Hip Replacement

[Bikeracer]

Had my left hip done July 2011,went in Saturday morning,op same day and walked down with crutches to the TV room to watch MotoGP on the Sunday,then home on Tuesday.
No pain from the replacement joint but it takes a while to get over the muscle soreness afterwards.IIRC the surgeon said I was okay to drive after six weeks rather than twelve weeks.

If you live on your own you'll quite likely have carers coming in to help you for a while,and probably have to have your usual armchair raised so you don't sit too low.
There'll be a special high toilet seat provided for the same reason.
No bending down to pick things up allowed so you might find one of those grabbers useful that you can get to reach things that fall on the floor.

Just follow all the advice and you'll be fine.

Allan

[Railwaygun]

patient.co.uk is a good source of patient ( and dr ) information.

It would be worth asking which prosthesis they are proposing, failure rate, and local infection / failure rates of the unit.

Choices.nhs.uk may provide background info on the units success rates.

Dr nick

[REGP]

No personal experience of hip replacement but several friends have had a hip or knee op and without exception they are glad they had it done and are now virtually sprinting around.

I believe the more recent one had a new lining inserted in the joint rather than a completely new joint and their recovery was even quicker.

Regards

Ray

[Chinahand]

The key to recovery from a hip replacement op. is to get regular physiotherapy Mick. If you can find a physiotherapist who has a hydrotherapy pool then using that will greatly increase your recovery rate. Once the wound itself has healed you should get physio sessions at least twice a week and do exercises at home two or three times per day. It's a bit of a bind at first but will speed up the recovery.

As regards driving it depends on which hip it is and what type of car you drive. If it's the left hip and your car has a heavy clutch then it could be about 8 - 10 weks before you can exert enough pressure without it causing you discomfort. If, however, you drive an automatic then you should be able to get behind the wheel in 6 weeks or so.

Good luck with your operation Mick. Do you know what make/type of hip you will be getting ? From my own personal experience I would recommend the ones made by Zimmer. Yes, the same people that make the walking frames. Just stay well clear of the Johnson & Johnson/DePuy ones !!!!

[Pengi]

No personal experience of hip replacement but several friends have had a hip or knee op and without exception they are glad they had it done and are now virtually sprinting around . . .

Regards

Ray

This goes for me too.

[Geoff]

I have friends with hip replacements and they have had no major problems, and they are all walking about fine.