What You Can Expect After Your Elderly Loved One Breaks A Hip

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When you have an elderly loved one that experiences a traumatic fall and breaks their hip, you may find yourself at a loss, not knowing what to do or what you can expect from the situation. While this can be a confusing and difficult time for you, you still want to provide care and support to your elderly loved one. Get to know more about what you can expect when your elderly loved one has fallen and broken their hip. Then, you can be prepared to help them through the recovery process.

Hip Replacement or Repair Surgery

A broken hip is not something that is left to heal on its own, especially for an elderly person. As such, there are two surgical options that will be considered. These are hip replacement or a hip repair.

The choice of surgery depends on a number of factors. The first factor is the way in which your loved one's hip is broken. A femoral neck break or fracture, for example, would not benefit from a hip replacement surgery because hip replacement affects the femoral head where it meets with the pelvis in the hip joint.

However, a break to the the femoral head could be rebuilt with pins and metal plates or call for a replacement. Your loved one's surgeon will assess their overall health and the break itself to determine if your loved one would heal properly from a hip repair or would have an easier time with a hip replacement.

Hospitalization and Physical Therapy

No matter which surgical procedure your elderly loved one undergoes, they will be hospitalized for several days after the fact. This hospitalization period is to ensure that your loved one does not develop a post-operative infection or blood clot. It also gives your loved one a chance to begin their physical and occupational therapy.

Physical and occupational therapy can begin as early as the day of surgery or the day after surgery. The idea is to get your loved one moving their hip as soon as possible to prevent a loss of flexibility and movement in the joint due to rigid scar tissue. Once your elderly loved one is stable after hip surgery and reaches certain milestones in their therapy like being able to sit up and get dressed, they can be discharged from the hospital. 

Short Term Rehab And/Or Home Recovery

The next step for your elderly loved one in their hip break recovery is to leave the hospital and go to either short term rehab or home. In the case of most elderly patients who have broken a hip, doctors want to make sure that they will be safe in their home before sending them there. As such, it is more than likely that your loved one will go to short term rehab.

Short term rehab is a care facility that continues the physical and occupational therapy that your loved one started in the hospital. Your loved one will get several sessions of both types of therapy a day to get them up and walking and able to navigate around obstacles that they may have in their home environment. This short term rehab stay is usually only about a week or two in duration and then, your loved one will be sent home to continue their recovery and physical therapy.

Now that you better know what to expect after your elderly loved one breaks a hip, you can be prepared to provide them with the support and assistance they need in their recovery. For more information, contact a short term rehab facility like Valley View Retirement Community.

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