What is normal recovery time/ progress for total hip replacement?

msvjv, I had total hip replacement surgery last Oct. 7. Must have had a great surgeon because my recovery was great. I was walking upstairs first day. I am only 64 years old though. I had the pain med Tramadol and it was great. I had to sleep on my other side with a pillow between my legs for the first 2-3 weeks. I do take a sleeping pill prescribed to me called Lorazepam. But if you want to try an over the counter sleep aid, I recommend either Unisom with active ingredient Doxylamine or a Walmart generic brand sleep aid with the active ingredient diphenhydramine hydrochloride. Ask your doctor to switch you from Oxycodone to Tramadol. For constipation the hospital sent me home with a stool softener med. And you can buy them at any store. I was taking 2 pills a day, 1 in morning and 1 at night. My surgeon told me beforehand that I would do great post-surgery because I'm pretty in shape. I'm a daily walker and my husband and I do some hiking and biking. Good luck to you! The PT should help alot. Take care!

deejay52, I'm so sorry for you. I think you must have had a bad surgeon or tried doing too much too soon. I did exactly what they told me to do. Which was listen to my body and stop when you feel it's time to stop. You didn't sleep on the side you had surgery on did you? I was walking normal the very first day....obviously tiring out quicker, but I'm 7 months post-surgery now, and feel like a million bucks! But I felt great a couple weeks after surgery and gradually increased my walking time. Good luck to you. I would message your surgeon and tell him what's going on with you. Something doesn't sound right.

Hi msvjv,

For constipation, you can take stool softeners (pills). They should have put this in your take-home instructions. Miralax also works and adds water to the intestines. A very aggressive medicine is Dulcolax (bisacodyl). Take this stuff with care as you can get too much of a good thing........

As for sleeping, if you sleep on your side, put a firm pillow between your knees. This keeps your hip from bending. Actually, it's a good practice every night as it also keeps the spine relatively straight. Make sure it is a firm, memory foam pillow.

Hi @deejay52 (although not sure if I should be answering that comment). Healing is all over the place. Took me 5 months to the day that I could get into the street (albeit stiffly) and do pavement art in the street around 57). One year to be "normal." However, the pain did not end with both hips being replaced because they eventually tackled my spine with a complex surgery, fusion. Although all of these helped, the pain in my case originates from my scoliosis and my TAILBONE. The tailbone, they can't/won't do anything about. So I have been on light-dose Oxycodone/Percocet for 25 years. very stable. I have degenerative disc disease, and things will continually fall apart as I age. I am USED TO IT ALL after 25 years (at least!) and want to busy myself with the good days and suck it up on the bad days (weather plays a big part). The trick @bonsai is to not get "high" on the medication. I started a couple of decades ago. Just pieces of a pill to knock out the pain. Do not GET HIGH and "rant." When you catch yourself ranting, it is typically the medication talking. So start lowering your dosages. Don't wait until you are totally in pain and need to take a lot of it. My narcotic use has been stable for over 25 years because I am careful about this. I lead an active life (20 mg a day) I don't want the medication to be in control. Want it to just control the pain. I use it sometimes to kill the pain so I can exercise and stay strong. Work with a doctor who understands this is a way of life. Don't let your muscles atrophy IF it can be avoided. I have to do exercise every day, even if it is a little walking, stretching, and breathing. I am 68 1/2. good luck.

Hi Joe. I have miralax and stool softener. Thats what had me alternating between comstipation and the big D. Happily, things are getting better now that I’ve dc’d the oxy.

As for the pillow…yes, i usually sleep on my side but since the surgery it’s very uncomfortable even with a pillow. Im hoping that will resolve in time.

Takes one year to totally heal. My orthopedic surgeon went in through the side. Some go through the front. You are not allowed to cross legs can dislocate hip. Since my hip replacement can’t walk long ways. I am not allowed to do stairs puts too much weight on that hip. I can’t garden because I can’t get back up without help. I had to sell my horses could no longer go horseback riding.

Hi msjv,

You are so very spot on describing the feast or famine nature of opiate-induced constipation.

I hope your pain at night resolves, I have a hunch it will. Unless your Dr says otherwise, I'd stick with the pillow. It's something we all should do anyway - good for the spine.

And an additional thought on pain management. I was taking diclofenac (Rx Voltaren) after the oxy. My Dr had me take it with Prilosec as the Voltaren is hard on the stomach. I took two Tylenol at the same time. Another Rx NSAID that is supposed to be easier on the stomach is Celebrex. Maybe ask your Dr about those meds?

You're two weeks post-op now. I hope the hip is better. Stick with the rehab exercises at home, 3x day. They help circulation, and that is all good for the hip. Finally, it takes the hip capsule (which was totally disrupted by the surgery) a while to scar over (according to my Dr). I know it's hard to be patient. Stick with it, you're doing great!

All the best!

Joe

Hi Joe, although we agree on everything this is one thing I’m gonna take a side route on - the Celebrex, indeed can cause stomach and gastrointestinal problems. However it is for a different reason. Those of us who are lactose intolerant are going to get stomach aches, cramps, and the rest because there’s lactose and Celebrex and all of its varieties because medicine is made so cheaply. The best bet is to take a Lactaid tablet at the same time you take a Celebrex if you’re going to do that. I rarely take Celebrex anymore after taking it for 20 years because it’s not a great medicine. I only take it before and after surgeries as the surgeon recommends once I found that I had gout and could take allopurinol to keep my uric acid levels in line. I abandoned the Celebrex entirely because the pain that I was experiencing came from excess product production of uric acid.
Regarding constipation, found that I completely stop going after general anesthesia. It isn’t a pleasant experience, but that’s what every surgery brings me 14 days of worrying about “ the go.”
I found that low-dose opioids which I’ve taken for 25 years your body adjust to, and there’s no constipation issue if you drink plenty of water or fluids. That is core to this whole thing drinking plenty of fluids and eating a good diet of the right kind of fibers There are wrong fibers which can also give you stomach aches if you have IBS. For example, I can’t digest insulin which a lot of people can’t when they get to be 60 but they don’t know the word and they don’t know what products it’s in. It is non-soluble fiber found in celery, strings and kale. There’s a whole list of things that come up the works of your gastrointestinal track and are not really recognized by gastroenterologist. Gastroenterologist deal with physical problems of the gastrointestinal system not with dietary issues that come in to play. So eating the right kind of fiber which are complex carbohydrates And avoiding inulin and drinking plenty of water keep us regular. And of course, staying active to keep your body moving things along I suggest seeing a dietitian or a nutritionist and understanding our body type and many possible issues that come in to play as well as managing our medicines. I do not advocate taking any NSA IDs, besides Tylenol. There are so many bad side effects to your body that you can have more withdrawals off of NSAIDs like Motrin, ibuprofen, and internally taken Celebrex Voltaren diclofenac, and the rest it’s just not worth it. Your body adjust to a little low-dose opioid after a while. Most people old people don’t drink enough fluids over the course of the day. Some older people end up getting fecal matter building up in their lower intestines and it hardens and also reduces the pathway for fecal matter to exit and if things are really bad, they should go to their doctor and have that checked out. I know several older people that this has happened to and people shouldn’t delay if it gets so bad that they are totally backed up for long periods of time after they’ve tried to change their habits.

Hi @msvjv
You’re about 15 days post op by now and are exactly where you should be. Having pain still is totally normal and so is the constipation. I had Anterior THR January 2025.
I drank a lot of water and I took stool softeners. I also did a Fleet enema a few days to get things moving. (Heat it up in warm water)
Surgery and oxycodone make it tough to go to the bathroom. I guess that’s the motivation to get off of pain meds. I was definitely still on Oxy at 2 weeks post op, more for nerve pain but also hip pain.
Everyone is different and your recovery is your own.
3 weeks post op does feel like things become easier and the light at the end of the tunnel becomes brighter.
I took 5mg of a marijuana gummie to help me sleep. Seems more natural than OTC sleep aid. I sleep great at almost 5 months post op bc my old hip pain isn’t waking me up. You will get there!

Thanks so much. I had an appointment with PA last Friday and she said I was being too aggressive trying to get off the oxycodone. I added back a second and third oxy as needed. Two prunes with each oxy seems to be working to prevent constipation. I was using 5mg THC for sleep before the surgery. It’s not enough now but I plan to return to that aid when I’m off the narcotic.