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Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: thedoc on 01/03/2011 17:47:20

Title: How much force does it take to snap the femur?
Post by: thedoc on 01/03/2011 17:47:20
Exactly how much force does it take to snap the femur in half?  That happened to me, and I heard the force needed is high.
Asked by @ristea


                                       

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Title: How much force does it take to snap the femur?
Post by: thedoc on 01/03/2011 17:47:20
We put this to Dr Ken Poole...
Ken -   It’s the problem and normally, it’s thought of in terms of the amount of energy available in a fall, and it’s a surprisingly little amount of the energy, about a fifth to a tenth of the amount of energy in a fall is enough to break that femur.  With a hip fracture, there’s such a thing as the perfect force.  If you are unlucky and fall backwards and to the side, even if you're young, you can snap your femur.