Skeleton Quiz

I took the Skeleton Quiz and got a 94%!!

Fractured Growth Plate

     My 8th grade year I was playing in a Basketball Traveling Team League. I was at practice with my team and I was running down to corner of the court when one of the posts threw a pass to tall for my 4'10 body. So I jumped to get the ball back into play and when I came down from my jump I landed with the bone of my ankle touching the floor. I remember when I landed it made a really odd sound it was like a crack and squish at the same time. Every time I remember that day it gives me the chills. About 10 seconds later I was staring to feel the pain of my ankle so I fell over and started to cry.... ALOT. My coach didn't know how severe my injury actually so was I was instructed not to take off my shoe so the swelling would be compressed. Then I went to the Hospital in La Junta they took x-rays and said I just rolled it but would send it to the Orthopedic Surgeon and he could look at them. Turn out La Junta emergency isn't that great at looking at x-rays and I had a fractured growth plate. 

     

     Long bones of the body don't grow from the center outward. So the growth will occur at each end of the bone and around the growth plate. When an adolescent becomes full-grown, the growth plates will harden into solid bone. Adults will not have a growth plate. Growth plates will only occur in children ages 10 to 15 years old. Since the growth plates are the last portion of bones to harden, they are most likely to fracture because the ligaments that attach to the tibia and fibula and to the talus bone are generally stronger than the growth plates. In some cases if not treated correctly the bone can actually grow in shorter or crooked. Most physicians will put the ankle in a cast so the bone can heal on its own.

  This is just a fun fact but most growth plate fractures occur twice as often in boys than girls and by age 12 most plates are closed. (mayo clinic).




resources

http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00632 (ankle)

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/growth-plate-fractures/DS00816 (info)