Do Bones Hurt As They Heal?

What it should feel like and how to speed healing

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Bones may hurt while they heal; this is normal and will get better gradually as they mend.

Broken bones typically take at least six weeks to heal, and some may take much longer. If you have an unexplained return of pain or swelling, it may be a sign the bone isn't healing properly. While your bone is healing, you can manage pain by resting the broken bone and taking medications as recommended by your healthcare provider.

This article discusses what a broken bone feels like while healing and the steps you can take to manage the pain and help it heal properly.

tips to heal a broken bone faster

Verywell / Brianna Gilmartin

What Causes the Pain?

Swelling, or inflammation, sets in right after a fracture. Inflammation gets a bad rap because it's associated with injuries and causes a fair amount of the pain you experience, but it's an essential part of the healing process.

Think of the scene of a traffic accident or fire, when first responders rush to the area to help. Inside your body, those first responders come from the immune system, which kicks into high gear as soon as it registers the injury.

Your immune system uses a complex network of cells, hormones, and signals to create inflammation at the site of an injury. That's because an injury needs blood, which carries oxygen, nutrients, and specialized cells from the immune system that can begin to heal the damage right away.

How Long Does a Fracture Take to Heal?

Typically, it takes six to 12 weeks for a bone to heal, but hard-to-heal areas take longer; for example, scaphoid fractures in the wrist can take six months. Children recover much faster than adults, with injuries in older adults taking the longest amount of time to heal.  

Factors affecting healing time include:

  • Which bone you break (smaller ones heal faster)
  • The severity of the break
  • How quickly and how effectively it's treated
  • How well you take care of it
  • The health of your bones and connective tissues
  • Whether you smoke, drink alcohol, or have nutritional deficiencies
  • Your overall health
  • Your age

Stages of Pain During Healing

Pain from a broken bone comes in three phases:

  • Acute pain
  • Sub-acute pain
  • Chronic pain

Acute Pain

Acute pain is that sudden, intense, something-is-really-wrong kind of pain you get right after the fracture (or any kind of trauma). When you go to the hospital, you'll likely be given strong painkillers to help get you through the worst of it.

Inside your body, the break has caused damage to sensitive nerves that send rapid, sharp pain signals to the brain. Over the next few hours, the cells at the fracture site release healing chemicals and signals that cause new nerves to sprout.

These new nerves are what cause sharp pain when you move the broken bone and a dull, aching pain while it's resting. Think of the ache as a reminder not to use the injured part and the sharp pain as an alarm system when you've harmed yourself.

Once you've moved past the acute pain, if it returns, it could be a signal that something is wrong. Perhaps you bumped the bone or moved it in a way that hurt, or maybe it's not healing properly. Let your healthcare provider know about any unexplained return to the acute pain phase.

Sub-Acute Pain

Your pain level should decline to the sub-acute level once the break is treated and begins to heal, and it'll likely stay there for a few weeks. You may still be on pain medication, but it may be a lower dosage or a weaker drug.

The source of sub-acute pain is partly from the break—especially from scarring and any inflammation you may still have—but much of it stems from the immobility that's needed for your bones to heal properly. The connective tissues get stiff and the muscles lose strength. You may also lose bone mass.

All of those factors can contribute to your feeling weak when you first try to use the broken part. If it's your leg, you may feel like it won't support you. If it's your arm or wrist, you may not be able to lift something or grip it tightly.

At some point during this phase, your healthcare provider will likely encourage you to start moving and stretching and may have you start physical therapy. Follow directions about what types of movements are safe for you as well as how much activity is okay.

If all goes well, your bone will heal and your soft tissues will recover. Remember those nerves that sprouted during the acute phase? After a proper recovery, they should stop sending those signals and the lingering pain will go away. However, that doesn't happen in all cases.

How Long Does a Bone Hurt After Healing?

Oftentimes, a fully healed bone doesn't hurt. However, it can take longer for the muscles and tissues around the bone to fully heal, which may be a source of pain until that happens.

Chronic Pain

When pain continues beyond the sub-acute phase, it's called chronic pain. Many people don't have pain after the bone heals, but those who do can have pain years later. Chronic pain may be caused by:

What Is Central Sensitization?

Central sensitization is a change in how your central nervous system (brain and nerves of the spinal column) perceives a particular type of stimulus. In the case of a fracture, your nervous system continues to perceive movement and use of the formerly broken bone as painful, even when there's no tissue damage remaining.

Different healthcare providers have different benchmarks they use to determine when pain is chronic, but many consider it about six months past when it should've ended.

If you have ongoing pain for weeks or months after your fracture has healed and your soft tissues have been rehabilitated, let your healthcare provider know. They can help you find effective ways to treat the underlying problem and manage your pain.

How to Manage Pain During Healing

Immobilizing or stabilizing the bone with a cast or splint can help reduce pain. Other pain-relieving strategies may include:

  • Elevating the broken bone, when possible
  • Resting the broken bone
  • Taking prescription or over-the-counter pain medication recommended by your healthcare provider

A physical therapist can teach you the proper movements to use at each stage of the healing process so you don't do further damage or slow the healing process. By helping you properly rehabilitate your muscles and connective tissues, they can reduce your pain, increase your strength, and help you heal as fast as possible.

How to Help Bones Heal

Healing a broken bone takes time and depends on several factors, including your age, overall health, nutrition, blood flow to the bone, and the type of treatment you receive. However, you can take steps to help your body heal the break:

  • Stop smoking: Smoking alters the blood flow to the bone, which can delay or prevent healing.
  • Eat a balanced diet: Healing bone requires more nutrients than simply maintaining them. Be sure to get adequate nutrition from all food groups, and especially ensure you get calcium and vitamins A, B12, C, D, and K. (You only need to get the recommended dosages. Taking more than that won't help.)
  • Get specific nutrients: Foods and supplements containing vitamin C, lysine, proline, and vitamin B6 have been shown to reduce discomfort and speed up the healing process. If you don't get enough calcium and vitamin D from your diet, taking a supplement may help with bone repair.
  • Manage chronic conditions: If you have diabetes, a disease of the blood vessels, or a hormone-related condition, it can result in slower healing. Talk to your healthcare provider about how to better manage your illness.
  • Beware of certain drugs: While they're often used to manage pain, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) such as Advil/Motrin (ibuprofen) or Aleve (naproxen) and glucocorticoids like prednisone can slow healing, as can immunosuppressants.
  • Don't rush to use it: Moving and using the injured body part too soon can cause damage and make it harder for the bone to heal.
  • Watch for infection: If you notice an increase in pain, swelling, redness, and heat around the fracture, and especially if you have a fever, chills, and pus drainage, talk to your healthcare provider right away so you can be treated for infection.
  • Augmenting fracture healing: Ask your healthcare provider about devices that may speed healing, including bone-growth stimulators, electrical stimulation, and ultrasound treatment.

If you've previously had slow-healing fractures, have diseases that could complicate healing, or have risk factors for slow healing, consider asking your healthcare provider about medications that can help speed up the process. Some treatments for osteoporosis are known to have this effect.

Signs a Broken Bone Is Healing

Signs that a broken bone is mending include:

  • Decreasing pain
  • Decreased swelling and inflammation
  • Increased range of motion
  • Less bruising

Signs a Broken Bone Is Not Healing

Pain or swelling that returns after some improvement may indicate a bone isn't healing properly.

Infection can occur if there is a compound fracture (a segment of bone breaks through the skin) or if surgery is required to repair the injury. Signs of infection may include:

  • Increased pain
  • Warmth or redness at or near the injury site
  • Swelling that worsens or is considered more than normal
  • Pus draining from the injury
  • Fever, chills, or night sweats

When to Call a Healthcare Provider

Catching problems early and getting prompt treatment for them can prevent delays in the healing process. Contact your healthcare provider if:

  • Your pain or inflammation suddenly increases.
  • Your pain lingers for months or weeks beyond when the bone is healed.
  • You see signs of infection
  • You have a change in your health that could impact the healing. process.
  • You think the healing process is taking too long.
  • You don't progress in the way your healthcare provider said to expect.

Summary

Broken bones typically take at least six weeks to heal. Pain, while the broken bone heals, is normal and will get better as it mends. You can manage pain by resting the broken bone and taking medications as recommended by your healthcare provider. To help your broken bone heal, eat a balanced diet, manage chronic health conditions, and avoid smoking.

If you have an unexplained return of pain or swelling or signs of infection, contact your healthcare provider right away.

16 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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By Jonathan Cluett, MD
Jonathan Cluett, MD, is board-certified in orthopedic surgery. He served as assistant team physician to Chivas USA (Major League Soccer) and the United States men's and women's national soccer teams.