Most Painful Broken Bones (2024)

Medically Reviewed By William C. Lloyd III, MD, FACS

— Written By Elizabeth Beasley

Updated on July 27, 2021

• Millions of people break bones every year and it’s the most common reason people get X-rays. Breaks can range from a thin hairline fracture to bones that are snapped in half like a tree branch. Any break is a pain, but some hurt more than others. Fragile bones like the collarbone are the most likely to break and sometimes they’re the most painful too. Many bone breaks are extra painful because they take a long time to heal and are a huge inconvenience.

  What’s the most painful broken bone you’ve ever experienced? Vote up the worst of the worst.

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  Ribs

  

  Your ribs are often the most underrated and most painful bones to break. With a broken rib, it can hurt to breathe, move, eat and sleep. Because your ribs encase your lungs and heart, a severely broken rib can be dangerous. There’s a risk of damaging major blood vessels and puncturing the lungs. Complications increase based on how many and which ribs you break. It can take several weeks or months to heal while your rib bones fuse back together.

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  Collarbone

  

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  Breaking your collarbone, also known as your clavicle, is a very common injury that usually results from a fall or high-impact shoulder injury. You’ll usually hear a snapping sound when you break it and experience swelling and bruising. The pain is worse if the bone breaks the skin. A broken collarbone can take up to eight weeks to heal. The good news is you can usually recover by just wearing a sling, though sometimes surgery is required.

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  Femur

  

  Your femur is located in your thigh, running from your hip to your knee. It’s long and strong and hurts like heck when you break it. In addition to being one of the most painful breaks, a broken femur can damage the large arteries in the leg and cause severe bleeding. Surgery is usually required to repair a broken femur and prevent complications. Recovery can take a long time, not to mention that you can’t walk on it for weeks. That’s a serious pain.

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  Ankle

  

  If you’ve ever twisted or rolled your ankle, you know how bad a strain or sprain can hurt. Breaks are even worse because they often require a long recovery, while tendons, ligaments, and blood vessels heal. It’s important to keep your ankle immobilized during recovery, which means no standing, walking or driving. If you don’t stabilize your ankle and give it time to heal properly, there could be long-term effects like osteoarthritis or a weak ankle that’s prone to more rolling and twisting.

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  Spine

  

  Fracturing your vertebrae makes the list because it can cause pain on many levels. Your spinal column protects your spinal cord and all the nerves that connect to it. If you break a bone in your spine, it can compress the roots of nerves, which may lead to severe pain and other complications. Depending on the location of the spinal fracture, it could affect your sensory and motor function, bladder and bowel control, and lead to a permanent disability.

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  Tailbone

  

  A broken tailbone (coccyx) is extremely painful because it restricts many activities. Sitting, sleeping, walking, going to the bathroom, and sexual activities can all become very uncomfortable. If you’ve ever had a bruised tailbone, imagine that pain times 10. A tailbone break is also one of the hardest to recover from. It takes months and sometimes a full year. If you’re doing anything that can knock you on your bum, be extra careful!

  See Also

  Everything You Need to Know About Fractures and Fracture Healing - Northern Arizona Orthopaedics

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  Pelvis

  

  Breaking your pelvis is more dangerous than you might imagine. Like other fractures on your torso, this break can do serious damage because your pelvis cradles important internal organs. A pelvic fracture could injure your kidneys, intestines, reproductive organs, and bladder. Damage to your pelvis can also cause internal bleeding. The worst-case scenario (and most painful) would be an injury that causes breaks in your femur, hip, pelvis, and spine; since they’re all connected. Pelvic fractures are often due to major trauma like motor vehicle accidents and falls from a significant height.

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  Hip

  

  Broken hips are not only painful, but can be potentially life-threatening for the elderly. A broken hip is typically the result of a fall and you may need surgery to repair or replace your hip bone. Recovery can be lengthy and is often challenging. You may experience muscle weakness, blood clots, and post-surgical problems. It’s important to keep your bones and muscles strong as you age to reduce risk of falling and breaking your hip.

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  Wrist

  

  Wrist bone breaks are common during falls when you catch yourself with your hand. Not only can it be painful to break one of the thirteen bones in the wrist, it’s a difficult recovery because your wrist is immobilized and you can’t use your hand. A wrist break can take as few as six weeks and as many as 24 weeks to heal. If you think you’ve broken your wrist, you’ll likely need an X-ray to diagnose smaller fractures.

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  Elbow

  

  Bumping your funny bone hurts like heck, so it makes sense that a broken elbow is on the list of most painful broken bones. When you break your elbow, you can’t straighten your arm and you may lose feeling in your hand. This injury tends to heal slowly, especially if you break it in several places. Once you’re finished healing, your elbow will be stiff. Regaining your normal range of motion—which may require physical therapy—can be just as painful as the initial break.