Broken bones need 3 key things to heal

Rule No. 1: When you get bucked off your horse, try to land on your feet.

Rule No. 2: Don’t break your foot when you land.

“I have good news and bad news,” the doctor told me. “The bad news is you have a broken bone in your foot.”

And the good news?

“It’s a stable break that won’t require surgery. Should be healed in two to four weeks ... if you take care of it.”

Gee, that’s nice. So what does a broken bone need to heal? This is what I learned:

Stability: To keep the two ends of broken bone together, I’ll be good and wear my protective splint and use my crutches as instructed.

Good circulation: Blood flow carries oxygen, nutrients and cellular building blocks to connect and heal broken tissue. This process of healing is called “remodeling.”

Any condition that impedes blood flow — such as smoking — impedes healing.

Some bones tend to heal faster than others. Bones in the toes, for example, usually heal quickly because they are fairly stable and have an excellent blood supply. Bones in the wrist typically receive less blood flow and therefore can take longer to heal.

Nutrition: Much of the “glue” that mends broken bones is found in food.

These nutrients are especially important to bone healing:

Protein such as collagen helps to knit broken bones back together. Protein is found primarily in eggs, meat, fish, poultry, nuts, soy and other beans, and dairy foods.

Vitamins

Vitamin C is essential to collagen formation. And it promotes the healing of wounds and broken bones. Note to self: Make sure I pack in more daily vitamin C foods such as peppers, strawberries, broccoli, tomatoes, oranges and other citrus fruit.

Calcium is the primary mineral used to build and repair bone. And vitamin D helps my body absorb calcium. I’ll be sure to pour a few extra glasses of milk or pop an extra supplement of calcium and vitamin D every day. (By the way, the upper limit for daily calcium is 2,500 milligrams, broken bone or not.)

Vitamin K helps in bone repair as well. Leafy greens like kale, Swiss chard and spinach are excellent sources of vitamin K.

Pain relievers

“Do you want pain medication?” the emergency room doctor asked me. I declined and later took a pain reliever at home.

It’s best not to overdo pain medications, I later learned. Medications that reduce the pain and inflammation caused by a broken bone can actually slow down the healing process if we rely on them too long. Even though the pain and inflammation are ... painful, they produce chemicals that are important in the first stages of tissue repair.

Excessive use of pain and anti-inflammatory medicine like aspirin and ibuprofen block the release of these chemicals.

Lastly, I learned that when a broken bone completes the healing process, it is totally restored. “The healed area is brand new, without a scar. Usually thicker, the new bone may even be stronger than the old,” said Dr. Martin Yahiro, a Baltimore orthopedist and consultant to the Food and Drug Administration. An ancient proverb said, “He who watches his way preserves his life.” Let the healing begin.