A femoral shaft fracture usually causes immediate, severe pain. You will not be able to put weight on the injured leg, and it may look deformed—shorter than the other leg and no longer straight.

How long does it take to recover from a broken femur?

Most femoral fractures take about 4 to 6 months to heal completely, but you should be able to resume many activities before this time.

What happens when someone breaks their femur?

If the femur is not set properly, there’s a chance the leg will become shorter than the other one and may cause hip or knee pain many years later. Poor alignment of the femur bone may also be painful. Peripheral damage. The break may also injure the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and nerves of the leg.

Can you walk with a broken femur?

Without an X-ray, it can be difficult to tell if an individual has a fracture, or broken bone. In fact, some people may even be able to walk on a fractured leg depending on where their injury is. 1 While all fractures cause pain, there are other signs to look out for that may indicate that a bone is broken.

What's the most painful bone to break?

• 1) Femur. The femur is the longest and strongest bone in the body. …
• 2) Tailbone. You could probably imagine that this injury is highly painful. …
• 3) Ribs. Breaking your ribs can be terribly distressing and quite painful. …
• 4) Clavicle.

Is the femur the most painful bone to break?

A fracture that occurs lower down the femur is classed as a broken leg rather than hip and is one of the most painful breaks to experience.

How difficult is it to break a femur?

The femur, the longest and strongest bone in the human body, is quite hard to break. Unless your bone has been weakened (most commonly the result of osteoporosis, medication side effects or cancer), it takes quite a lot of force to sustain a femur fracture.

Is femur the strongest bone?

The femur bone is the longest and strongest bone in the body. Located in the thigh, it spans the hip and knee joints and helps maintain upright posture by supporting the skeleton.

How do they fix a broken femur?

In the most common surgery to repair a femur fracture, the surgeon inserts a rod or large nail into the center of the bone. This rod helps support the bone until it heals. The surgeon may also put a plate next to your bone that is attached by screws. Sometimes, fixation devices are attached to a frame outside your leg.

Can you get disability for a broken femur?

If you have suffered a fracture of your femur, tibia, or pelvis and it has resulted in ongoing problems, you may be eligible for Social Security Disability benefits. If you have been in a serious accident, you may have suffered multiple broken bones.

Article first time published on

How do you sleep with a broken femur?

Avoid sleeping on the fractured hip or on your stomach. We recommend that you sleep on your back with your legs slightly apart or on your side (the uninjured side) with a pillow between your knees. We usually recommend you do this for about 6 weeks. Ask your doctor when it is safe for you to stop using a pillow.

How serious is a broken femur in the elderly?

A femur break is a serious break at any age but it can be deadly to seniors that are 65 years and older. The femur is the longest bone in the body. Femur breaks/fractures are most likely at the hip but in some cases can be at the lower extremities.

Can a child walk with a broken femur?

In most cases, three to six weeks of early healing is necessary before the child can begin walking on the injured leg. When the bone is completely healed, usually around one year after the injury occurs, the child returns to the hospital to have the nails removed.

Why is a femur life threatening?

A femur fracture also may cause blood clots to form within the large veins of the thigh. If these clots break free and travel through the bloodstream, they may eventually lodge in the lungs, creating a life-threatening condition called a pulmonary embolism.

What's the least painful broken bone?

• Clavicle. The clavicle or collarbone is located near the front side of the chest near the shoulders and can fracture when pressure or stress is placed on the shoulders or when the arms are stretched out. …
• Arm. …
• Leg. …
• Hip. …
• Wrist.

What are the top 10 most painful bones to break?

• Skull. …
• Wrist. …
• Hip. …
• Rib. …
• Ankle. …
• Pelvis. A fracture in the pelvis can be life-threatening, just like hip fractures. …
• Tailbone. A tailbone fracture can make life difficult, and there is no way to hold the fractured tailbone in place. …
• Elbow. A broken elbow is very painful.

Which is worse fracture or break?

There’s no difference between a fracture and a break. A fracture is any loss of continuity of the bone. Anytime the bone loses integrity—whether it’s a hairline crack barely recognizable on an X-ray or the shattering of bone into a dozen pieces—it’s considered a fracture.

How long is femur surgery?

The surgeon makes a surgical cut on the side of your thigh. The metal plate or nail is attached with a few screws. This surgery takes 2 to 4 hours.

How many pounds of force can a femur withstand?

According to the statement that the femur can support 30x body weight, the adult male femur can support roughly 6,000 lbs of compressive force!

How do you walk after a broken femur?

If the femur fracture does not require surgery, it is often treated with a cast or removable brace, and patients are typically advised not to put any weight on the leg for about 8 weeks. A physical therapist will help the patient to walk safely using crutches or a walker, or other assistive device.

How much does it cost to fix a broken femur?

It’s common for any broken femur to require surgery to realign and reconnect the bone. Without health insurance, the cost of femur surgery can run $17,000 to $35,000 plus the surgeon’s fee—typically at least $2,000.

What is the weakest bone?

The clavicle or the collar bone is the softest and weakest bone in the body.

Is a femur stronger than concrete?

2) Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete. The thigh bone is called a femur and not only is it the strongest bone in the body, it is also the longest. Because the femur is so strong, it takes a large force to break or fracture it – usually a car accident or a fall from high up.

Which bone is not weight bearing?

Clinically Relevant Anatomy The fibula is a non-weight bearing bone that originates just below the lateral tibial plateau and extends distally to form the lateral malleolus, which is the portion of the fibula distal to the superior articular surface of the talus.

Where is the femur bone?

femur, also called thighbone, upper bone of the leg or hind leg. The head forms a ball-and-socket joint with the hip (at the acetabulum), being held in place by a ligament (ligamentum teres femoris) within the socket and by strong surrounding ligaments.

What is the average monthly disability check?

SSDI payments range on average between $800 and $1,800 per month. The maximum benefit you could receive in 2020 is $3,011 per month. The SSA has an online benefits calculator that you can use to obtain an estimate of your monthly benefits.

How long is hospital stay after femur surgery?

Treatment methods included intramedullary nailing, open reduction and internal fixation, arthroplasty or other definitive fixation of femur fracture. Investigators used hospital length of stay as the primary outcome measure. Results showed patients had a median length of stay of 6.43 days.

How long does pain last after femur fracture?

Your broken bone (fracture) was put into position and stabilized. You can expect some pain and swelling around the cut (incision) the doctor made. This should get better within a few days after your surgery. But it is normal to have some pain for 2 to 3 weeks after surgery and mild pain for up to 6 weeks after surgery.

What is the fastest way to heal a broken femur?

1. Take protein supplements. As a large part of a bone is composed of protein, taking protein supplements can help the bone to rebuild and heal itself. …
2. Take antioxidants. …
3. Take mineral supplements. …
4. Take vitamin supplements. …
5. Take herbal supplements. …
6. Exercise. …
7. Avoid smoking.

Can a broken femur cause death?

Death can occur following a femur fracture due to complications such as blood clots, pneumonia, or infection.

Can a 90 year old recover from a broken femur?

Conclusion: Surgery is the treatment of choice for patients aged 90 years and older with proximal femoral fracture. However, they have a lower rate of regaining pre-injury walking ability and a higher in-hospital death rate than younger patients.