Nutrients to help heal your kids’ broken bones

When your child breaks a bone, it can be a nasty shock to the whole family. It can mean missing out on sport and fun activities at school, as well as needing to be super careful in the bath or shower to keep their cast dry, and maybe learning to write with your other hand.

But when you have the nutritional know-how for building bones, it’s easier to keep the bones strong for the long term and can help knit them back after a fracture.

Two of our children broke their left arms, one falling off our bed and the other slipping in the woods. Luckily, they were very young at the time, and bounced back pretty quickly. Broken bones can happen at any age and to any child, even if they don’t typically play rough and tumble, climb trees or get involved in contact sports. Thankfully, children’s bones are a bit more malleable than grownups’, and they tend to heal much quicker without long-term complications.

However, as they get older in the teen and uni phase, you may not have so much control over their nutrition, and they can get into bad habits which could mean their bones aren’t as strong as they could be.

Some fractures like “greenstick” splintered fractures, heal easily, but there can be complex multiple fractures that take months to heal, and for most people the recovery process can still feel pretty long, lousy and frustrating.

Adventure and learning limits are part of growing up, but I do think it’s wise to encourage bones to be strong so that a break is less likely. Read on to discover what to do when your child has broken a bone, and natural ways you can support the pain and help bone repair.

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Hospital treatment

Unless the bone is exposed through the skin due to the injury, the only way to be sure that a bone is broken is with an x-ray; so you’ll need to take your child to hospital if you suspect a broken or splintered bone.

Sprains and broken bones can sometimes be difficult to tell apart, as both sprains and fractures typically involve swelling, bruising, and pain. If your child can’t put weight on their injury or move the affected limb, or if the injury feels numb, this may point to a broken bone rather than a sprain.

The treatment needed will depend on the severity of the break. Most kids will need a cast for at least six weeks to keep the bone in the right place while it corrects itself. When bones are really out of place and broken badly, they will need to be reset – this can involve anaesthetic, ketamine sedation, or diamorphine and may involve a night or more in hospital.

Looking after a broken bone at home

Most breaks can be managed at home after the initial hospital visit, although you may need to return for check-ups every couple of weeks. There will usually be swelling, particularly in the first few days, which can be helped with elevation.

Your child should get plenty of rest and avoid returning to their usual activities too soon, as the bone is still delicate while it’s healing. The specific timeframe for return to normal activity will depend on the break, but your child’s doctor should be able to advise an appropriate timeline. Your child may want to jump straight back into school, indeed one of our clients’ doctors gave her child the green light to go back to school the day after she had had serious sedation and manipulation for a broken arm.  

But it is important that they take the time to heal physically and emotionally. The break, the pain and the time in hospital has probably been fairly traumatic for all of you and you might need the extra cuddles, just as much as your little one. It can take a few days for the pain to subside, pain medication will have to be managed, and if the bone was broken badly and needed manipulating, they will have been on a bit of a scary journey and will be in need of the extra TLC.

You can also help your child’s bones to heal and strengthen naturally, through their diet and extra nutrition through food supplements.

Calcium

Calcium is the cornerstone of healthy, strong bones, and its importance during fracture recovery cannot be overstated. About 99% of all the calcium in the body is found in the bones and teeth, and higher calcium intake has been directly associated with increased bone mass. This means that ensuring the diet contains plenty of calcium is crucial for bone healing and resilience.

The recommended daily allowance for calcium is 1,000mg for children aged 4-8 years and 1,300mg for children aged 9-18 years in the US, with slightly lower guidelines in the UK. This is more than many people realise and it can be hard to consume enough. You can add more calcium to the diet using the following foods:

Dairy Products: Milk, cheese and yoghurt are the most straightforward sources of calcium. One serving of natural yoghurt (240ml) provides about 415mg of calcium and 100ml of cow’s milk delivers 120mg. Put together, these alone could provide more than half of your child’s daily intake. NB. dairy substitutes do not have any calcium unless they are fortified, and some forms of fortification are not so bioavailable.

Nuts, Seeds, Oats, and Dried Fruit: Chia seeds, tahini, ground almonds, sesame seeds, raisins and almond butter pack a calcium punch. A tablespoon of sesame seeds contains around 90mg of calcium, and 100g of raisins contains about 50mg of calcium.

Vegetables: Leafy green veggies like broccoli, kale, and cabbage are excellent choices. Though spinach falls under this category, it contains lots of calcium absorption-inhibiting oxalate, so it isn’t recommended for increasing calcium levels.

Oily Fish: Tinned sardines, salmon, and anchovies with soft bones are rich in calcium.

Vitamins D3 and K2

Vitamin D3 enhances calcium absorption, while vitamin K2 ensures that the absorbed calcium is deposited to the bones instead of the arteries.

Sunlight exposure is the best source of vitamin D – just a few minutes in the sunshine with bare arms and legs is usually enough to meet the recommended allowance, but we usually need to compensate for this in the winter, especially at higher latitudes, such as in the UK.

Oily fish, egg yolks, and supplements can help to maintain vitamin D levels in the darker months, aiming for blood levels of 70-110 nmol/L.

Vitamin K2 can be taken in supplement form, but is also found in high concentrations in yoghurt, kefir, chicken, egg yolks, natto (fermented soya), and aged cheese.

Magnesium

Magnesium helps to regulate calcium levels in the bones and aids vitamin D uptake but also supports a wide range of bodily functions as an activator of hundreds of enzymes.

Children typically need more magnesium as they get older, with recommended daily allowances of 130mg from 4-8 years old, 240mg from 9-13, 360mg for girls 14-18 and 410mg for boys 14-18. Children recovering from fractures may temporarily need extra magnesium.

Good sources of magnesium include dark chocolate, whole grains, nuts like almonds and cashews, seeds like sunflower and pumpkin seeds, and green leafy vegetables.

Magnesium can also be supplemented, as getting it all into the diet can be tricky – according to the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey published in 2019, over a quarter of boys and half of girls in secondary school don’t consume enough magnesium through their diet.

Boron

Boron is a trace element that helps to regulate calcium and magnesium and support oestrogen production, which is crucial for strong and healthy bones. There is currently no set recommended daily intake for boron, but I suggest you should aim for around 6mg in children aged 4-8, 11mg in children aged 9-13, and 17mg in children aged 14-18.

You can incorporate more boron in your child’s diet with apples, pears, raisins, lentils, chickpeas, beans, bone broths, and slow cooked meats like lamb shanks and ox tail.

Protein and collagen

Protein and collagen contain a variety of amino acids, which form the basic structure of your bones and attach to other minerals to make them strong and hard. Collagen is the cornerstone of bone structure, but when the bone is fractured, collagen molecules become denatured and need replacing. These amino acids also keep your muscles strong, reducing the risk of stumbling and falling.

Aim for 1-1.6g protein per kg of body weight per day (which is almost double the normal level, so quite a lot!) whilst mending a broken bone. Eating a good mix of different proteins ensures your little one gets all the amino acids they need – you can get these from a combination of meat, fish, shellfish, eggs, dairy, beans, nuts, seeds, pulses, and tofu.

A daily serving of collagen powder mixed into a smoothie, porridge or hot chocolate can help to speed up recovery and adds to your child’s daily protein intake. Good quality food-based protein powders can be supplemented if your child does not get enough protein through their diet, but it isn’t usually needed.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is vital for the maintenance and production of collagen, as well as an enzyme-activating cofactor in collagen cross-linking, which supports and protects the bones from fractures.

The recommended daily allowance for vitamin C for children is 15-75 mg per day, depending on their age. However, they can take more during the recuperation period. The maximum they can take without causing a loose bowel is 650mg from 4-8 years, 1,200mg from 9-13 years, 1,800mg for 14-18 years.

Encourage children to enjoy lots of vitamin C rich foods like berries, citrus fruits, parsley, potatoes, and raw red peppers to support their collagen structure. One small orange contains around 50 mg vitamin C.

Omega-3

Omega-3 supports calcium’s role in bone strengthening, and studies have found that a diet higher in omega-3 may be associated with higher bone density. Omega-3 also reduces inflammation by blocking cytokine release, helping to reduce pain and discomfort during bone fracture recovery. It is the EPA part of omega 3 which is the anti-inflammatory type of omega 3. Fractioned fish oil supplements called specialised pro-resolving mediators (SPMs) have the most potent anti-inflammatory effect. Omega-3 is found in oily fish such as sardines, mackerel, anchovies and salmon. There is a little in walnuts, chia seeds, hulled hemp seeds and flaxseeds. Many people choose to supplement their kids whilst the bone is healing.

Turmeric

Turmeric has well-documented anti-inflammatory and pain relieving effects and has also been found to promote bone fracture healing. A pinch of this golden spice in soups, teas, curries or dietary supplements containing turmeric, may well help to speed up fracture recovery and reduce symptoms. Aim to find a turmeric supplement with 95% curcumin.

The gut-bone connection

The gut microbiome influences bone health mainly by enhancing calcium and vitamin D absorption via the “gut-bone/muscle axis”. Cultured foods like natural yoghurt, kefir, sauerkraut, and kimchi can introduce more beneficial gut bacteria and support the microbiome, while a diverse diet with lots of fibre – fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and pulses – feeds the microbiome and keeps the gut well-balanced. Also consider a friendly bacteria supplement if your little one does not eat many of these foods.

Managing anxiety

A broken bone isn’t just physically painful, but it can also leave your little one with worrying thoughts and there is bound to be some anxiety after this kind of trauma, especially for children. Bone manipulation, medical procedures, repeated hospital visits and the memory of the pain can all contribute to worry or anxiety. Luckily there are natural ways we can help here too. My number one piece of advice would be extra (gentle) hugs and generally lots of TLC, which will help your child to feel safe and supported. This can only help with their over-all healing journey and create a safe space where they can talk about everything they are feeling. They might be more clingy, quiet or tired than usual for a few weeks, but don’t worry, this is a totally normal response to a trauma. Open chats, slowly going back to gentle routines and all of those extra cuddles will work wonders. But also remember to make sure they know to take everything easy after any injury. Just because the cast is off or there’s no pain after a sprain doesn’t mean the body is operating at full strength.

A warm Epsom salt bath (or Epsom salt cream if a bath is impossible) may also help relax frazzled nerves, and drinking chamomile tea could help with relaxation. You can use calming essential oils such as lavender or frankincense to help ease stress, and saffron has long been known for its soothing properties which can be added in supplement form.

These things can all help you as a parent too, I know how traumatising it is for us to see our child in any pain, and if you’re worried about the effects of medications in your child’s system, our NatureDoc team are here and can guide you if you would like to explore gentle detox options.

Round up

Breaking a bone can be a shock for you and your child, but here’s the silver lining: children have an incredible ability to bounce back quickly, and their body is usually clever enough to mend their bones within a few weeks. Once a doctor has diagnosed and taken care of the injury, there are simple things you can try at home to make the recovery smoother, more comfortable and strengthen the bones for the future. Keeping these nutritional ways to strengthen the bones in mind after the fracture has healed can help prevent further incidents and give you peace of mind when your child gets back to their usual rough and tumble!

If the bone is taking a long time to mend or you are particularly worried about bone fragility, book in with the NatureDoc clinical team today to find out more about how best to support your child’s bone health.

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  1. I love reading what you write each week but this couldn’t have come at a more opportune moment. My youngest (now 22 years old!) has just broken a bone in her hand and is at Newcastle uni – I’m down in Devon. To be able to give her tlc in sending her this article (along with some hastily ordered vitamins supplements as I know she won’t eat everything suggested!) is invaluable. Thank you Lucinda for always writing fabulously interesting articles – but thank you in particular for helping with broken bones this week!