Laramie Loc: Tempe

There was a time when a broken hip was a death sentence. Times, fortunately, change. Good to your friend.

Bunko.T Loc: Western Australia.

My mother survived a hip replacement at 100 years, & lived to just over 101. Still with marbles intact.

tcthome Loc: NJ

The trick is to try & stay active after the surgery/rehab!

OnDSnap Loc: NE New Jersey

Yes, My Grandfather broke his hip, died a couple yrs later. My Father in Law broke his hip dancing at my daughters wedding, passed about 5 yrs after. Both IMO, due to lack of moving afterwards. They both were afraid to move about, the way they had prior. Lack of exercise. My father in law, his hip surgery was IMO was a debacle. It kept coming out of joint, where I had to to take him several times to hospital to have them re-insert the Femur to the socket. He was petrified to move due to the pain experienced when it popped. Tell her to keep to her lifestyle as much as possible after surgery. Good luck to your friend...

John Matthews Loc: Wasilla, Alaska

Much depends on the health of the patient prior to surgery. There is also a difference between having a joint replacement/repair voluntarily vs acute trauma.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Jerry, it seems the danger is in laying during recovery. This can lead to pneumonia. Damage would seem to be a lot different than organized surgery. Hopefully, it's a quick recovery and rehab.
--Bob

Jack47 Loc: Ontario

If she is healthy, active and on the go a lot she should be ok. Usually the end of life thing is if there are other health problems.

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

Jerry - There are broken hips, and then there are broken hips. Some people slip and fall and break a hip. Others fall BECAUSE the hip fractures - as a result of stepping down, of trying to turn around, or other simple activities of life. And often we do not know which came first - the fall or the fracture. The patient often cannot tell because they cannot comprehend the idea that they fell because their hip fractured. The spontaneous hip fracture is generally the result of osteoporosis - bone thinning with age. It can be a consequence of cancer that has spread to the bone and weakened it. The most common patient with osteoporosis is the "frail, skinny little old lady". Bones tend to stay strong when they have had force put across them, so physical exercise helps keep bones strong. Walking, running, etc. helps keep the hip bones strong - as does being a little on the heavy side. In addition, having more body fat results in elevated estrogen levels which can also help keep bones strong. The doctors will do a bone density study on your friend, if she has not recently had one, to see if she has osteoporosis.

The companies who make medications to treat osteoporosis love to advertise that "X percent of women die within a year of suffering a hip fracture". But this statistic represents a spurious correlation - the hip fracture does not kill them (although if they end up confined to a wheelchair it may contribute to their demise). The majority of people who have an osteoporotic hip fracture are very elderly, frail, often-times have a smoking history, and are in general nearing the end of their life. A hip fracture is common in nursing homes. So yes, many people who have a hip fracture die within a year. But a healthy person who slips and falls and suffers a hip fracture, if they are able to successfully rehab and get back on their feet, can do well after this injury.

LeeinNC Loc: Morganton, NC

I find all of this very interesting and insightful. The timing could not be better. I'm scheduled for total hip replacement on the 24th of next month, due to bilateral labral tears and degeneration of the ball and socket joints. I'm still working occasionally (at 70) photographing local events for our town's newspaper. I will definitely try to stay active post op!

14kphotog Loc: Marietta, Ohio

Worked for 13 years as a medic/ critical care/ transport. Saw many old people with fractured hips. About 1/2 did not live more than 6 months. In old people a frac. hip can be a death sentence. But then again, my mother broke her hip at 78 y/o did all her therapy and the next summer put in a garden as she had for 40 years. Cancer took her later in life.

Dannj

I’m not offering a medical opinion…just reporting what I’ve learned from people who’ve been thru this.
As I understand it, the hip can break and cause the fall or the person falls and breaks the hip. The former is often more serious because the underlying cause of the break has to be determined.
The deteriorating health after a broken hip is often the result of pneumonia caused by staying bed ridden after the break. It’s important that rehab begin quickly and maintained to avoid complications.

G. Crook Loc: Linden, TX

A year ago today I had a total left hip replacement. Walked into the hospital at 5:45am, walked out of the hospital at 2:30pm the same day. Used a walker for about 3 weeks, then a cane for another month. No official physical therapy, just get up and keep moving. Occasional nerve pain for the first few months. Totally pain free today. I use a cane on occasion as I have very poor balance. Still in pretty good health.

sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri

My doctor has me on a regimen of high-dose calcium and vitamin D and annual bone density scans to track my progress (which is much better now). We were discussing how common it was to fall and break a hip and she told me that it is believed that most often it is the hip that breaks first which then causes a fall which is her concern of bone density.

yssirk123 Loc: New Jersey

Had my left hip replaced and went to therapy for 6 weeks. I didn't notice a lot of improvement and spoke to my Doctor about it. He said to try walking, which I did. Every day I walked farther than the previous day, and that did the trick.

williejoha

My wife has 3 new hips ( one redo ) and two new knees. The last one at age 75. She is a real trooper.
WJH