Recovery time for a fracture of the upper leg

Do you have a broken upper leg and want to know more about its recovery time? Then read this blog.

In a broken femur, there is a fracture in the thigh-bone. As this bone is strong, its fracture is usually caused by a more serious accident. Think, for example, of a car or scooter accident. In older people, on the other hand, the bones may break a little more easily. This is because in them, the bones are already a bit weaker.

Surgery

An upper leg fracture basically requires surgery. This is because with this fracture, you can lose a lot of blood internally, so it needs to be operated on quickly. During surgery, the surgeon rejoins the fracture parts in the correct direction. In this process, the surgeon has several options. This can be done using pins, screws and plates, for example. Which option is chosen depends on the patient's condition and the fracture.

Recovery

After surgery, the surgeon will decide whether the leg can be loaded again or not. However, you will always be assigned a physiotherapist immediately after surgery. This physiotherapist will give you exercises to help you accelerate the recovery process. It is important that you do the exercises regularly.

Load directly

When you are allowed to use the leg again immediately, you are not supposed to be able to do everything right away. Usually, patients still need crutches to use the leg in the first days after surgery. However, you can slowly start walking with (or even without) crutches and doing exercises for the upper leg. When this goes well, you can try to move increasingly in small steps.

Do not load

If you are not yet allowed to use your leg right away, rehabilitation usually takes a little longer. It may then take up to 6 to 12 weeks before you can use your leg again. However, you may gradually start doing exercises and walking with crutches again. It will then often take 3 to 6 months before the upper leg can be used fully again without pain.

Complications

It is common for patients to experience symptoms around the hip or knee after a while. This is because they started walking differently after the surgery, to minimize strain on the upper leg. A physiotherapist may be called in for this.

During rehabilitation, a thigh brace provides the right support. This is because it helps to prevent post-rehabilitation symptoms as much as possible.