1. What is a hip fracture?
The hip is a ball-and-socket joint that allows the thigh to bend and rotate. Contrary to what you might think, injury to the hip socket itself is not considered a "hip fracture," but rather injury to the upper part of the femur (thigh) bone.
2. How do hip fractures occur?
Hip fractures occur in younger patients as a result of high-energy trauma, such as a car accident or sports injury. Older patients usually have weaker bones and can suffer hip fractures from minimal trauma, such as a ground-level fall.
3. What can put you at risk for having a hip fracture?
Hip fractures are most common in people over the age of 65. With age, the bones lose minerals and become thinner and weaker. Since women lose bone density faster than men do, women are more likely than men to have a hip fracture. Conditions such as osteoporosis, cancer or stress fractures can also weaken the bones, making the hip more susceptible to breaking even just by standing and twisting.
In addition to age, gender and chronic medical conditions, other risk factors include heredity, nutrition, physical inactivity, tobacco and alcohol use, medications that accelerate bone loss and environmental hazards. Also, if you've had one hip fracture before, you are significantly more likely to have another one.
4. What are the symptoms?
During a fall, a break can happen near the top of the femur where it angles into the hip socket, causing severe pain in the hip or groin. If the fracture is significantly displaced, the leg may shorten and turn outward. You may have stiffness, bruising and swelling around the hip, and you will find it painful to put weight on that leg or move the hip at all. If the bone has been weakened by cancer or a stress reaction/stress fracture, you may be aching in the groin or thigh area for a period of time before the break.
5. How are hip fractures diagnosed?
X-rays of the hip can determine the location and extent of the breakage, as well as how far out of place the bones are. Sometimes with hairline fractures or stress fractures, the fracture is not seen on X-rays. Sometimes an MRI is needed to allow the doctor to diagnose these fractures.
