Thigh Injury, Swelling, Painful To Touch, Done Icing And Taking Tylenol. Want To Get It Checked

Posted on Tue, 3 Jul 2012

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 3 Jul 2012 Answered on

Sun, 22 Jul 2012 Last reviewed on

Question : My dad is normaly very active at 79 he fell two days ago and hit upper thigh against concrete step we see no bruising some swelling but very painfully to touch .iam worried I wantto have him checked outhe is a little stoborn when it comes to doctors or er is there something to worry I tired ice heat and tylenol because he can't take any NSF because bloodthinner

Answered by Dr. Rohan Khandelwal (49 minutes later)

Dear XXXXXXX

Thanks for posting your query.

I can see that you are concerned about your father's condition and I am glad that you are seeking medical advice for the same.

I want to clarify one thing. Is he walking around normally or is he limping with pain?

Falls in elderly people can very challenging and can lead to troublesome injuries. Bones get easily fractured in elderly patients (because of osteoporosis).

The commonest injury after fall in elderly patients is a fracture of neck of femur (long bone in the lower extremity). This requires immediate treatment (in form of surgery); otherwise, it can lead to necrosis of the bone.

If he is able to walk after the injury, this fracture seems unlikely.

There can be a fracture of the pelvis (waist bone) and other bones of the leg after injury and it is always prudent to get an X-ray of the leg to rule out these conditions. Consulting an orthopedician will also help you in selecting an appropriate painkiller for your dad (considering that he is on cumiton).

Until the time you take him to the ER or doctor, you can continue with the hot fomentation and Tylenol for pain relief.

Hope everything turns out to be normal.

Do write back in case you have follow up queries to ask.

Regards,

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Shanthi.E