--- title: The cast: itching, signing and the saw — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «The cast: itching, signing and the saw», a lesson of the medicine course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: A cast is a hard shell of plaster or fibreglass shaped round a broken arm so that the bone cannot move while it heals. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/2-the-cast-itching-signing-and-the-saw/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Medicine](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/) / The cast: itching, signing and the saw # The cast: itching, signing and the saw Lesson 2 of the medicine course of Mova's primary school: 19 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/medicine/2-the-cast-itching-signing-and-the-saw/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/2-the-cast-itching-signing-and-the-saw/0/) — A cast is a hard shell of plaster or fibreglass shaped round a broken arm so that the bone cannot move while it heals. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/2-the-cast-itching-signing-and-the-saw/1/) — It itches because the skin underneath is sweaty and old skin cells cannot flake off; the itch is a nuisance, not a sign of trouble. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/2-the-cast-itching-signing-and-the-saw/2/) — Never push a pencil or ruler inside: it can scratch the skin and start an infection nobody can see. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/2-the-cast-itching-signing-and-the-saw/3/) — The scary saw that takes it off does not spin; its blade wobbles fast back and forth, which cuts hard plaster but only jiggles soft skin. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/2-the-cast-itching-signing-and-the-saw/4/) — When the cast comes off, the arm looks thin, hairy and smelly, but muscle and skin come back with normal use and a bit of physio. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/2-the-cast-itching-signing-and-the-saw/5/) — A cast is a hard shell of plaster or fibreglass that stops a broken bone moving while it heals. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/2-the-cast-itching-signing-and-the-saw/6/) — Skin under a cast itches because it is sweaty and dead skin cells cannot flake off. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/2-the-cast-itching-signing-and-the-saw/7/) — Pushing anything inside a cast can scratch the skin, cause a hidden infection, or get stuck. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/2-the-cast-itching-signing-and-the-saw/8/) — Writing and drawing on the outside of a cast does not hurt the bone. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/2-the-cast-itching-signing-and-the-saw/9/) — A plaster cast that gets soaked goes soft and weak, and the damp padding can make the skin sore, so the fracture clinic should be phoned. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/2-the-cast-itching-signing-and-the-saw/10/) — An arm keeps swelling for a day or two after a break, and a tight cast can squeeze blood vessels and nerves. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/2-the-cast-itching-signing-and-the-saw/11/) — Fingers that go blue, white, cold or numb, or pain that gets much worse in a cast, need a doctor straight away. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/2-the-cast-itching-signing-and-the-saw/12/) — The cast saw's blade wobbles quickly back and forth instead of spinning, so it cuts plaster but not skin; on the arm it just feels warm and buzzy, though it sounds loud. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/2-the-cast-itching-signing-and-the-saw/13/) — After weeks in a cast the muscles are smaller and the joints stiff, and they recover over a few weeks. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/2-the-cast-itching-signing-and-the-saw/14/) — A physiotherapist gives exercises to bend and strengthen the arm a bit more each week; doing extra does not speed healing and can strain the healing arm. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/2-the-cast-itching-signing-and-the-saw/15/) — A sling holds the arm up against the body so it can rest and the swelling goes down. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/2-the-cast-itching-signing-and-the-saw/16/) — A just-healed bone is weaker than normal, so contact sports and trampolines wait a few weeks after the cast comes off. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/2-the-cast-itching-signing-and-the-saw/17/) — If your writing arm is in a cast, school can help with a scribe (someone who writes for you), a laptop or more speaking work. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/2-the-cast-itching-signing-and-the-saw/18/) — Some stable ankle and foot breaks, ones not likely to slip out of place, heal well in a removable boot instead of a cast. - ← previous: [Snap! Breaking a bone](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/1-snap-breaking-a-bone/) - next →: [Sprains, strains and bruises](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/3-sprains-strains-and-bruises/) - ↑ back to [Medicine](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/)