Three months ago, I broke my elbow playing softball (I’m 14-years-old). It was a break in the round bottom part of the upper arm bone. It wasn’t just a simple break though. The ends of the bone separated, so I had to have surgery to pin the two sides back together. I’m out of the cast now by six weeks, and I’m noticing a big bump along the outside of my elbow where the break was. What is this?

You may be noticing what’s called a bone callus. When a bone fracture is healing, the body creates extra bone to fill in the break. A bridge of bone actually forms across the fracture site. The cast you wore kept the ends of the bone still while this bridge was being formed and helped prevent any shifting or displacement of the fractured edges of the bone.

In growing teens, it’s not uncommon for the healing bone growth to exceed the amount you really need. As the bone builds up around the fracture site, you can end up with a bony bump like you are describing. Usually, the bone remodels itself but it can take several months up to a year to complete this process.

There are other potential causes of bone bumps that can be more serious (e.g., cysts, tumors). It would be a good idea to make a follow-up appointment with your orthopedic surgeon to have this checked out. A simple exam and X-ray will probably be all that’s needed to find out what’s going on. If there’s something else involved, early detection and treatment can improve the chances for a good result.