Hip Replacement Advice

You can find exercises to do. If your leg strength is not good, it is very helpful to do exercises to get them stronger. You should be walking right away after surgery, but you will be off your feet a lot for many weeks and your leg strength going in is important, as well as continuing to do the post surgery exercises they give you. Get all the PT they offer you.

Do the exercises that your surgeon recommends. Follow his/her instructions for after-care precisely. Get up and move, do not sit or lay in bed for too long. There will be some pain for a little while, but that will ease as time passes. Keep a positive attitude. After the surgery you will have been through the hardest part. Now your job is healing!

@ottadv Household preparations are are great idea
Here were some of mine:
ICE! Either an ice machine with a hip cuff which circulates the chilled water automatically (and lots of ice or a good icemaker) OR several (like 4) large refreezable flexible ice packs. Plan to use them a lot for at least 2 weeks they make a huge difference in your discomfort, ability to sleep and do your therapy.

A relatively firm mattress at a comfortable height that you can easily sit on when getting in and out of bed.

A lot of pillows of various sizes, both in bed and in the living or family room, for propping and supporting. Plan to keep your leg elevated when you are not up and using it for at least a few weeks. It keeps the swelling down.

Have decent sized tables next to the bed and your recliner or sofa for your water, glasses, phone, chargers, etc. It's a good idea to have multiple phone/tablet/laptop chargers where you usually sit/sleep so you don't have to twist and strain to plug/unplug/move them.

Easy meals for the first week or two - or better yet, someone to prepare your food. And easy, nutritious snacks that align with your diet - yogurt, protein drinks, fruit cups. LOTS of water to wash the anesthesia and waste products from surgery and healing out of your body.

Get rid of all throw-rugs and mats that might trip you. If you need a doormat, or one by the kitchen sink, use non-skid one with beveled edges.

Sturdy slip-on shoes or slippers (not slides, flip-flops or crocs) for indoors and out

A toilet riser and a shower/tub seat - try to borrow them, you only need for a short time.

Grab bars permanently installed in you shower/tub and near the toilet if you don't already have them. You can even get nice-looking ones to match the faucets and towel bars in your bath.

A "grabber" for reaching the stuff you drop. You won't be able to bend over and reach the floor for a while. A "sock putter-oner" if you usually wear socks. Along-handled shoe horn

A stool softener - pain meds and inactivity can cause problems even if you don't usually have them.

Someone to clean your house/do laundry for a few weeks - you won't have a lot of energy. And you would be surprised how much dust bunnies and such bug you when you have to sit and look at them, but can't do anything about it! Also, I left an absorbent (chamois-type) cloth kicked into the corner of my kitchen that I could maneuver with my foot, without bending over, to clean up my drips.

Something to entertain you - movies, books, puzzles...

This looks like a long list, but you will be happy to be prepared.

Wow! What a blessing to have all this information.

Many thanks.

Thank you! Great information! I am scheduled for a hip replacement 8/5 and have gotten similar info from a friend who had her replacement a couple of years ago. She and my orthopedic surgeon recommended a pt session prior to the surgery to determine where ‘weak’ areas were so I could begin exercises to strengthen them…especially the glutes.
Thank you again for sharing your experience and recommendations!!!

Good luck with your preparation and your surgery. Maybe your friend still has some of the "tools" I suggested and you can borrow them.

Prehab! Get some PT before to strengthen and commit yourself to being strong and movement before the hip replacement so that you are in the best possible shape. Even if difficult to move PT can help you prehab.

Hi my husband had both done at the same time. Make sure you have reusable ice packs and all the tools that you need like your grabber. And Shoe horn and sock Helper. Make sure you have your walker and cane for when you get to it. A toilet riser would be nice. I wish you luck on your endeavor.

God bless

Excellent and thorough advice from Sue. I think going to PT before the surgery to be the most important preparation. I was also going to the gym and walking before surgery.I did that and still took longer than i was told to get “back to normal”. I also went to PT for a little over 2 months after surgery. Good luck!

I've had four hip replacement/revision surgeries over the past twenty years, and they're all different in terms of recovery. My last surgery was complicated, I was off my feet for nearly a year and I was in the hospital for 9 weeks, at which point I became deconditioned. It's a year out now, and I just rode a bicycle again for the first time in years...so summon your patience. You will get better over time.

The only other bit of advice that I would underscore from everything offered here is to make sure you have help at home. My wife went above and beyond, but I wish we had more help sooner.