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Total hip replacement - What to expect for recovery
Joint Replacements | Last Active: Feb 21 8:18pm | Replies (152)Comment receiving replies
I am 78 and just had a total left hip replacement. My surgeon invented the Superpath method and he used that method. I had no pain at all other than some minor discomfort at the incision site. But my sister-in-law used the same surgeon and the same method and has had continual pain (she waited a long, long time to get the hip replacement and was on crutches before doing so; her husband and I think she simply waited too long but she can walk without support).
Preop my surgeon walked into the room with the multipage hospital instructions for total hip replacements (don't cross legs, don't sit up, etc. etc.). He tossed them in the waste paper basket and said just follow his two page instructions: take your medication and be a couch potato for the first five weeks (his method doesn't cut tendons, muscles, etc. but he said the one thing he can't do is make bones grow).
After waiting the five weeks, I did a few physical therapy sessions (I did have the often occurring side effect of not being able to pull up socks) and resumed walking and playing golf. When I don't play golf I usually walk three miles at a pace of about 17 minutes or so a mile.
There is no guarantee when doing a THR. My understanding is that there is no difference in total outcome between the three methods (original posterior; improvement anterior; further improvement Superpath) but there is a difference in early pain and recovery. Carefully check reviews and everything you can about your surgeon. There are great surgeons, mediocre surgeons and ones that you want to run away from (I know it is hard to run when you have a bad hip).
If you are concerned about pain, I would recommend making sure that your surgeon uses either the anterior or superpath approach and, of course, has done it often.
Replies to "I am 78 and just had a total left hip replacement. My surgeon invented the Superpath..."
One more comment as it appears you are concerned about age. My original surgeon was at Mayo (but he left surgical practice to become a medical director for a hedge fund) and I asked him about age. He said he had operated on a 100 year old woman and she was doing fine. His point was that older age shouldn't be a problem.
I am going to chime in once again. Not every case is appropriate for the anterior approach. I needed two hips in my 50's - I am very small (one of the components used was pediatric) had extensive damage on both the femoral heads and acetabulae, and a possibly misaligned femur. The very experienced ortho surgeon said he could deal with one of these issues with the anterior approach, but not all four. When I had revision several years later, the second ortho, who has done thousands of hips and revisions, agreed that I needed a posterior approach (he does about 50% of each.)
In medicine, we can love our results, but need to be careful about insisting there is a one-size-fits-all method for any procedure. One need only look at the incredible variation in body types to understand this. When you add the unseen - existing damage, bone issues, etc, it makes it even more imperative that the surgeon choose the correct procedure for each patient - and have the humility to refer onward any person whose needs are outside their skill set.
Just another point of view - 18 years later I am still up and doing fine. I wish the rest of the body was doing as well as the hips.
Sue
I had anterior approach on left hip in July and right hip in November. I had pain both times and still do, in the muscles of my thighs. It’s pretty much controlled by advil and extra strength Tylenol. Have not taken any narcotics since the first night post op due to constipation. The information I received was that full recovery takes a year. I go to PT currently twice a week. I’m using a cane currently although I am trying to walk in the house without it.
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Very helpful!!!! Thank you for taking the time to respond.