and a team of specialists to provide expert guidance on further necessary treatment.

Urgent care facilities are preferable if you do not have a severe fracture and the injury is not in a compromising position. Urgent care facilities, while having access to imaging tests and medical professionals to serve patients with broken bones that require casts or splints, might recommend visiting an emergency room if they feel the broken bone needs emergent attention. Many people might not be aware that urgent care facilities are options for minor situations of broken bones because it helps them save money on medical expenses to set the bone and start the healing process.

However, an emergency room is always a better option, especially if you confront the symptoms described earlier when the fracture involves parts of the body that make it challenging for you to move or affects the spine, head, or back because these injuries require facilities available in ERs and the professionals who can provide advice on long-term healing of the patient.

Recovering from Broken Bones

Recovering from broken bones usually requires a few weeks or months, depending on whether the broken bone needs a cast, splint, or surgery. Casts and splints serve a similar purpose, but splints are more restricting in movement. Surgery is generally a recommended option for severely broken bones, and a professional from an emergency room will realign the bones using pins and screws in an open reduction and internal fixation or external fixation procedures.

Following a bone fracture, it is crucial to seek medical attention. Patients can return to their everyday lives after getting the bone correctly set to ensure it begins healing without causing further complications. Emergency rooms have the facilities necessary to diagnose and fix broken bones, but urgent care centers provide attention when severe fractures are not involved, and the bone is not in a compromising location. When critical care centers discover broken bones that need emergent attention, they recommend visiting emergency rooms. Therefore going to an ER is any day a better option than urgent care near me for broken bones.

Express Emergency Room Abilene has the infrastructure and medical professionals to treat broken bones without providing referrals to other facilities when patients visit them. Therefore if you confront a situation where you feel you have a broken bone, kindly visit this emergency room for the treatment you need without wasting time.