Femoral neck fracture: Post-surgery, how long until it's safe to walk without crutches
Hello, 56 yr old male. Tripped over a laundry cart, fell on my right side, and broke my right femur at the neck. No displacement. Ortho surgeons considered either a 'half-hip replacement' or a full hip replacement, but ultimately let me keep my hip and just installed 3 pins.
I am supposed to walk. The doctors have told me that. How far and how long depends on what I can tolerate.
The crutches are starting to really make my hands sore, particularly my left hand (I suppose because, try as I do not to, I've been occasionally 'favoring' the right leg, the surgical leg). I only use them outside, but now everytime I go out I feel this dread that I'm injuring my hands, causing another problem that will eventually have to be dealt with.
So - and I WILL ask my doctor this when I see them on Tuesday, July 7 - but, anyone have a surgery like this and start walking without crutches not even two weeks post-surgery?
I already take small steps in my small apartment without crutches or a cane. I'm sort of trying to build up pain tolerance, because even with the crutches, there is some pain, and I know there will be for awhile.
I feel like my primary risk, should I stop using crutches, is falling.
Would appreciate any anecdotes, stories of healing from similar injuries, suggestions for alternatives to crutches - did you find a particular cane helped you, my physical therapist told me I can walk with a cane, but the 2 I have are really old fashioned and hard and not a lot better than the crutches on my hands - and even queries as to my sanity ("You want to do WHAT?!")
TYIA.