21. How do bones mend?
When a bone is broken, the pieces are held together for several weeks
so that they can grow together properly. New bone material slowly
forms between the pieces.
The healing process begins when blood from broken blood vessels
forms a clot.
After a few days, the broken ends of the bone become soft and the
space between them fills with a sticky ‘glue’ which contains bone
forming cells.
A bone may break or fracture in several ways. A simple fracture is
one in which the two ends remain in position and not much damage
is done to the surrounding tissue.
In a compound fracture, the broken bone pierces the skin. In other
fractures, blood vessels may also get damaged along with the bone.
