15 Common Causes of Colles Fracture

A Colles fracture may sound like an incident in which a collie dog broke one of their bones. That being said, it actually describes a break in your radius bone. The radius bone is the largest bone in your forearm. It’s also the closest to your wrist which is why it breaks so often whenever you land on your hands.

In fact, it’s actually the most frequently broken bone in your entire hand. There are many things that could cause a Colles fracture, and other risk factors such as gender or age can also increase the odds. As many doctors say, the best cure is prevention. You won’t even need to treat a condition if it never occurs. That being the case, we’re going to take you through eight of the common cause of a Colles fracture so that you can keep a lookout for them.

1. Car accidents

Colles fracture often occurs whenever an outstretched arm is impacted by some form of blunt trauma. Seeing as that’s the case, you can imagine how car crashes would be a common cause for Colles fractures. When most people drive, their arms are stretched out. Thus, when you come into contact with a telephone pole, incoming car, or what have you, you’re going to experience a lot of force exerted on your radius bone. This is what can cause a fracture in the first place.

While this is bad, it can be much worse. For instance, it’s favorable to break your radius bone if it means that you’ll get to protect your head. Many car crash fatalities are the result of a cerebral hemorrhage that occurs after the driver’s head impacts the steering wheel. Airbags are designed to help you, but there have been some Colles fractures caused by the impact of the airbag as well.