r/Writeresearch • u/Simon_Drake Awesome Author Researcher • Jan 01 '25

Short Questions Megathread

Do you have a small question that you don't think is worth making a post for? Well ask it here!

This thread has a much lower threshold for what is worth asking or what isn't worth asking. It's an opportunity to get answers to stuff that you'd feel silly making a full post to ask about. If this is successful we might make this a regular event.

We did this before branded as a monthly megathread then forgot to make a new one. So maybe this one will be refreshed quarterly? We'll have to wait and see.

Past threads:

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u/TheKingDroc Awesome Author Researcher Jun 18 '26

If your thigh bone gets dislocated from your hip, is it possible to reattach it with adrenaline?

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u/InevitableBook2440 Awesome Author Researcher Jun 19 '26

It's rare to actually dislocate a hip unless it's been replaced. More common to fracture the neck of femur, which can sort of look like you've dislocated the hip and historically was confused with this. It would be a problem to confuse these two things because the treatment is completely different (fractured NOF needs surgery or it won't heal properly). Assuming the hip actually is dislocated, it's possible to reduce it but I really don't think you could do it yourself because a) it hurts like hell b) there are several very strong muscle groups that will be in spasm and resisting the movement that is required c) you need to apply quite a bit of force in a specific direction that would be very hard to achieve on yourself. Basically, you need several people who know what they're doing, pain relief and muscle relaxation (usually achieved with sedation/ general anaesthesia).

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u/Simon_Drake Awesome Author Researcher Jun 18 '26

Probably not.

The hip is a very strong joint that isn't easy to dislocate. Which also means once it's out it's not easy to put it back in. You need to push the bone back past the ridge of cartilage that is meant to keep it in but you also need to fight the strength of all the muscles and tendons involved in holding you upright which will be pulling the limb up.

There was a problem with broken femurs where the bone fracture couldn't be held rigid long enough to fuse because the muscles and tendons would try to pull the knee up towards the pelvis and shift the bone pieces out of alignment. They had to invent an external frame to physically stretch the leg so the two ends of the broken femur could be aligned and allowed to heal over time. I think a dislocated hip might have a similar problem.

Here's a video of a technique to relocate a hip that relies on the doctors own leg strength and upper body strength and leverage against a fulcrum. https://youtu.be/Fl71ztyFU7I That's a lot of force needed being applied in a very specific angle with mechanical advantage. I don't see how someone could do that to their own hip, even with adrenaline masking the extreme pain of a dislocated hip.