In her letter to The Morning Star (Great care, Jan. 30), Lori Moren expressed gratitude to Vernon Jubilee Hospital for excellent medical care. She had fractured her wrist in a fall on the Silver Star skating pond.
A broken wrist is a common occurrence, particularly in winter.
The event is frequently viewed as inconvenient – but minor. The fracture is X-rayed, repaired surgically and/or cast applied, and the individual is sent home to recover.
It may never be reported to the family doctor.
This may indeed be an isolated health event if the man or woman experiencing the break is under age 50; and the cause was significant trauma (falling off a deck, crashing to the ice while skating, tumbling off a bike during a summer cycling trip).
In these situations the force could be sufficient to break a bone.
However, a wrist fracture can also signal a silent, often undetected condition called osteoporosis.
This condition, where bones thin and become fragile over time can occur at any age – but is most often seen in those over 50.
There are no signs or symptoms until the first fracture occurs; and by then, without diagnosis and treatment, the individual is at high risk for another broken bone.
If you are over age 50, and break your wrist, shoulder, pelvis, spine, or hip with very little force (eg. a simple fall from standing height), please consult your family doctor or health care practitioner for an osteoporosis assessment.
There is excellent information regarding the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis on the Osteoporosis Canada website www.osteoporosis.ca .
Together, we can prevent that second break.
Pat Hodgins, RN BN
(formerly, Nurse Clinician, Osteoporosis Centre, Calgary)
Vernon
