Many people return to normal activities within 10 to 12 weeks after surgery, but full recovery can take six to 12 months. Pain usually goes away during this time, but some people feel some pain beyond the first year. Most hip replacements last 20 years, but a fraction of implants fail sooner.
After having a total hip replacement, you may expect your lifestyle to be a lot like how it was before surgery — but without the pain. In many ways, you are right, but returning to your everyday activities will take time.
Your hip replacement recovery will include several milestones. It may take a year or more to fully recover from surgery, but you should be able to perform most daily activities within six weeks.
Seniors should avoid hip flexion past 90 degrees — bending your hip too far or lifting your knee too high. This movement occurs when you lift your leg or your knee up towards your body. For example, when you put on socks or shoes. Generally, keep the knee below hip level.
You'll need to do exercises that strengthen and stretch the muscles around your hip joint. You'll also slowly return to climbing stairs, bending and walking. You'll regain your range of motion and strength over time. It might be six to 12 weeks before you're able to use your hip with no restrictions.
Remember you can't bend more than 90 degrees in those early days, so ensure everyday items are stored at waist height. It's also worth thinking about hiring a raised toilet seat and a shower chair. Setting up a recovery station is a great way to avoid unnecessarily getting up and down when you're trying to recover.
The range of motion is typically limited to 90 degrees of flexion for the first 90 days while tissues are repairing themselves. The maximum potential of the joint and complete healing following a total hip replacement is achieved between one and two years after your operation.
You're not alone. Having an orthopedic surgery can leave you feeling tired for weeks or months after the procedure. Here's a list of 7 main causes of fatigue after surgery: surgical stress, blood loss, medications, pain after surgery, energy of healing, dietary changes, and sleep disturbance.
The effectiveness of exercises differs from patient to patient. However, walking is generally considered as the best exercise following total hip replacement. This is because it helps to promote hip movement and is a low-impact activity.
Even if you have osteoarthritis in your hip joint, you may not need hip replacement surgery. Our experts may suggest other treatment options. For example, injections are a better approach for some people. Injections can lessen inflammation and pain, or lubricate your joint so it functions better.
Following total hip replacement, it is crucial that you see your doctor for regular check-ups. Many hip problems can be diagnosed with an X-ray before you experience any symptoms at all. Typical symptoms that you may have failed total hip replacement are pain in the hip, groin, or thigh as well as limited mobility.
An artificial hip is not identical to a healthy natural hip joint. It is much more prone to dislocation, as shown in the accompanying X-ray (Fig 8a). This happens because the artificial hip is lacking in certain structures that normally hold the head of the femur securely in the acetabulum.
You have a window of time immediately after your surgery in which you can restore the range of motion in your new joint. If you don't move and engage in physical therapy, however, scar tissue develops that restricts movement and your muscles weaken.
You can expect to experience some discomfort in the hip region itself, as well as groin pain and thigh pain. This is normal as your body adjusts to changes made to joints in that area. There can also be pain in the thigh and knee that is typically associated with a change in the length of your leg.
Try to sit in a straight back chair (avoid low sofas, recliners, or zero-gravity chairs) for the first 6 weeks. Do NOT sleep in a recliner. Your hip will get stiff in a flexed position and be harder to straighten out. Do not extend your hip or leg backwards for 6 weeks.
It's important to follow these sleeping precautions for 6 to 12 weeks after surgery, depending on your health and personal recovery. The best sleeping position for your hip is to lie on your back with a pillow between your legs.
The precautions are prescribed for 6 weeks postoperatively to foster proper healing and prevent hip dislocation. Hip precautions encourage patients to avoid bending at the hip past 90°, twisting their leg in or out, and crossing their legs.
A total hip replacement is a major surgery. With walking and other physical therapy done daily, a patient can expect to be back in their usual routine in about six weeks. If you have more questions about recovering from total hip replacement surgery, contact Dr. Dan Albright at 919-863-6808.
After surgery, it can be tempting to want to return to doing activities with the same intensity as years ago. However, be mindful that overuse of your new hip joint can cause painful flare-ups. Modifications to motions and movements can reduce the frequency of these flare-ups.
If pain was present right from the outset, it may indicate infection or a periprosthetic fracture. Impingement or early failure of osseointegration may also cause pain to have been present right from the first day of surgery. A pain free interval followed by pain may indicate loosening or late infection.
It is common for patients to have a small area of numbness over the thigh after Anterior Approach hip replacement. The numbness usually resolves within a couple of months.