Each year, more than 300,000 older adults fall and break their hips. The risk increases with age. All but approximately five percent of those injuries are caused when you fall sideways. While it’s better not to fall on your side, it’s hard to stop the instinct to turn sideways as you fall. After fracturing a hip, it’s harder for an older adult to live alone. It’s not impossible, but it takes a lot of support. One way to support your mom or dad after a hip fracture is by making arrangements for home health care services.

Signs of a Hip Fracture

After a fall, how can you tell if your mom or dad has fractured the hip? Severe pain in the hip is one of the best ways to tell. If your parent won’t put any weight on a specific leg or feels a lot of pain when doing so, it is another sign.

If the leg is twisted outward, it’s another common sign of a hip fracture. You may notice that one leg is suddenly a little shorter than the other. It’s essential with this or any other symptoms to bring your mom or dad to the ER for x-rays or call an ambulance and immobilize your parent.

What Happens if a Hip Fracture is Diagnosed?

Once a hip fracture is diagnosed, the treatment plan will vary. They’re not always easily treated. It depends on the location of the fracture, the health of the aging adult, and age.

Sometimes, surgery is required. If the fracture is complete and the bones are not aligned, a total hip replacement may be needed. In a total hip replacement, part of the femur and the hip socket are surgically replaced with artificial ones.

There’s also a partial hip replacement where the femur is replaced with artificial parts. Sometimes, screws and plates are all that’s needed to secure the fracture.

What Happens After the Surgery and Why is Home Health Care Needed?

This is why it’s important to have home health care services arranged for the return home. Your mom or dad may be on pain medications that need to be carefully monitored. Nurses can insert IVs, check the lines, and offer IV pain medications as ordered by the doctor.

Home health care nurses help with wound care. They know how to recognize the signs of infection and alert the surgeon if anything is wrong. They also take blood pressure and pulse readings regularly and report those to the medical team.

Walking around regularly is crucial for the healing process. The final benefit to home health care is that physical therapists come to your parent’s house to work on exercises to help improve mobility. You don’t have to try to get your mom or dad into your small sedan and worry about the difficulty of getting your parent back out of the car at the physical therapist’s office.

Call our home health care specialist with your questions. You’ll get the answers you need and learn more about prices, too.

Sources: https://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/falls/adulthipfx.html

If you are considering Home Health Care Services in Ashland OH, call the caring staff at Central Star Home Health at (419) 610-2161.  Providing services for families in Mansfield, Lexington, Bellville, Crestline, Galion, Shelby, Ashland, Ontario and the surrounding areas.

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Stephen Sternbach

CEO at Central Star Home Health Services

With over 35 years of experience, Stephen Sternbach has been the Chairman of the Board of Directors, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Star Multi Care Services since 1987. After the sale of the New York and New Jersey operations of Star Multi Care Services, Sternbach brought the company private where he remains President and CEO of this 40-million dollar company. With Sternbach at the helm, Star Multi Care Services employs more than 650 employees, in six offices throughout Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York.

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