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Why can a fall on an outstretched hand cause a fracture elsewhere in the arm?
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Injuries that break skin can be painfully memorable.
When you fall on an outstretched hand, the force of the impact travels up the limb, creating a chain reaction of stress across the interconnected bones of the forearm and arm.
Because the elbow acts as a hinge joint where the humerus meets the radius and ulna, it is highly susceptible to these acute stresses. If the force is significant enough, it can exceed the structural capacity of the bones or the protective ligaments surrounding the joint. Rather than the energy dissipating solely at the point of impact (the hand), the kinetic energy is transmitted through the radius and ulna, often resulting in a fracture at the elbow or along the shaft of the forearm bones as they attempt to absorb the shock.1