Senior Citizens, do you think we can ever recover if we suffer a broken hip?

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I broke my femur 10 years ago!, never walked unaided since, but still enjoy my life. Go shopping, boot sales and drive, a disability car!....My computer has given me a new lease on life, try not to give in........Show more

Any severe trauma injury to a senior is often life-shortening. Even minor injuries from a car accident are often responsible for a quick decline in overall health. Hips are a particularly bad item. Often a broken hip is followed by death within a year. Yet, a planned replacement hip doesn't seem to have that issue. Recovery is often swift with few complications, and the senior typically lives many years afterward.

My mother lived five years after she broke her hip. She had excellent care and she was right next to a phone when she went down. Frequently the senior dies on the floor, unable to call for help. Usually due to trauma and shock. My mother's death, however, was due to complications from the broken hip. She had five surgeries, each repair failed due to her bone mass being so poor. The last surgery was less than a year before her death, and she had just reached a stage where her doctor felt she could begin physical therapy to start walking again. Her hip fragmented again, and nicked an artery during therapy.

I also had a great aunt who slipped off the end of a chair when she went to sit down. She broke her hip, but she was also a very calm person with a high tolerance for pain, like my mother. At 93 years old she crawled across the room and told the 911 operator exactly what was wrong. She said, "I just did something stupid. I've broken my hip." She lived to be 104 years old, and used a cane until she reached 100, then she said I need to start using a walker now. She was exceptional in many ways. That entire side of my mother's family were all rugged stubborn people.

One of my elderly friends fell off the edge of her bed last year while she was getting up. She was always a nervous sort of person, with a very low tolerance for discomfort and pain. She called me from the hospital to say "All I could think was My lord what have I done to myself." I went to help her get settled in at the hospital. She made it through the surgery fine. She was in good spirits when she woke up, and we even started making plans for where she wanted to stay during recovery. She died that night.

Personality and pain tolerance seem to play a major role in long-term survival from a broken hip. The ability to handle stress well also seems to make a big difference. But, by far, it is much better to plan and have a replacement hip, than to repair a broken one....Show more

My S.O. found she was suffering from cartilage disintegration and the first time she found this out was when she suddenly started walking 'bone on bone.' In 2004 she had a hip replacement. Same thing 2 years later with the 2nd hip. In 2008 she replaced both knees, so she's had all four done, in the CJR in Freemont, California (Center for Joint Replacement)

I was with her all three times and slept by her bedside and the staff and doctors were amazing.

Before 2009, she couldn't walk 50 yards without tremendous pain. The difference now is like Day and Night. We did a trip abroad last year and she walked, literally, for miles. We had a great time and she has never walked better and today she's fine and walks freely and without pain.

However, this was not 'broken hip.' This was all about cartilage loss....Show more

it isn't the break so much as the operation to repair it..

the body of an oldster is frail and surgery seems to give it the little tip it needs to fail..

i am sorry about your losses..my mom died after a fall and broke her wrist..she had surgery and she lived about 1 month to the day longer.

her body just didn't have the strength to recover form it..

but in answer to your question ..yes some people can recover from a broken hip or hip replacement.....Show more

I am only aware of 3 people that have had hip replacements.

a) one died in the recovery room after the surgery he was 61

b) another is doing quite well 5 years after his surgery, he was 62 at the time of the surgery.

c) my grandfather had a hip replaced at 80 and he lived to be 94....Show more