Can a hip fracture heal itself?

Hip fracture is a disease more serious than pride and is generally caused by violent impact. If a fracture occurs, it means that the person is seriously injured, and fractures generally cannot heal on their own. The injured person must go to the hospital for treatment in time, and the caregiver must also provide first aid after the fracture. Next, I will introduce to you the first aid treatment methods after hip fracture.

1. Save lives

The first principle of first aid at the scene of severe trauma is to save lives. If it is found that the victim's heartbeat or breathing has stopped or is on the verge of stopping, external chest compression and artificial respiration should be performed immediately; the airway of unconscious patients should be kept open and foreign objects in their oropharynx should be cleared promptly; patients with impaired consciousness can have acupuncture on the Ren Zhong and Bai Hui acupoints; patients with open fractures may have heavy bleeding at the wound, which can generally be stopped by applying pressure dressings. If a tourniquet is used to stop bleeding in patients with severe bleeding, the time when the tourniquet is started must be recorded and the tourniquet should be relaxed once every 30 minutes (30 to 60 seconds each time) to prevent limb ischemia and necrosis. If you encounter a patient with the above life-threatening fractures, he or she should be quickly transported to the hospital for treatment.

2. Wound treatment

In addition to stopping bleeding promptly and appropriately, open wounds should also be bandaged immediately with sterile gauze or clean cloth to prevent further contamination. Foreign objects on the surface of the wound should be removed, and the exposed fracture ends should not be pushed into the wound to avoid contaminating deep tissues. If conditions permit, it is best to rinse the wound with potassium permanganate or other disinfectants before bandaging and fixing it.

3. Simple fixation

Timely and correct fixation of severed limbs during on-site first aid can reduce the patient's pain and further damage to surrounding tissues, and also facilitate the patient's transportation and transfer. But the fixation during emergency treatment is temporary. Therefore, the procedure should be simple and effective, and accurate reduction of the fracture is not required. Open fractures with exposed bone ends should not be reduced, but should be fixed in situ. Materials available at the first aid scene, such as sticks, planks, branches, canes or cardboard, can be used as fixation equipment. The length of the equipment should be based on fixing the upper and lower joints of the fracture. If you cannot find a hard object to fix it, you can also use a cloth belt to tie the injured limb directly to your body. The fractured upper limb can be fixed to the chest wall with the forearm hanging in front of the chest; the fractured lower limb can be fixed together with the healthy limb.

4. Necessary pain relief

After severe trauma, intense pain stimulation can cause shock, so necessary analgesics should be given. You can take painkillers orally or inject them, such as 10 mg of morphine or 50 mg of pethidine. However, people with brain or chest injuries should not be injected with morphine to avoid suppressing the respiratory center.

5. Safe transportation

After the above on-site first aid, the injured should be transferred to the hospital for treatment quickly and safely. During the transfer, you should move gently and steadily to prevent vibration and damage to the injured limb to reduce the pain of the injured person; pay attention to keeping them warm and ensuring appropriate activities.