Nancy Reagan in Hospital After Fall

Reagan's Hip Fracture to Require Bed Rest

However, one major concern many orthopedic experts have regarding this type of injury in the elderly is that bed rest, though required for the fracture to heal, might do even more harm than good.

"The biggest complication for this type of fracture in an elderly patient is that they become immobilized and are in a situation where they're stuck in bed and it's difficult to get [them] up and moving," said Dr. Aaron Rosenberg, professor of surgery at the Rush Medical College in Chicago.

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Rosenberg explained that immobilization over an extended period of time often leads to muscle atrophy in the elderly, or the tightening up of the muscles and joints. Extended bed rest can also lead to bed sores or even blood clots, he said.

"One of risks of being bedridden for several weeks is muscle atrophy," Rosenberg said. "One of things physical therapy does is that even though the patient can't walk, they can move joints and strengthen muscles."

Still, experts don't expect that Reagan will be immobilized for longer than about two to three weeks.

After the first two to three weeks of relative immobilization, Cornell said that Reagan will begin working with a physical therapist at home to increase her mobility. He noted that Reagan will require a walker to ease the amount of pressure on her fractured pelvis, and will most likely be prescribed mild pain medication that should allow her more freedom to move around without pain.

"For about three weeks, the pain is pretty bad so [she will probably be] limited to household ambulation, walking only short distances with a walker," Cornell said. "Then, once she starts to feel better, the therapist will work on restorative exercises to overcome any atrophy that might have set in from this period of inactivity."

Overall, however, experts agree that Reagan's prognosis is very good and she should be back to her old self in a matter of a couple of months.