Recovery after hip fracture

[VTsnowflower]

I have a skiing friend who just broke her hip, had surgery, and is starting PT in recovery. She is wondering how other older women have coped with this. I have recommended that she join SkiDiva, but in the meantime, I will start this thread for her. Do you have experiences with a doctor who was pessimistic about full recovery from an injury/surgery, but you were determined to get your strength and mobility back? What did you do? What advice do you have? Thanks. (Hopefully she will join in and share her full story.)

 

[snoWYmonkey]

I can't speak at all to fractures but I ski with quite a few people with new hips who have no issues whatsoever.

 

[skibum4ever]

My husband skied 2 months after both his first and second knee replacements.

 

[Salomon]

I ski again having smashed up my lower leg skiing ( 10 inch plate and 15 screws still in there).
I was 51 when I did it, now 56. The surgeons here are very oriented for sports injuries...ski in winter , mountain bike summer. There was no question of not getting back on skis !
It takes time though. And work. An awful lot of hard work. This is the main thing you need to prepare for mentally. My husband just assumed I was like Lindsay Vonn and should be back on my skis in weeks. Life just isnt like that ! Time and a lot of effort is what it takes.
Also, its very different when you break something compared to having something replaced ie scheduled.
Its the soft tissue damage. As I understand, your soft tissues ( muscle, ligaments, tendons etc) will do everything possible to save that bone. This means they are all bent out of shape and likely very damaged. This is the stuff that takes time to heal .
Finding a way to wear ski boots with a second metal shin was difficult and very painful, but i managed. Some technique needs work as I back off when I shouldnt ...but most of it is mental tbh.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

I didn't fracture anything, but I did badly tear a hip muscle and tendon (not a skiing incident) in 2019. The primary injury occurred in 2017. It took a lot of PT to get comfortably back to skiing. I was 70 when I did the full-on tear. I recommend tons of therapy, working up to it. I may never again be a hard-charger, but I'm so happy to just cruise.