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Hi! The great thing about buckle fractures is that they don't involve the growth plate and they're not a through-and-through fracture. They're just a bit of a buckle in the bone. They heal quickly and don't affect the growth of the bone.

Even though your orthopedist is a spine specialist he can probably handle a simple buckle fracture.

Did this happen with a fall on an outstretched hand?

That's great. A buckle fracture from a mechanism like that is extremely unlikely to cause trouble with the growth of his arm.

Let me see if I can find any data on braces vs casts in play. Be back in a moment.

There's no great evidence that I can find on bracing vs. casting. Likely at the age of 7 he's ok to participate with either, but I'm sure opinions vary from bracing to casting to refraining from play altogether. You might want to get a second opinion from another ortho. you could call your pediatrician and ask them to phone up a colleague and get their quick opinion (it's likely not necessary for you to have him actually evaluated by anyone else).

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Yes. He should be in the brace continuously and you should think of it as a cast.

Carefully showering is one thing---using the arm to swim is something else. The bone is broken and it has to knit back together--it won't do that if it has the opportunity to move out of the splint. The advantage to the splint is that you can take it off to clean the arm and let him bathe. That's the only time it should come off if you expect the best long-term result.

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