Hip Replacement Recovery: Q&A with a Hip Specialist

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There are a lot of moving parts when information technology comes to recovery later on surgery, especially a major one such as hip replacement. How should y'all prepare? What challenges should you lot expect? Volition y'all demand a caregiver?

All of this takes careful planning among your care squad, you and your family members.  Johns Hopkins orthopaedic surgeon Savya Thakkar, M.D., an expert in minimally invasive and robotic-assisted total articulation replacements, answers some common questions and shares tips about hip replacement recovery and rehabilitation.

When can I go home subsequently a hip replacement?

"Most patients tin start walking and can go dwelling the day of the surgery," says Thakkar. Most people don't need bed residue. In fact, moving your new articulation keeps information technology from becoming potent.

If you have a preexisting condition (a heart or lung condition that needs monitoring), or if no one tin requite you lot a ride and assistance around the house right subsequently the surgery, you might need to spend the night at the hospital. People who had complex surgeries or lack support at home may benefit from starting their recovery in an inpatient rehabilitation unit.

Volition I need to utilise a walker at outset?

Your care team, which includes your surgeon, therapists and primary intendance doctor, will evaluate the demand for whatever assistive devices. To reduce falls, you might need a pikestaff or a walker if you lot feel unbalanced walking on your own, just information technology's generally not necessary to keep weight off the hip that went through surgery.

When will my hip incision heal?

"The incisions for a hip replacement surgery nowadays are very small and are closed up with absorbable sutures," explains Thakkar. The incision is covered with a dressing and takes near half dozen weeks to heal. During this fourth dimension, it's OK to shower, merely to reduce the gamble of infection, bathing and pond should be put off until the wound fully heals.

How soon does rehabilitation therapy start after the hip surgery?

"Patients will take concrete therapy before the hip replacement surgery, and so work with a physical therapist correct after the surgery to reinforce exercises before they become home," says Thakkar. Rehabilitation will keep a few days subsequently the surgery, with visits with physical and occupational therapists ii to three times per week, equally well as dwelling exercises.

Rehabilitation begins with getting used to regular movements and practicing daily activities, similar getting out of bed or a chair, and progresses to practicing more than difficult tasks, such every bit climbing stairs and getting in or out of the automobile.

Musculus forcefulness plays a big role in being able to perform these and other tasks. This is why resistance training of hip muscles and knee muscles in the legs is a major component of rehabilitation.

Hip and Knee Replacement at Johns Hopkins

The Johns Hopkins Hip and Knee Replacement programme features a team of orthopaedic specialists highly skilled in joint replacement procedures. Our team will guide you lot through every footstep, from presurgical didactics to postsurgical intendance and physical therapy. Our goal is to render yous to your desired level of activity every bit before long as possible.

What is considered a "normal" amount of pain afterwards a hip replacement surgery?

Some swelling and initial hurting at the joint are normal later on hip replacement. To help reduce pain:

  • Have time to remainder between therapy sessions.
  • Ice the leg and the incision site.
  • Have anti-inflammatory medications, after consulting with your doctor, to help with these symptoms.

"Keeping the leg elevated above the heart when y'all lay downward tin can as well help the swelling to recede," advises Thakkar.

It's important to pay attention to your hurting levels. If yous feel like y'all are consistently at a half-dozen or more on a 1–ten pain scale, mention it to your dr., because it could be a sign of infection or another complication. Equally y'all continue physical therapy, your pain levels should slowly subtract to virtually 1 or 2 in 12 weeks after the hip replacement.

How long does it take to recover afterwards a hip replacement?

"On average, hip replacement recovery can take effectually 2 to iv weeks, simply everyone is unlike," says Thakkar. It depends on a few factors, including how agile you were before your surgery, your age, nutrition, preexisting weather, and other health and lifestyle factors.

"Achieving a certain level of activeness before you have the surgery can assist you bounce back more than apace," shares Thakkar. "We employ a regimen called prerehabilitation, or prehab, to assistance patients get in a physical shape that volition set them up for a successful recovery."

Preparing for Hip Replacement Surgery | Q&A with Savya Thakkar, M.D.

Savya Thakkar, a hip and knee replacement specialist, talks about which weather may crave a hip replacement and what to look earlier and after the surgery.

How presently can I return to regular activities after a hip replacement?

The goal of concrete therapy is to become you back to your normal life, whether it'southward going to piece of work, playing with kids, or engaging in your favorite sport or hobby. Depending on the corporeality of physical activity a task requires, the amount of time it volition take to be able to perform that chore differs.

  • Driving. If yous had surgery on your right hip, it may take up to a month to exist able to drive safely again. If it was your left hip, then you might be back in the driver'south seat in one or two weeks. Start in a parking lot and slowly motion to rural roads, working your way upwardly to the highway. Taking medications that may impair your coordination, such as opioids, might delay how soon yous can go back to driving.
  • Work. If you have a desk job with minimal activity, you can return to work in virtually two weeks. If your task requires heavy lifting or is otherwise tough on the hips, information technology is recommended to have off most six weeks to recover.
  • Sports. For sports with minimal activity, such as golf game, you tin can return when you feel comfortable. For loftier touch on contact sports you lot should wait almost six weeks to get back in the game. Before getting into a puddle, yous should also look nearly six weeks until the incision completely heals.
  • Sex. You can return to sexual activity whenever you feel comfortable.

What could slow downwardly my recovery?

"As with any surgery, there is some risk of complications during and after a hip replacement, which may include infection at the incision site, bone fractures and hip dislocations," explains Thakkar. If you observe a fever, drainage from the incision site, difficulty moving your hip or severe pain that is not relieved past your medication, contact your doctor immediately.

Taking rehabilitation at a comfortable pace and fugitive sudden, abrupt movements can assistance forestall dislocations and falls that may filibuster the recovery.

How long will my hip replacement implant last?

Unlike older implants that were metal, modern hip prosthetics are fabricated of a combination of metal, plastic and ceramic parts, and so they are more than durable and cause fewer problems. These implants tin final twenty to 30 years, and the risk of failure and the need for repeat surgeries is depression.

How long after replacing one hip should I expect to replace the other?

"If you lot suffer from severe arthritis in both hips, you could go both joints replaced at the same time (double hip replacement). This might actually exist safer and lead to quicker recovery in some patients," says Thakkar.

Having a double hip replacement reduces the risk of many complications that come along with anesthesia. Recovery is actually shorter but may require double the effort, because yous would need to strengthen both legs at the aforementioned time. It may also be more than challenging to go around the house initially, and so you might demand more support at home.

If you want to have two separate hip replacement surgeries, it is best to wait at to the lowest degree six weeks between the replacements to lower the risk of claret clots.