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Senior Injuries - Facial Fractures
My Experience With Facial Fractures - S.M. Female Age: 83
About six months ago I suffered a facial (skull) fracture after falling in the tub while showering. As I was falling I was able to turn towards the back of the tub, but was not able to stop the fall. The right side of my face hit the far end of our cast iron tub which resulted in multiple fractures around my eye.
My husband and son heard me fall and immediately came to my aid. I did not lose consciousness so I was able to get out of the tub on my own. My son called 911 while my husband helped my get partially dressed. I was bleeding from the eye and it was swelling. My jaw felt out of alignment and my body hurt. I should also mention that I am on blood thinners (warfarin) and was afraid that I would have internal bleeding in the brain or elsewhere in my body as a result of the fall. My sister-in-law, also on warfarin had a similar accident and did not survive.
I was given a neck brace by the paramedics and taken to the emergency room. A cat scan was performed and it showed that I had suffered facial fractures around my eye. It was also determined that I had deep bruising to the my right hip and arm but no fractures. The best news I received was there was no indication of internal bleeding.
I was told by doctors that the swelling around my eye was likely pushing my jaw out of alignment and they assumed that it improve when the swelling went down. I was also informed that I had damaged the nerves around my eye which caused much of the right side of my face to become numb.
My eye was swollen shut and I couldn't get around without a wheel chair but with help I was able to get to my opthamologist the next day to check my eye for possible damage. After viewing my eye and the cat scan results he said there was no damage to my eye, but suggested I was very lucky to not have suffered greater injury considering the injuries to my head.
After several weeks my face and body began to heal but the numbness remained, and I was concerned I would never get feeling back on the right side of my face. All the doctors would say is, "It might come back and it might not."
A friend of mine talked to a retired nurse about the numbness in my face. She had seen injuries to the face similar to mine, and said in her experience it could take up to 6 months or longer for the nerves to begin to heal. That news gave me hope. I'm happy to report that after 6 months I have regained most (not all) feeling in the affected areas of my face.
Conclusion:
I've learned the hard way that devastating falls can happen in an instant, and your life can be forever changed by your injuries. Fall prevention should be practiced by every member of your family regardless if you they are young or old. Read more about fall prevention here.