What is the first week at home like after a hip fracture?
It is a week of learning new routines at the bedside. Moving in bed, standing with a frame, getting to the toilet and eating well are the main tasks, and each takes a helper’s patience.
Your surgeon’s and ward physiotherapist’s instructions come first. This page sets out what families commonly need to plan, so that you can ask better questions before leaving the ward.
What should I ask before she leaves the ward?
Ask in plain words, and write down the answers:
- How much weight can she put on the operated leg?
- Are there hip precautions, and for how long?
- Which exercises should she do, and how frequently?
- What walking aid is she to use?
- What are the warning signs and who do I call?
- When is the next review, and is bone strength going to be checked?
A discharge from Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun or a private hospital in Ipoh is easier when you leave with answers. Our after hospital discharge checklist can help.
How do I set up the room?
In a terrace house, choose one room on the ground floor if the bedroom is upstairs. Place the bed at a height where her feet touch the floor when she sits, and a firm chair with arms beside it.
Keep the path clear of rugs, cables and shoes, with a night light. A commode by the bed saves risky trips to a distant bathroom for the first days. Our home safety checklist lists each point.
How do we move her safely?
Do not pull her by the arms or under the shoulders. Let her do as much as she can, with a frame and your hand at the waist belt if you were shown how. Turn her feet first, then her body.
Sitting out of bed a few times a day helps breathing, appetite and the legs, and short efforts beat one long one. A physiotherapist can show the family and the helper in person. See helper training for patient care.
What about skin, food and mood?
Check the heels, the lower back and the hips daily for red patches, since pressure from lying can harm skin quickly. Read about preventing pressure sores at home.
Eating well helps healing, and constipation from painkillers is common, so ask the doctor. Confusion or mood changes after surgery in an older person deserve a doctor’s review. Be gentle: a person who has fallen can lose confidence, so fear of falling is worth reading too.
When can a physiotherapist begin at home?
Ask the surgeon and send us the discharge papers. A home physiotherapist works from the surgeon’s limits and builds up standing, walking and stairs at her pace, in her own house. See our page on hip fracture rehabilitation and how home physiotherapy in Ipoh works.
Bone health matters after a fracture, so ask her doctor about osteoporosis. Our Canning Garden centre is opening soon, and home visits are available across Ipoh now.