Symptoms

What symptoms do humerus fractures cause?

Sudden severe pain following an accident or a sudden force on the upper arm is characteristic of a fracture. The lower part of the arm will go limp because the lower part of the arm is uncontrollable. This may cause a lot of pain at the fracture site when it moves. It is common for the patient to hold the elbow or forearm still, splinting it against the body. The pain is made worse by attempting to move the arm or by passive movements of the lower arm. There may be deformity of the upper arm with an obvious bend in the bone.

If there is an open fracture the wound is usually obvious and the bone ends may be seen. Even a small laceration in the presence of a fracture should raise suspicion of an open fracture. The fracture site will swell rapidly after the accident as the bone and muscle bleeds into the tissues. Purple discoloration and bruising are seen within hours of the injury.

In the more rare situations where there has been an injury to a nerve, the patient will have numbness and loss of movement below the break. The most common pattern is lack of movement of of the muscles supplied by the radial nerve. The patient is unable to extend, or lift the wrist and straighten the fingers. This is called a wrist drop. If blood vessels have been damaged the hand may become cold and numb. The pulse at the wrist may not be present.

Even after treatment to stabilize the fracture there will be continuing symptoms of pain, tenderness, swelling, bruising and pain on moving the arm. These are caused in large degree by the injury to the muscles around the broken bone and by the bleeding into the tissues caused by the break. These symptoms will continue for several weeks but do gradually get better. Increasing pain, a change in the quality of the pain or the new development of numbness would be a cause for concern and should be reported to the doctor.