It is called fracture injury that occurs when a bone breaks or ruptures. In the arm, a fracture occurs most often in the midsection, thin and long (shaft) of one of the three arm bones (humerus, radius and ulna). “Fractured” and “broken” mean exactly the same.
Fractures of the humerus bone (upper arm): In healthy people, most humerus fractures are caused by a direct blow to the upper arm. They generally occur when suffering a car accident or a fall of high impact. Less often, the humerus can fracture because of severe sprains of the upper arm, falls on an outstretched arm or extreme contraction of the muscles of the upper arm. If bone fractures are caused by extreme contraction of muscles, bone fracture and twists sometimes called “spiral fracture” or “breaking the ball thrower.” These rare lesions usually affect athletes pitchers, especially pitchers ball (baseball), javelin throwers and disk.
If the humerus breaks because of a fall or blow low impact may mean that the bone is weakened by disease, such as osteoporosis or cancer. These are called pathological fractures. Bone fractures of the upper arm associated with cancer usually occur in older people (average age 62 years) and fractures of the humerus related injuries tend to affect younger people.
Fractures of the radius and ulna (forearm fractures) The forearm has two bones: the radius and ulna. The radio is in the arm on the thumb side. The ulna is on the side of the little finger. When broken forearm, the radius or ulna may break separately or both together. In either case, the lesion almost always caused by a direct blow to the forearm or a fall on an outstretched arm.
In the United States, forearm fractures are the cause of more than 750,000 consultations with orthopedic surgeons per year. Among young Americans, forearm fractures are common in adolescents who fall while skating or practicing skateboarding, while osteoporosis is a common risk factor for older people suffering from these fractures.