health

The experience of a fracture varies considerably depending on the location
of the bone that has broken, the person’s age, the cause of the fracture,
and the amount of force that was applied to the bone. Most broken
bones are caused by a sudden sharp blow, fall, gunshot wound, or other
trauma, and the person often hears a snapping or grinding noise as the
bone breaks. Stress and compression fractures, however, result from
long-term overuse or weakening of the bone, and develop gradually.
Children’s bones are more flexible than those of adolescents or
adults, and greenstick fractures are more common in their age group.
Adults are more likely to break the bone completely. Elderly people are
more likely to develop compression fractures; they are also more likely
to break bones as the result of falls, and to suffer broken bones from less
force than it would take to cause a broken bone in a younger person.