A broken bone can cause a lot of pain to your leg. Any of the four bones of the leg can be broken.

Broken Bone A broken bone can cause excruciating pain in your leg.  Your leg contains four bones:  the femur, the tibia, the patella, and the fibula.  Your leg bends at the knee, ankle, and hip.  After you have had an accident, the result can be a break or a fracture, which breaks it into two or more pieces.  If the broken bone has been exposed to the outside, by a cut over the fracture or a bone sticking out through the skin, this is referred to as an open fracture.

    The femur is the bone located in your thigh.  It is the longest bone of your body.  The upper portion of your femur fits into your pelvis in order to form the hip joint.  At the hip, it can move backward, frontward, sideways, and rotate in and out.  If you have a broken hip, it is the upper portion of the femur that is actually broken. 

• The lower portion of the femur rests on the tibia, which forms the knee joint.  At the knee, the leg has the ability to swing forward, backward, or even to rotate slightly. 
• The kneecap, otherwise known as the patella, glides back and forth in the front of the knee joint.  The kneecap suspends the ligaments from the thigh muscle.  The patella also helps you add leverage so that you can straighten out your leg. 
• Your tibia is your shinbone.  It functions to support your body’s weight.  The fibula runs along the tibia below your knee.  It is located on the outside portion of your leg and is smaller than the tibia. 
• Your ankle includes the bottom portions of your fibula and tibia.  It connects your foot bones, as well as the tendons and ligaments of your ankles.  When you twist your ankle severely, it can lead to fractures of the tibia or fibula near or in the joint of your ankle. 

Causes of Broken Legs

     In order for your leg to break, significant trauma typically needs to occur.  If your bones are especially weak, your bones can break more easily.  If more force is put on your bone than it can handle, the result will be a broken bone.  A leg can break as a result of trauma, in which case there has been a large force or injury.  If you have weakened bones, such as cancer, bone cysts, tumors, or osteoporosis, your bones can break more easily.  If you repeatedly overuse the leg, the end result can be a stress fracture.

Symptoms of a Broken Leg

      Typical symptoms of a broken leg include swelling, deformity, and pain.  In many cases a broken leg is obvious, but sometimes it may need an x-ray to diagnose.  If you have a broken bone, your pain will likely be severe.  If the bone is able to stay still, the pain will decrease.  Moving the broken bone will increase your pain.  When a break occurs, swelling and bruising will commonly occur.  A deformity of the leg may also be present.  One deformity is called shortening, in which the broken leg appears to be shorter than the other leg.  Rotation is when the leg below the break is twisted, and angulation is when the leg bends at the break rather than at the joint.  If you are unable to walk without a lot of pain, if it hurts when you push on the bony parts of the leg, or you think you may have a broken leg, you need to seek medical care. 

Broken Leg Treatment

     If you have an injury to your leg and believe that it may be the result of a broken leg, there are certain things you should do.  First, keep your leg immobilized as much as you can until you can get help.  The more you move your leg, the more it will hurt and possibly displace the bone even more.  Therefore you should try to rest the leg.  You can apply an ice pack to your leg.  Be sure to cover the ice pack in a pillowcase or a towel.  Try to keep the leg elevated to decrease the swelling.  If you do indeed have a broken leg, you may need surgery, so do not eat or drink anything while you are waiting. 

      If the bones are displaced or out of their proper alignment, the bones will need to be put back into place.  This is a procedure referred to as reduction.  You will probably be given pain medication before this procedure is accomplished.  An emergency room doctor will be able to treat many fractures with a temporary plaster splint until you can see a bone specialist.  If you have a fracture of your thighbone or shinbone, you will need to see an orthopedist immediately.  The bones of your leg need to be immobilized, so often a plaster splint or a cast is used.  Sometimes pins, metal plates, wires, or screws are needed to hold together the broken ends of a bone.  If the fracture is in the middle portion of your thighbone or shinbone, a metal rod may be placed down the center of this bone.  After you have been to the emergency room, you will usually have a follow up treatment with an orthopedic doctor about a week later. 

     If your bone is treated properly and quickly, a broken leg will have its normal function returned.  It will likely take between 6 – 8 weeks before your bone is healed completely.  If you are elderly, the fracture may take longer to heal.  If you have experienced an open fracture, you may be at an increased risk for infection of your bone.  If an infection occurs, it may delay the healing process.

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A broken bone can cause a lot of pain to your leg. Any of the four bones of the leg can be broken.