In this section we will be looking at problems that are unique to children and the growing years. Most of the unique problems that occur in children occur as a result of properties of their bone, cartilage or growth plates. Children are susceptible to injuries of their growth plates and fractures that occur in ways that can only occur when a growth plate is present. These are called epiphyseal fractures and have a whole system of classification into 5 types. The other type of fracture that occurs in children is called a greenstick fracture. This name comes from the similarity of certain long bone fractures to that of a broken tree branch that is young and green. The outer layer of bone is very thick in children and when a fracture occurs the outer layer may not completely crack itself. The attachments may remain in the same fashion as a green stick would retain some attachments if one attempted to crack it in two.