Total hip replacement - What to expect for recovery

My right hip replacement was 8 months ago. It has been a journey. My hospital stay and surgery was perfect. When I got home, I really struggled for the first two weeks. It was discouraging. Then I turned a corner and could wean off pain meds and put my socks and shoes on by myself!
PT 3 times a week which went great.
Now, I am having pain in that thigh. I’ve also become very tentative with my walking. I wonder if the thigh pain is from those severed muscles and nerves coming back? That area has been dead until now.
Also, I watched a video of a hip replacement. OMG. Not for the faint heated. It does remind you of how extreme this surgery is.

@sueinmn , my hip replacement was done when i was 71. My surgeon doesn’t recommend jogging, but he told me he had a patient that completed a marathon after her hip replacement.i have done around 14 marathons and as many or more half marathons in the past. I don’t plan to do any of those in the future. I don’t plan to do more than 5 or 10ks. My physical therapist who had a hip replacement several years ago has returned to jogging. He is in his 40s. He gave me a program to ease back into running with walk breaks. I only jog 3 times a week. I go to spin classes 3 times a week.

Thank you!

Susan I can relate to "... I watched a video of a hip replacement. OMG. Not for the faint heated. It does remind you of how extreme this surgery is..." My husband wanted me to watch it before surgery and I refused - afterward, I got to the point where they brought in the saw and turned it off!
Can you describe the thigh pain? It is quite possible it is from the nerves regenerating. And the pain plus you being tentative with your walking may mean you need some muscle strengthening exercises.

May I suggest you ask for few more PT visits to have them evaluate the pain and your walking? They can probably pinpoint the reason you feel unsure and help you through it. In my (way too extensive) experience with hip surgeries, the PT will be of far more help than the surgeon, who will probably take an x-ray and say "everything looks fine." If the PT finds anything concerning in their assessment, they will refer you back to the surgeon.

Good luck - it does take up to a year for your body to recover from the trauma of major bone/joint surgery, but in the end it is very worthwhile.
Sue

Thanks Sue,
The thigh pain is only on the right - I had a right hip replacement. It’s worse first thing in the morning and gets better as day goes on.
I agree that it’s probably the severed nerves coming back.

@goodness12 It took about2 1/2 to 3 months after my hip replacement before i was walking more than 30 minutes at a time. I was off the prescription pain medicine after 2-3 weeks except sometimes before bed.. I would take Tylenol or advil during the day. I had numbness in my thigh for at least 6 months. They told me some of that was the nerves regenerating. I went to PT twice a week for 3 months. I had used my Medicare allotment. The PT didnt want to appeal for more in case i jad a setback àd needed visits down the road. My movement was back to almost 100%, but was needing to work on strength. I went to tje gym once a week and did exercises at home. I was also disappointed because presurgery I was told i would be recovered in 6 weeks! Wrong - when i asked the surgeon 3 months after the surgery, he said that just meant that the initial healing was done. He told me that getting back to my previous level of fitness could take 12 to 18 months. He also told me that at the 6 month mark i could try to jog as the bone would be fully healed. I had not had major surgery since a c-section in 1994. I am now a little over a year post op and not having a pain. I do have problems if i am standing in one spot for a long time and not moving.

Hello @goodness12. I combined your discussion with an existing discussion titled "Total hip replacement - What to expect for recovery
" - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/total-hip-replacement. It is an ongoing discussion with many members who have shared their own struggles and accomplishments with hip replacement recovery. You can read through some of the previous experiences in addition to meeting the members like @casey1329, @cheriums, @walk4life.

After surgery, I walked in pain but kept moving. Icing helped tremendously. 😊 I had muscles spasms that added a medicine to my list & found that taking Tylenol with pain meds was beneficial. Therapy helped a great deal. I still have discomfort & stiffness in my surgery leg but I’m able to walk 35-45 minutes outdoors. I found exercises to do before I stand which alleviates stiffness. 2 1/2 months after surgery, I’m not back to my normal self but I’m recovering! 😊

Thank you

I had anterior total hip replacement April of 2022. The physical therapist said I would be walking into the doctor’s office two weeks after surgery, without a walker and without a cane. This was definitely not the case for me. I was on the walker and I felt like I was deficient because I wasn’t able to do what he said. False expectations had been set.

So please don’t let anyone else, including the surgeon, say what you should be doing by a certain time. Truly, it took me a full year to recover. Now I am mobile and grateful. Go at your own speed and don’t feel badly about others’ expectations for you.

I purchased an ice machine and it helped. My surgeon sent me to PT three months after surgery. He said starting too soon can cause damage.

Listen to your body!