If you don’t already know this, it is important to be aware of the fact that your hip carries your entire body’s burden. It contains the largest muscle of your body and plays an important role in your posture. Fracturing your hip can be extremely painful and limiting. It makes almost every basic activity difficult, including walking, sitting, and sleeping.
If you get your hip fractured, make sure you seek medical attention as soon as possible. Look for reliable orthopedic care in the city you live in. For instance, if you belong to Gurgaon, look for the best orthopedic hospital in Gurgaon to diagnose to treat your hip fracture. It is never advisable to ignore symptoms hinting towards a possible fracture and clear your doubts as soon as possible.
The best way to escape a hip fracture is to avoid it altogether. Steer away from circumstances that threaten damage to your hips. Moreover, take conscious and active care of your hips to keep them strong. Prevention, by all means, is better than cure!
Before looking at the important ways to reduce the chances of a hip fracture, let us understand the issue briefly.
What Is A Hip Fracture?
A hip fracture is an injury that leads to the cracking or breaking of the femur’s upper region. It is a serious injury that almost always requires surgery or physiotherapy. If not treated on time, the complications can pose serious threats to the patient’s life.
The risk of a hip fracture increase with the patient’s age as the bones get weaker with age due to osteoporosis. Moreover, older people are more likely to injure themselves by falling down or in other ways. More serious cases of hip fracture may call for replacement or extensive surgical repair. If an older family member injures their hip, they are likely to fracture their hips. Injuries in older people may also lead to issues like arthritis or hip impingement. In such cases, seek the right hip impingement treatment in Gurgaon without delay.
What Are The Symptoms Of A Hip Fracture
Here are some of the major symptoms that help you identify a hip fracture:
- Inability to stand or walk after an accident
- Excruciating pain in the groin or hip
- Inability to put any weight on the leg aligned with the injured hip
- Bruising and swelling around the hip region
- The leg aligned on the injured hip’s side getting shorter
- The leg aligned on the injured hip’s side turning outward
Irrespective of the patient’s age, any of these symptoms should rush you to reliable ortho doctors in Gurgaon for diagnosis.
How To Reduce The Chances Of a Hip Fracture?
Now that we know what a hip fracture is and when to seek medical care, let’s look at some important ways of reducing the chances of a hip fracture:
Keep Your Bones Healthy
The most obvious but important way to prevent hip fracture is to keep your bones healthy. The risk of any bone fracture multiplies if the patient’s bones are weak. Maintaining a high bone density reduces the risk of fracturing your hip and other bone-related issues.
You can keep track of your bone density by getting bone density tests done. While these tests are highly recommended for people over 50 years of age, you can get them done if you’re younger with a history of bone-related injuries.
Moreover, ensure that you get enough calcium and vitamin D to keep your bones stronger.
Maintain Strong Muscles
Most hip fractures are caused due to serious falls. Strong muscles help you sustain such falls without letting your bones break. Perform exercises that increase muscle strength, balance, and endurance regularly. Stronger muscles also help you maintain a good posture, reducing your chances of slipping or tumbling down.
Avoid Excessive Smoking And Alcohol Consumption
If you want to avoid the complications that come with bone fractures, stay away from vices like smoking and drinking. Excessive tobacco and alcohol consumption reduces your bone density, making your body prone to fractures. Moreover, heavy drinking impairs your sense of balance and increases the chances of accidents.
Get A Cane Or Walking Stick
This is a simple but useful way to reduce the chances of hip fractures in older people. Especially if there are older members in your family with weak bones or a history of hip injuries, give them canes or walking sticks while walking. This will help them maintain their body balance and reduce the chances of hip injuries.
Moreover, whenever possible, accompany the older family members whenever they head out for a walk or any other purpose. Your support will keep them away from danger.
Eat Healthily
Another important way to reduce the chances of hip fractures is eating healthy and maintaining a healthy frame. Eat a balanced diet twice a day and have enough calcium and vitamin D enter your body. Including potassium-rich vegetables and fruits in your daily diet is also advisable.
Eating healthy keeps your bones and muscles stronger, reducing the risk of injuries. Irrespective of your age, a healthy diet will always keep you away from health complications.
Check Your Eyes
As trivial as it may sound, checking your eyes and ensuring your health is important. Weak eyes impair your judgment and increase the danger of accidents. If you have glasses, make sure you wear them at all times, especially if you are outdoors and/or driving.
Moreover, keep a check on the medicines you take, as some drugs have fall-inducing side effects. If you take such medicines, ensure that you stay indoors and take rest instead of heading out or indulging in physical activities.
The Final Word
These were some of the most important ways to reduce the chances of a hip fracture. Hip fracture is a serious issue and should not be ignored at any cost. Even if you see mild symptoms, especially in older people, ensure that you seek immediate medical care and get the issue diagnosed effectively.
