Recovering from a Terrible Injury
Falling due to lack of balance or mobility is often a plight suffered by the elderly, and it can be a difficult road to heal completely. Recovering from an injury at any age may be a trial, but the longer time it often takes for those with many decades of life experience can be debilitating. They often need physical rehabilitation to regain their strength and mobility, and it can draw out their recovery time. Added to the fact they may have other mobility limitations, it can present the patient with a major challenge to overcome.
Movement for many is restricted as they begin to age, so keeping up their exercise routine can be important. Each increment of mobility lost due to lack of exercise, disease, or even injury may make a person more dependent, and those wishing to live fully might chafe at the restrictions. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle before being injured can make it easier to recover, and it can help with getting through the rehabilitation process.
A broken hip is often the result of a fall in the elderly population, and being forced to remain still as it heals can rob a person of their muscle strength. Rebuilding it will take time, but a physical therapist can help them. Therapy is often a painful route for even the young, so it is generally not easy for an elderly person to get through it. Sticking with the program and doing the work is possible, but it can take weeks or even months before progress is noticeable.
Injuries at any age can be debilitating, but the elderly have an extra layer of concern. Brittle bones that once might merely have been bruised can often break easily, and replacements for hips and knees can keep them physically restricted for quite some time. Getting through the process of learning to walk again may not be pleasant, but regaining their mobility is their first line of hope in remaining independent.