About a Bone Fracture

If you been involved in a serious accident, you might have suffered some type of fracture or broken bone and are dealing with the effects that it is having upon your activities of daily living. Most people want to get back to their pre-accident lifestyle as quickly as possible and many people make mistakes in how they go about attempting to heal their fracture. The first thing you should realize is that your life will be very different in the early stages of your recovery, at least until you regain your strength and mobility.

Depending upon the severity of the fracture(s), it might take you many weeks or even many, many months to get to the point where you are able to return to some semblance of your pre-accident lifestyle. It is also important to keep in mind that once you return to your prior lifestyle you will not want to take any chances where you can reinjure yourself. As your doctor will tell you, there are no shortcuts to recovering from your broken bones. So here are some tips to help you get better as quickly as possible.

Don’t Rush Your Bone Fracture Recovery

We all have a tendency to want to get better as quickly as possible. As you are recovering from a broken bone, you will notice your progress in being able to do more things on a week-to-week basis. In the very beginning, you might have problems moving around and sleeping through the night. You might not be able to lift certain objects or you might be in a great deal of pain. Fortunately, you will see progress and you will be able to do more and more. Once you start to feel better, your tendency might be to push yourself. This is the time when you might suffer another injury or setback so it is important to be patient in your recovery.

Understand You Need Help

Most of us are independent and do not like to ask others for help. In our normal day-to-day lives, we will find ways to do things without having to potentially inconvenience a family member or friend. However, after you have suffered some type of fracture, those around you will know that you will need help and many of them will want you to ask for their help. It is important that you understand that your life is different while you are recovering and that you should reach out to others so that you do not suffer some type of reinjury or setback.

You may also need help with some of your activities of daily living. Depending upon the significance of your injury, you may need help getting in and out of the shower, getting dressed, cooking, cleaning, or moving about your living space. Do not attempt to do all of this on your own without asking for help and certainly check with your doctor to find out what your limitations are so you can operate within those confines.

In addition to asking for help, you might also need to use certain devices or appliances to help make your life easier with a bone fracture. You may need to use a wheelchair, or crutches, or cane, or a raised toilet seat, or a shower seat, or a device to help you pick up things. It is important that you use these appliances so that you can allow your broken bone(s) to recover as quickly as possible.

Follow-Up with Your Healthcare Providers and their Directives

Depending upon the severity of your injuries and your limitations, you will probably be seen by a specialist doctor, a physical therapist, an occupational therapist, or some other healthcare professional. It is important that you keep all appointments. It is important that you provide your healthcare professional with accurate information about your limitations, your restrictions, your pain complaints, and your accident-related challenges. You will probably be given home exercises to do and you should make sure that you follow through with these instructions so that you can improve physically as quickly as possible.

A physical therapist can help to make your muscles stronger which will provide added protection to your bones so that you can help to reduce a reinjury or another fracture. Stronger muscles will also help your recovery, can improve your balance, and will help in your mobility. You may also want to work with an occupational therapist who will help you in making changes in your day-to-day activities or can suggest ways to make your life easier while you recover from your broken bone(s). You should try and develop a plan with your healthcare professionals so you can track your progress on a week-to-week basis.

Be Cautious About any Type of Reinjury or Setback

Once you feel that you have returned to some level of normalcy it is important that you be cautious in how you go about engaging in your day-to-day activities. Make sure that you get approval from your medical professionals about activities that you wish to engage in, especially those of a physical nature. There might be certain lifestyle changes that you will have to make. There might be certain activities that you can either no longer engage in or you will have to engage in them in a different way. If you have questions about whether or not you can engage in some type of activity, it is always best to consult with your doctor before making a mistake and suffering some type of physical setback.

Many people, depending upon the severity of their injury, are able to return to a level of activity that they engaged in prior to their accident or injury. The important balancing act is that you want to get better as quickly as possible but you do not want to run the risk of having some type of reinjury that sets you back and causes you to have to start over. You might find that your family members and friends will compliment you on how well you are doing in your recovery, but you might feel that you are not recovering fast enough. This is quite normal.

Listen to your body and understand your pain levels to best determine what you can do and what you should not be doing. Follow-up with your doctors and other healthcare professionals. Give them detailed information about your progress, make sure you perform all of your home health activities, and follow all of their instructions. If you listen to this advice and follow the instructions of your healthcare professionals, you will help to improve your physical situation as quickly as possible and return to your pre-accident life.

For more information on how to deal with a bone fracture, contact us.