When The Elderly Fall, It Isn’t Always A Matter Of Just Getting Back Up
Elderly people have the highest risk of falling, which is the usual unfortunate event for hip fractures. “They fall because they lose their coordination. They have difficulty with their eye sight and they have difficulty with their balance, and they become weak,” says Dr. Charles A. Peterson, an orthopedic surgeon at Seattle Orthopedic and Fracture Clinic. “When they fall, they tend to have a higher frequency of fractures due to osteoporosis and weaker bones.” Most often, an individual knows immediately that he/she has a broken hip.
Symptoms of hip breakage can include stiffness, contusions, or inflammation in the hip area. Because hip fractures in the elderly have the potential to be life-threatening, a trip to the hospital for surgery after such an incident should be taken immediately.
Although surgeries to repair fractures are relatively straightforward, complications afterwards can increase mortality rates to about 25 percent in the year after the surgery. Some complications can include blood clots and infection. Post-surgery complications more often lead to death if a patient already suffers from another serious medical condition. A lengthy process is usually associated with recovery after hip surgery. The typical hospital stay lasts four days to a week, but a longer stay isn’t unusual. After a hospital stay, patients can go many different routes towards their recovery depending on insurance, age, complications, and available activities at their nursing or assisted living facility.
Physical therapists begin to work with recovering patients immediately at the hospital and can continue later at the patient’s nursing home or assisted living facility. Physical therapy intervention for a hip fracture usually consists of muscle regeneration and strengthening, balance exercises, bed mobility, transfer and gait training. Occupational therapy focuses on the activities of daily living, such as dressing, grooming, and bathing.
The amount of therapy a patient receives depends upon the type of health care insurance they have. Therapy typically ends about four to six months post operatively. It is entirely the primary care provider’s decision when the patient is physically and physiologically able to receive more intensive therapy.
Assisted living marketing services are provided by 800seniors.com a leading referral system in the assisted living industry. For more information, call 1-800-768-8221. Sky Palma is a freelance staff writer