How long will a broken bone take to fully heal?

As you sit on your couch after getting medical treatment for a fractured bone, you’re probably wondering how long you’re going to be stuck there. When will the injury heal? How long does it take? After all, a serious injury can keep you out of work, so now you’re forced to deal with both lost wages and medical bills.

Every break is different. The location makes a huge difference — a broken leg versus a broken collarbone or a skull fracture, for instance — as does the severity. Every case is unique. Ask your doctor, and they can give you a projection for your specific injury.

That said, the average healing time runs from six weeks to 12 weeks. The younger you are, the better. Children, who are still growing, often heal very quickly compared to adults. Elderly individuals may take a long time to heal and may never fully get over all their symptoms.

In order to heal as quickly as possible, it’s important to understand things that slow down the process. A few examples include:

• Not getting enough vitamin D
• Not getting enough calcium
• Having a poor diet
• Dealing with infections after the break
• Putting too much weight on the broken bone too soon after the injury
• Smoking pipes, cigars or cigarettes
• Taking some medicines, like immunosuppressants or corticosteroids

You may not be able to avoid all these issues, but you should strive for a healthy lifestyle that helps your body recover quickly. At the same time, if you got injured due to someone else’s negligence, you need to know what legal rights you have to compensation.