New bone tissue forms around the fracture or break. When the fracture does not have adequate blood supply (due to injury or trauma of the surrounding area), then proper healing components cannot be transferred to the bone. Blood supply offers very important healing properties like oxygen and growth factors. A non-union may occur in this case but can also occur because of instability during healing. Additionally, bone infection can cause, or be a result of bone non-union. Non-unions are more likely to occur if the fracture or break results from a high-impact incidents, such as a car accident. This is because high energy injuries can impair the surrounding blood supply to the broken bone.
Proper nutrition and your body’s ability to uptake nutrients like proteins, calcium, vitamin C, and vitamin D is also very important for healing bone properly. Lack of a good nutrition can make it harder for your bones to heal. There are certain factors that increase risk of non-unions. These can include tobacco or nicotine use, older age, diabetes, hypothyroidism, or medications