Broken Hip Recovery
Proper healing and your chances for a full return to your regular activities
Medically reviewed by Cara Beth Lee, MD
Broken hip recovery can take a full year. During that time, pain from a hip fracture usually lessens after four to six weeks. It can take 12 weeks for the bone to fully mend. And by six months, some people are able to get close to their pre-injury activity level.
That said, this will vary from person to person, and some people never regain full functioning.
Physical therapy can help to restore mobility, strength, and balance, but often to varying degrees. A hip fracture can cause a steep decline in functioning in older people, for example.
This article discusses the hip fracture recovery process.
Surgical Recovery After a Broken Hip
Almost all hip fractures of the femur (thigh bone) require surgery. Nonsurgical treatment is only considered for very specific fracture types, such as if the break is only on the pelvis side of the hip joint (and not the femur).
Your recovery begins immediately after surgery.
Controlling Pain
You will be given pain medications to help control pain. At first, you will get intravenous (IV) medications. Some hospitals might give you patient-controlled anesthesia (PCA), which allows you to control your pain medication by pressing a button on a machine. The machine will not allow you to overdose on pain medication.
As soon as possible, you will be transitioned to oral medications, including opioids like morphine or oxycodone, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSAIDS) like naproxen or ibuprofen, and acetaminophen.
Other pain control methods include nerve blocks, neurostimulation, and traction. Alternative therapies like acupuncture can also help control pain.
Preventing Pnemonia
Because there is an increased risk of pneumonia after a hip fracture, you may be given an incentive spirometer to use in the hospital. This is a method of exercising your lungs to keep them as healthy as possible. Use the incentive spirometer according to the advice from your healthcare provider.
Staying Hydrated
Proper hydration is important while healing from a hip fracture, but especially so in older people. Drinking enough water will help to support muscles as they heal and reduce strain on bones and joints.
For those over age 65, try to ensure daily fluid intake of 2250 milliliters (ml) with 60% that comes from drinking liquids while 40% comes from water in foods, like fruits. But check with your healthcare provider, as it may differ depending on other underlying health conditions.
Keep in mind that some people may need additional support with meals and nutrition, as well as hydration, while recovering from a broken hip.
Starting Physical Therapy
There's a good chance that physical therapy after a hip fracture will begin in the hospital or rehabilitation center. Mobility and therapy are priorities within the first few days after surgery.
But physical therapy and rehabilitation typically continue on an outpatient basis for weeks, especially because people recovering from hip fracture have difficulty walking. Home-based exercises to improve strength, balance, and range of motion also help with recovery.
Be sure to follow guidance from your orthopedic surgeon and healthcare team when starting your physical therapy activities.
Takeaway
Without an underlying cause, a hip fracture in the elderly is, by definition, osteoporosis. Patients who sustain one fragility fracture are at a significantly increased risk of sustaining another fragility fracture in the near future. For that reason, treating osteoporosis is very important to help prevent future fractures from occurring.
Optimal Recovery From Hip Fractures
The best way to recover from a hip fracture is to get moving as soon as possible. Immobility opens the door to the possibility of significant complications.
It is critical to get patients up and moving as soon as possible after surgery. There are a number of ways to help accomplish this goal.
Most importantly, the surgery should be performed soon after the injury. There is controversy about how soon the surgery should be performed, but ideally within 48 hours of the injury, and possibly sooner.
Many hospitals are getting better equipped at getting individuals with broken hips to an operating room on either the day of or the day after their injury.
There are situations where surgery has to be delayed, such as when there are other major medical issues that need to be addressed prior to a surgical procedure.
Another common situation is when an individual on blood-thinning medication breaks their hip. The blood-thinning effects may need to be reversed prior to safely performing surgery.
The second step is to quickly get up and moving after the surgery. In the hours and days after surgery, the nursing staff and therapists will be working to get people up and moving. Even changing position and sitting up in a chair can help to prevent some of the complications that can occur in people with broken hips.
Chances of Broken Hip Recovery
Unfortunately, full recovery after a broken hip occurs in only about half of all people. The other half will have a decline in function when compared to their pre-injury activity level.
Sadly, about 22% of people who break a hip don't live for a full year after their injury. This group tends to represent the frailest people who break a hip. The good news is this number seems to be falling, meaning recovery from hip fracture is improving worldwide.
Regaining mobility, strength, and balance affects one's ability to return to full functioning.
Mobility
In order for joints to function properly, they need to move. A joint that is frozen in space may have good muscle tissue surrounding the joint, but without proper movement, those muscles cannot function properly.
Mobility can be impaired by fracture healing, deformity, implanted hardware, and scar tissue formation.
Strength
Restoration of muscle strength is critical after breaking one's hip. Unlike a hip replacement surgery recovery, where the muscle damage is minimal, the trauma of breaking a hip bone also damages muscle function significantly.
In order to regain muscle function, it is critical to get the muscles working as soon as possible after surgery to prevent potentially permanent atrophy of the muscle tissue.
Balance
Recovery of balance is critical not only to regain function but also to prevent the potential for further injury. Balance is critical to activity, and a decline in function is often the result of a loss of balance.
The use of ambulatory aids (canes or walkers) can be helpful, but regaining proprioception and balance can help restore activity.
Broken Hip Recovery Time
Full healing of a broken hip can take many months. Most fractures take 10 to 12 weeks for healing, and the muscle strength and mobility can take much longer. Typically, people get close to their full recovery within 6 months of the injury, but it can take up to a full year to achieve as much improvement as possible.
That said, people who sustain a hip fracture should not wait for months or longer to be aggressive with their therapy. As time passes, the likelihood of regaining function steadily declines—the strongest gains are made early in the recovery process.
On a positive note, many people who sustain a hip fracture do recover their pre-injury level of activity and are able to return to their normal activities. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to make that type of recovery.
Most people think of aging as a steady, gradual decline in function. The reality is that as people age, they much more commonly experience long periods of steady functional activity, with intermittent sharp declines in function. A hip fracture can be an event that initiates a sharp decline.
Read the original article on Verywell Health.
