5. Bone injuries

Although rarer than muscle and joint damage, bone fractures should of course be mentioned among injuries. These particularly occur in sports involving extreme effort and/or high speed, therefore in those where there is a high risk of collision (skiing, skating, football, ice hockey, motor racing, motorbike racing, horse racing, hang gliding, fighting sports, American football, rugby, etc.). These injuries are typically traumatic in nature, i.e. the result of acute, severe force. However, there are also cumulative types of bone fractures that may seem incomprehensible to an outside observer, as they may not necessarily be expected from the course of the particular movements involved. These are caused by tiny cracks accumulated in the bone and are actually “substance fatigue”. They develop mainly as a result of long-lasting, extremely intense effort when the fatigued muscles are no longer able to neutralize the stress on the bones (Bartlett 2005). Bone fractures typically do not occur due to tension, but due to various combinations of compression, bending, and twisting (Bartlett 2005). So we can distinguish between several bone fractures, some of which – with no claim to completeness – include:

  • diaphyseal fracture (typically a fracture in the neck of the femur or humerus, due to axial force)

  • transverse fracture (the long bone is broken transversely, under bending)

  • spiral fracture (torsional fracture in the long bone)

  • oblique-transverse fracture and oblique fracture (caused by axial force and bending)

  • longitudinal fracture (caused by high torsional force and axial compression in the long bone)

  • splintered fracture (this can be produced by compression, twisting, and a lateral crushing effect on the long bone)

  • greenstick fracture (an incomplete fracture, where the continuity of only one side of the long bone breaks, while the tissue on the opposite side remains unbroken; it is usually caused by bending forces or a lateral blow on the long bone).

Broken bone ends can also pierce the surrounding tissues and skin; here we talk about an open fracture. In addition, flat bones may also suffer fractures; these include the vertebral body, the shoulder blade, the pelvis, or various skull bones.