A bone break can never be planned for. It’s a shocking and unexpected accident that can take a normal day and make it a nightmare with a long recovery time. For seniors, a broken bone can often be more serious than for their younger counterparts, as age makes recovering from broken bones a longer and sometimes more difficult task. Breaking a major bone can mean your loved one will need physical therapy services as well as home care services to help with chores during their recovery period.
Broken Bones and Seniors
There are a lot of reasons why breaking a bone when you’re 70 is harder to recover from than when a child breaks a bone. Aging creates a lot of changes in the body, and when it comes to bones, getting older often means losing bone density. That loss not only makes bones more fragile and easily broken, but it can also slow down the repair time once a bone is broken.
The body also heals more slowly as a person ages. The number of bone marrow stem cells has declined through the years, making it take longer for a bone to stitch itself back together.
Finally, other health conditions, such as diabetes, osteoporosis, or another serious illness like cancer or Parkinson’s disease, can make the body overall weaker and have the immune system overstretched.
Helping Your Senior Recover From a Broken Bone
If you are providing care for an elderly loved one who has broken a bone, you will need to make some adjustments to the care you provide and help her with some new tasks as she recovers. A smaller broken bone, like a finger or toe, will take less extra care, whereas a large broken bone, such as a leg or arm, will require quite a bit of supplemental care.
Prepare the home for recovery. With a major break, there will be tasks that your loved one will not be able to do for a while. Whether she’s staying with you or living on her own, making some adjustments to her home to help her navigate through it safely and still keep her independence is key. A leg break might mean she should avoid stairs, so getting everything she needs on the same floor will be important. An arm break might restrict her ability to lift items or reach for items, so moving things within her reach will be a step you’ll want to take.
Get help around the home. If your loved one lives alone, recovery time is the perfect opportunity to hire a home care agency to assist her with household chores that she may struggle to manage while recovering. Home care agencies can also help with grooming and bathing tasks if she needs help in that area.
Have health services come to your loved one. Your senior might not be able to get to the location where physical therapy is offered. Having a trained professional come to the home to assist with the physical therapy process can be a great way for then to receive personalized care without concerns about transportation.
Plan for regular visits. Recovery can seem extra long if your loved one is stuck at home alone all day. Work with family and friends to schedule regular visits to support your loved one through the recovery process.