Most femoral fractures take about 4 to 6 months to heal completely, but you should be able to resume many activities before this time.
Can you walk with a broken femur?
You usually will not be able to walk on it. If it’s a severe fracture, the leg may be an odd shape and the bone may even be poking out of the skin. There may have been a “crack” sound when the leg was broken, and the shock and pain of breaking your leg may cause you to feel faint, dizzy or sick.
How do they fix a broken femur?
In the most common surgery to repair a femur fracture, the surgeon inserts a rod or large nail into the center of the bone. This rod helps support the bone until it heals. The surgeon may also put a plate next to your bone that is attached by screws. Sometimes, fixation devices are attached to a frame outside your leg.
How long do you stay in the hospital with a broken femur?
Treatment methods included intramedullary nailing, open reduction and internal fixation, arthroplasty or other definitive fixation of femur fracture. Investigators used hospital length of stay as the primary outcome measure. Results showed patients had a median length of stay of 6.43 days.
Do they cast a broken femur?
Most femoral shaft fractures require surgery to heal. It is unusual for femoral shaft fractures to be treated without surgery. Very young children are sometimes treated with a cast. For more information on that, see Thighbone (Femur) Fractures in Children.
What’s the worst bone to break?
Here are 10 of the worst bone fractures you could get.
- Skull. …
- Wrist. …
- Hip. …
- Rib. …
- Ankle. …
- Pelvis. A fracture in the pelvis can be life-threatening, just like hip fractures. …
- Tailbone. A tailbone fracture can make life difficult, and there is no way to hold the fractured tailbone in place. …
- Elbow. A broken elbow is very painful.
Is breaking your femur the worst pain?
Your femur is located in your thigh, running from your hip to your knee. It’s long and strong and hurts like heck when you break it. In addition to being one of the most painful breaks, a broken femur can damage the large arteries in the leg and cause severe bleeding.
How many hours does femur surgery take?
The surgeon makes a surgical cut on the side of your thigh. The metal plate or nail is attached with a few screws. This surgery takes 2 to 4 hours.
How serious is a broken femur in the elderly?
In elderly patients, distal femur fractures are the second most frequent fragility fractures of the femur following those of the hip , and these patients are at elevated risk for complications, given the high prevalence of medical comorbidities .
What are the long term effects of a broken femur?
Long-term symptoms after fracture include muscular weakness, limited standing and walking, gait abnormalities, some intermittent pain, and inability to return to preinjury work. Surgical management is rarely needed to treat femoral stress fractures; however, surgical stabilization is recommended for recalcitrant cases.
Is femur the strongest bone?
The femur is one of the most well-described bones of the human skeleton in fields ranging from clinical anatomy to forensic medicine. Because it is the longest and strongest bone in the human body, and thus, one of the most well-preserved in skeletal remains, it makes the greatest contribution to archaeology.
How common is it to break your femur?
Because the femur is such a strong bone, a broken femur (excluding hip fractures) is rare.
How easy is it to break a femur?
The femur, the longest and strongest bone in the human body, is quite hard to break. Unless your bone has been weakened (most commonly the result of osteoporosis, medication side effects or cancer), it takes quite a lot of force to sustain a femur fracture.
What’s the weakest bone in your body?
Clavicle: Clavicle, or collar bone, is the body’s softest and weakest bone. It is easy to break since it is a thin bone that runs horizontally between your breastbone and shoulder blade.
What’s the worst bone to break in your foot?
The fifth metatarsal is the long bone on the outside of the foot that connects to the smallest toe. A Jones fracture is a common type of metatarsal fracture and is the most severe type of fracture that can occur in this bone.
How do you walk after a broken femur?
If the femur fracture does not require surgery, it is often treated with a cast or removable brace, and patients are typically advised not to put any weight on the leg for about 8 weeks. A physical therapist will help the patient to walk safely using crutches or a walker, or other assistive device.
What is the fastest way to heal a broken femur?
Home remedies to speed up repair
- Take protein supplements. As a large part of a bone is composed of protein, taking protein supplements can help the bone to rebuild and heal itself. …
- Take antioxidants. …
- Take mineral supplements. …
- Take vitamin supplements. …
- Take herbal supplements. …
- Exercise. …
- Avoid smoking.
What is the best pain medication for broken bones?
To reduce pain and inflammation, your doctor may recommend an over-the-counter pain reliever, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others) or a combination of the two. If you’re experiencing severe pain, your doctor might prescribe stronger pain medications.
What’s the most painful thing in the world?
The full list, in no particular order, is as follows:
- Shingles.
- Cluster headaches.
- Frozen shoulder.
- Broken bones.
- Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS)
- Heart attack.
- Slipped disc.
- Sickle cell disease.
Is a broken femur the same as a broken hip?
The top of your femur and part of your pelvic bone meet to form your hip. A broken hip is usually a fracture in the upper portion of your femur, or thigh bone. A joint is a point where two or more bones come together, and the hip is a ball-and-socket joint.
How do you sleep with a broken femur?
Invest in a specialized pillow, like a body pillow, for elevation—keeping the broken bone above your heart prevents blood from pooling and causing swelling. Try sleeping on your back first while propped up on a few pillows.
How much blood do you lose when you break your femur?
The estimated blood loss for a closed fracture of the femur is 1000–1500 ml and for a closed fracture of the tibia is 500–1000 ml. These figures can be doubled if the fracture is open.
What does a broken femur feel like?
If you have fractured the shaft of your femur, your symptoms may include: Pain, swelling, tenderness and bruising in your thigh. Inability to bear weight on your injured leg. Inability to move your hip or knee on the affected side.