Mum fell weeks ago - still so uncomfortable :(

[CaroleKing]

Mum (90+) fainted/blacked out (we don't know) a number of weeks ago, fell very heavily and smashed up her shoulder. She also hit her head and hurt her hip/side though no fracture there. As a result of all this she could barely move afterwards to begin with, it took a few weeks before she could even get out of a chair or across the ward. Shoulder fracture now 'healed' but its sore and weak.

She did get stronger and continued to improve a bit once home, but progress seems to have stalled. We hoped she would be able to get upstairs after a few more weeks -nope, so have had to fit a stairlift, as she has been sleeping in a recliner since being home.

Everything is a struggle for her and uncomfortable/painful, and I am not sure why. Weak I get, but why the pain? She's on regular paracetamol, but moving just seems to hurt, so she does the minimum (takes herself to loo, fetches food and drink from kitchen)..still needs help dressing etc. I suspect not moving might be making the pain worse. Her miscles are very wasted but her feet are swollen. Is this just what happens to elderly people after a fall?

(Dr precribed a v low dose opiate as well but she doesn't like its side effects so doesn't take it)

Tia x

Has she had it xrayed.
i fell on my knee years ago, at 61, still tender at times, no breaksorfratures

She is 90+ she is frail at that age and will not bounce back. You need carers.

I agree with @HellsBells13, she’ll heal very slowly at that age. I had an accident a few months ago at 50 and took several months to heal. The older you are, the longer it takes, unfortunately.

Even bruising takes longer to heal, that may be one reason for the continued pain, plus muscle wastage. The stair lift was a good idea.

Also as well as the fracture your mum may have suffered any number of soft tissue injuries which can take a huge amount of time to heal. There are other pain killers she can take and encourage her to eat good quality protein which aids healing

My Mum (78) fell November last year and had awful pain in her lower back and groin. She was xrayed on two occasions and nothing found but then had a mri, because she needs a hip replacement, which found two fractures in her pelvis. Nothing could be done but at least she knew why she was getting so much pain. It’s only the last few months that she’s seen some improvement. The Orthopaedic Consultant said it could take up to a year for it to heal properly.
Hope your Mum recovers soon xx

That's big fall for someone so elderly ,of course she'll still be in pain. Her feet will be swollen due to lack of mobility now I expect.

I am mid 50s and fell last year and it took bloody ages for my shoulder to settle down and it was only bruised.

@Crispynoodle Yes, that was what I was struggling to express when I said “bruising.” Soft tissue injuries.

Thanks for all these replies, snd sorry to hear from people who have been suffering yourselves.

Slowly healing bruises - that makes sense.She definitely took a clobbering. Also yes very swollen feet - gp has finally organised an appointment to get stockings fitted.

She has carers 2x day, these are needed - me & sib are both some way away and neither retired

I'll encourage her to eat more protein - appetite is quite dimished alas and I am not sure the ready meals are always very generous with the meat/fish etc, so that's a helpful point.

Thanks again for the replies.

I guess my worry now is that thete is an ongoing decline from inactivity etc that is matching the pace of recovery . I think she's stuck, iyswim. I don't find the failure to regain mobility surprising I guess, I just though it would be more weakness/tiredness but was not expecting everything still to hurt so much.
They don't want her to have ibuprofen because of the bleed risk, and the opiates make her sleepy but paradoxically, not calm . Perhaps because they make her short of breath? So not sure what else there is :/

When my young daughter has broken bones I’ve always been told by the consultant that young children’s bones heal twice as fast as adults but it will still take 3 months to full heal. Older people take longer to heal than adults.

Could sleeping in a recliner and not a proper bed be having an effect on her sleep OP? I think proper, long, high-quality sleep makes a lot of difference to healing, and perhaps not being in a bed is actually making things worse...

Shoulder fractures are horribly painful even when “healed”. Her age and vulnerability will probably mean her mobility and recovery is slow. Is she getting any physio or OT input?

Is she sleeping in a bed now? try using a v pillow so she can be semi reclined and her sore arm supported.

Has she seen a physiotherapist?
It might be worth asking for a referral, or paying for a couple of sessions if you can afford it.
They will be able to assess her pain and range of movement, suggest some appropriate exercise and also help build her confidence.

I think another GP review of pain would be worth it. She’s 90 years old and living in pain right now, it seems crazy to me to avoid managing pain because of a future bleed risk but then I’m not a doctor. If you don’t bother the GP they will assume she is ok. Is co-codamol one of the ones she reacts badly to?

This is also one of the points where I would pay for some private physio, preferably someone who is used to practising with the very elderly.

Try and join the session virtually if you can, if you do go for physio.

She really needs to take the opiate in order to get through the pain of doing physio/minor exercise. If it's too painful she just won't move enough to get better.

Can she use the arm of the broken shoulder now? Grip things, write etc? It can take ages to heal. I broke hip and shoulder and though hip needed major surgery the recovery of shoulder was more painful and took ages.

I hope she gets moving around more and feels better soon x

Unfortunately many older people never fully recover from a fall especially if admitted to hospital. I worry about it every time I have to go up and down stairs which is twice a day. I got a bruise on my thigh last year and there is still a faint mark there and hurts a little when I press.

This is one thing we are all worried about. She has the stailift but nonlonger has the strength to get herself comfortable without help, especially propping herself up to read etc before sleep then settling comfortably later. . She either needs a third carer visit at bedtime or, we think now, a motorised bed so she can arrange herself as she does now in the chair, but then also lie flat when she wishes

She had a few weeks physio from the hospital but they handed over to the community service and warned us it would take a while. Tbh she barely has the energy to do the very simple exercises she had from the hospital people. Just a couple of rides on the stair lift and she needs to sit down and recover for half an hour. Maybe if she gets a bed to help her sleep better this might improve but she does seems desperately low on resources of all kinds

Why did she faint / black out? Has the hospital done a thorough investigation; as she may have an underlying condition that is contributing to her symptoms…

Swollen feet could indicate the onset of heart failure. That needs to be assessed in case it is linked to her exhaustion.
I had a bad fall 10 years ago. Badly bruised hip and shoulder, broken ribs and collar bone. I still have pain in my hip and shoulder.

This. Did they check carefully for any heart problem?

It was oxycodone, @PermanentTemporary and @DiscoBob and I agree - but she did feel very ill on it. Yes i see your point about the ibuprofen - but not sure she:d 'go against the doctor'.

Sorry to hear about your leg @Friendlygingercat but that's also very helpful of you to have shared it so thank you.

Did not mention in my OP because it was long enough anyway but we are also suspecting that what was the first hints of some cognitive issues before the accident, have been given an unwelcome shove and are now significant enough to interfere with her progress too.

Hard to know if she can't work things out/ can't remember as well as before or now just can't be bothered. I suppose it could be a bit of both 😐.

We just thank the Lord she has funds so we don't have rhe hassle and worry of trying to get statutory assistance arranged on top.