Bone Fracture or Bruise?

bone fracture or bruise
Bone Fracture or Bruise
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You’re in the shower, the soap and hot water running down over you and you’re thinking about your day in the kitchen.

What were the numbers in the front of the house? What last minute prep needs to be done? Who’s showing up to work and any specials for the future? Suddenly, you slip just a little, but enough to whack your elbow or knee on the shower wall and ouch!

Did you either fracture your bone or give yourself a bone bruise? What is the difference and what do you do now?

Whether it’s a bone fracture or bruise, trauma to the bone is very painful. Bone is a type of dense connective tissue that can be injured and generates a lot of pain.

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Injury can occur from forceful impact during daily activities, sports, accidents, or even repetitive compressive forces. This hard tissue’s function is to support the neuromuscular system (nerves and muscles), and protect the organs. In combination with the skeletal soft tissues (muscles, tendons, and ligaments) bone helps produce movement.

The hard outer layer is called the compact (or cortical) bone. It is dense and gives bone its smooth, white and solid appearance. The periosteum, is the thin covering around bone which generates pain through nociceptors (pain receptors).

The inside of the bone is the trabecular. This spongy bone tissue houses blood vessels and marrow. Contained inside is a matrix of rod and plate-like elements (trabeculae) where blood surrounds the spongy tissue.

So… did I break a bone?

When a bone has been damaged with enough force, a fracture can occur. A fracture is a break in the continuity of the bone. All of the trabeculae in a part of a bone are broken.

The bone and surrounding tissue will bleed and form a clot (like when you cut yourself) and lay down bone cells that mineralize. Callus formation, or evidence of hardened bone tissue takes about 6 weeks in an adult. Bone continues to heal for up to 18 months as the bone remodels (initial bone replaced by mature bone).

In an adult, the bone strength is 80% by 3 months after injury.

bone fracture
Bone Fracture

Fractures are confirmed by x-ray. Depending on where and what type of fracture occurs, will determine if you are put into an external brace or have some other sort of surgical fixation device. Sometimes, you do not need any external device in order to heal.

This is a slow process of healing with multiple doctor visits to confirm both the break and the healing process. It is a waiting game as the bone needs to repair itself on a deep cellular level in which to restore its integrity.

You are typically limited in flexibility or movement, muscle strength and support of your own body weight for a prolonged period of time.

Or… is it just a bruise?

A bone bruise is an injury to the bone where only a few of the trabeculae are injured. It may be considered the stage before an actual fracture. Bone bruises commonly occur in the knee or femur, but can also occur in the wrist, elbow, heel, foot, hip or pelvis.

There are three types of bone bruises: subperiosteal hematoma, interosseous bruise, and subchondral bruise. The depth of these goes beyond the scope of this article so please contact your physician to learn more and confirm if you have one of these injuries.

Bone bruises are confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), not by x-ray. Symptoms of a bone bruise include significant pain and swelling.

The pain is more severe than a soft tissue bruise and can last for weeks to months. Swelling includes blood and fluids and pools in the adjacent soft tissue (skin and muscles). If the bruise is near a joint, the swelling may spread into the joint. There may also be discoloration and there is palpable tenderness on the bone itself.


A chef client of mine recently exacerbated his tennis elbow after bruising his elbow bone in the shower. Injury to his bone led to the above symptoms but without the discoloration. It also caused muscle dysfunction.

Because of the attachments of the muscle on the bone, and the irritation and inflammation in the bone, the muscle cannot contract appropriately. It caused a return of his elbow pain with the use of his hand and persistent localized swelling and pinpoint tenderness on the elbow bone.


Treatment for bone bruises includes immediate application of cold therapy onto the area to minimize excessive swelling and pain. Oral anti-inflammatory medication can help reduce inflammation and pain but please consult your physician if you have any gastrointestinal issues.

To support and protect the bone near a joint, you can wear a brace. Avoid aggravating activities to minimize pain during activities as well as swelling after activities.

The best thing to do is consult a Physical Therapist to learn more about your injury and distinguish between a fracture or bruise.

The best patient treatment involves a holistic view of the individual. This incorporates the involved joint, the kinetic chain of movement, the power emanating from the core and the patient’s abilities.

It also incorporates the patient’s lifestyle, commute, work requirements, home requirements, and sports and recreational activities. With these factors in mind, our therapists help our patients to set realistic goals.

Achieving those goals is simply based on adherence to each patient’s personalized treatment plan. You will learn what exercises are appropriate for your present state as well as how and when to progress them.

You will learn to use the tools you can do yourself to minimize the pain, inflammation and swelling. And over time, you’ll prevent re-injury both in your daily routine as well as in the kitchen.

  • AyrKing Mixstir
  • Atosa USA
  • T&S Brass Eversteel Pre-Rinse Units
  • Red Gold Sacramento
  • Day & Nite
  • BelGioioso Burrata
  • Simplot Frozen Avocado
  • RATIONAL USA
  • DAVO Sales Tax
  • RAK Porcelain
  • Imperial Dade
  • Texas Pete
  • McKee Foodservice
  • Inline Plastics Safe-T-Chef
Dr. Karena Wu
Dr. Karena Wu is owner and Clinical Director of ActiveCare Physical Therapy. She has been practicing physical therapy for 16 years in New York City after she graduated from the Program In Physical Therapy at Columbia University. She received her clinical doctorate in physical therapy from Temple University. She has advanced training in manual therapies, specifically in the Maitland Australian Approach and Myofascial Release. Karena is a Certified Orthopedic Manual Therapist, Strength and Conditioning Specialist, Kinesiology Tape Practitioner and Pilates Instructor. She is also LSVT BIG, FMS and SFMA Level 1 Certified. Karena is a dedicated practitioner who takes a holistic approach to her practice. She actively networks with a team of physicians, chiropractors, acupuncturists and massage therapists. Her patient population consists of professional athletes, dancers, celebrity chefs, TV media stars, high end business professionals, and NYPD/FDNY. Karena is used as a healthcare expert on CBS, NBC, NY1, PIX11, Verizon Fios, Fox News and Dr. Oz. She is the Director of Education for SpiderTech Kinesiology Tape and is on the Medical Board of the Association of Volleyball Professionals. Visit her website at activecarephysicaltherapy.com.

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