You can walk on a nonunion fracture but you will usually need to use crutches to keep the weight off the bone.
After a nonunion fracture the bone is not often strong enough to bear any weight so you will need to avoid walking on the nonunion fracture or use crutches if you need to walk.
Symptoms of a nonunion fracture which is a bone not healing properly include swelling, tenderness and an aching pain which can be felt deep within the affected bone.
Nonunion fractures refer to when a fractured bone fails to heal.
This can happen after surgery or if the fracture was treated without surgery (conservatively).
If nonunions are left untreated, you will usually suffer pain, disability and inability to regain their previous level of function.
Nonunion is permanent failure of healing following a broken bone unless intervention is performed.
A fracture with nonunion generally forms a structural resemblance to a fibrous joint, and is therefore often called a "false joint" or pseudoarthrosis.
Nonunion of bone is the body's inability to heal a fracture.
The most agreed-upon standard definition of nonunion made by the FDA is a fracture that persists for a minimum of nine months without signs of healing for three months.
Several types of surgery can be used to treat a nonunion fracture depending on the individual case.
A surgeon may perform a bone graft to provide a framework upon which new bone can grow.
Bone grafts provide fresh bone cells and other naturally occurring chemicals in the bone that can aid growth to heal a nonunion.
The two most common causes of malunion and nonunion (failed or incorrect healing) are not enough blood flow and unstable bones.
Injured bones use components inside blood cells (like oxygen and growth factors) to regrow the new bone required for proper healing.
People with nonunion fractures usually feel pain at the site of the break long after the initial pain of the fracture disappears.
This pain may last months, or even years.
It may be constant, or it may occur only when the broken arm or leg is used.