Did your mother’s femur break and then she fell down or did she fall and then her femur broke? I asked this question just a couple weeks ago as I was meeting with the son of a potential client. He was trying to take care of her with the support of family, but they were struggling. The doctor had given strict instructions for her to stay off the leg which made living at home very difficult. When we take calls like this it is easy to see what is broken, but we focus on caring for our clients while they heal.

Care N Assist was contracted to do a sunrise and sunset service. This means we scheduled to help her get up each morning, and get cleaned up and dressed for bed each night. Our Home Care Aide would be sure to set her up for a good day of healing each morning. Clean, dressed and fed, because it takes proper nutrition, activity and rest to be able to heal.

Proper rest is interesting to discuss when dealing with broken bones. Most people know that a bone needs to be immobilized until it is healed, but I am talking more about getting quality sleep. When you are in pain and have difficulty repositioning yourself in bed it is hard to get the proper sleep. I recommend taking a pain reliver at bedtime and/or using ice to improve your ability to sleep. When you wake well rested you will be better able to face the day.

In the case of this story, a femur fracture like hers needs to be stabilized and non-weight bearing, so the proper activity for her was to limit leg activity, so I would recommend an arm chair exercise program. Maybe Chair Chi or some other program for about 20 minutes each day. Doing 5 minutes four times a day could be easier and just as effective. Doing this will help to stimulate appetite and it will decrease the side effects of pain medication too.

Proper nutrition is what most people will talk about when they want a fracture to heal fast. According to the Andrews Institute for Orthopedics and Sports Medicine you should consider eating Kale, Spinach, Milk, Broccoli and Green Bell Peppers. They have reasons for each one of these that you can read more about at:

https://www.andrewsinstitute.com/news/orthopaedics/articles.aspx?id=40087859.

Having a fracture is never fun. It can be very painful and for older adults it can threaten their life and lifestyle. I look forward to seeing this particular client recover completely. Our hope is that she will not need our services for very long and if she needs assistance again in the future we will be available.