Use a Tuning Fork to Tell If Your Child Has a Bone Fracture

Is it broken? That is the question on everyone's mind when a child clutches his ankle after falling out of a tree, collides over a soccer ball, or limps off the field after a huge hit in the endzone. In many cases, the extent of the child's injury is not clear. At that point, parents must figure out whether a trip to the emergency room is in order. Many hours have been spent waiting for the x-ray---and the reading of the x-ray, and the report on the x-ray, and the consultation with the doctor on the report of the x-ray---to answer that one question: "Is it broken?" Fortunately, there's a tool that can help parents evaluate whether their child's injury is a bone fracture. That tool is the tuning fork.

What is a tuning fork?

A tuning fork is a two-pronged fork with the tines in the shape of an U. It is an acoustic resonator. When the tines vibrate, they create a sound. As you might guess, the fork's original use was for tuning musical instruments. Today there are tuning forks made for music, as well as for engineering, physics and medicine.

Tuning forks and simple fractures

There are many situations where a tuning fork is a useful tool for diagnosing---or at least evaluating the likelihood of--- a bone fracture. It often is used by medical personnel when radiographic equipment is not readily available. The device may be used, for example, on the battlefield, at the scene of car crashes or other accidents, and even on the sideline of sporting events. But what if parents could use this tool to help avoid those "just in case" trips to the ER---and to avoid exposing their child to unnecessary radiation?

Making the decision to go to the ER

Making a decision about whether or not an injured person should go to the ER always requires careful consideration. Sometimes the need for professional medical care is obvious; sometimes it is not.

Natasha Richardson, part of the Redgrave dynasty of actors, died after a skiing accident in which she hit her head. Although, according to the Times (U.K.), Emergency Medical Personnel were called to the site of the accident, Richardson did not go to the hospital immediately. Yves Coderre, head of ambulance operations at Mont Tremblant, where Richardson was injured, explained that it is not unusual for people with a head injury initially to feel okay. If they are suffering internal bleeding, however, over time, their condition will worsen. It may even result in death.

The "just in case" trip to the ER for x-ray

Head injuries, even if they seem minor, do require special care and vigiliance. Most common childhood injuries, however, particularly to limbs, are not life-threatening. Parents want their injured child to receive medical care if it is necessary. But they don't want to put a hurting child ---who otherwise would be home with her ankle up, an ice pack, a dose of OTC (over-the-counter ) pain reliever, and bunches of TLC (tender loving care)---through hours of sitting in an uncomfortable, often distressing hospital room just to be told, "It's not broken. Go home and put her ankle up, give her an ice pack, some over-the-counter Motrin and some love."

Sometimes going to the emergency room "just in case" something is wrong is not only appropriate, but necessary. Other times, particularly when it comes to common childhood injuries, parents struggle to balance the benefits of a "just in case" trip to the ER for an x-ray with the need to get their injured child as quickly as possible into a restful, comfortable situation. Using a tuning fork may make that decision a little easier.

How to use a tuning fork

When tuning forks are "strummed" lightly, they begin to vibrate. When these vibrations are placed near a break in a bone, the person's pain increases. If the vibrations don't increase the person's pain, it's a lot less likely he has suffered a bone fracture.

In Motor Vehicle Collision Injuries, Larry Nordhoff tells how to use a tuning fork to diagnose a rib fracture at the scene of a car accident. In addition to evaluating the person for other signs of fracture, Nordhoff writes: "Place the vibrating tuning fork in a nonpainful site 3 to 4 inches away from the localized area having pain, and ask the patient whether he or she feels an increase in pain at the painful site or at the tip of the tuning fork."

If the patient finds the vibrations from the tuning fork cause increased pain, then it is more likely that the patient has a bone fracture. In that case, further diagnosis clearly is warranted.

Answering the question: "Is it broken?"

No one diagnostic tool is foolproof every time (not even x-ray). So, it remains important to evaluate the whole situation in deciding on what level of care is appropriate. That said, families with very active, outdoorsy or sports-playing kids---or who pursue recreational activities in remote areas---may want to keep a tuning fork handy. I know it would have saved our family two different trips to the ER---one to check out a wrist whacked in a soccer collision and another to check out an ankle crumpled in a tree-climbing/falling incident.

Had we been able to put our minds somewhat at rest by using the tuning fork, my kids would have avoided unnecessary x-rays. And they would have gotten home, snug in their beds, and on their way to recovery a lot sooner.

Consider using a tuning fork to help answer the question, "Is it broken?." Basic tuning forks are sold in most music stores.

*** More on keeping your kids healthy: Cellphones, Staph and Superbugs, and My Sick Child.

Sources:

"Tuning Fork," Wikipedia.

Larry S. Nordhoff, "Motor Vehicle Collision Injuries," Google Books.

James Bone and Tim Teeman, "Ambulance called for Natasha Richardson was turned away," Times Online (U.K.).