Hip Replacement Surgery And What to Expect With Your New Hip

Over time our bodies, much like the moving parts in a car, become subject to wear and tear, particularly if you were an athlete in your younger days. Our joints become painful if we try and walk any distance and sometimes just getting out of a chair can be a very uncomfortable experience. Your hips play a key role in mobility, even when you’re sitting down. If your doctor has told you that you need a hip replacement, Take heart, it’s not necessarily the end of an active lifestyle. A total hip replacement replaces both the acetabulum and the femoral head. Recovery for this procedure is long term and requires that you participate in physical therapy to get back to full mobility. Candidates for total hip replacement usually suffer from degenerative arthritis of the hip join due to age or a previous injury. Many put off hip replacement surgery, dealing with the pain to avoid surgery. Admittedly surgery is a scary prospect, but the sooner you have it done the sooner you will be pain free. There are some potential complications with surgery such as blood clots or infection, but by listening to your doctor and taking proper precautions you will minimize the risk. Believe it or not patients who have had hip replacement surgery usually begin physical therapy immediately after surgery. The therapy usually starts out by doing exercises in a chair. The patient is then gradually moved up to walking or climbing with the use of supportive devices. Over time the patient is encouraged to begin exercising without these devices to restore their mobility. The physical therapy is critical to a patient’s recovery and should not be put off or avoided not matter how uncomfortable it is. The long term prognosis of the hip replacement patient is good provided that they follow some basic guidelines. High impact activities such as running or any contact sports are discouraged due to the danger of re-injuring the hip. Swimming is an excellent way to get exercise while minimizing risk to the newly replaced hip. The effort of pushing yourself through the water works your muscles but not the joints themselves. Patients should be aware of the dangers of infection of any kind. Any caregiver should be aware that you have an artificial hip when getting any kind of medical procedure done, including dental, where infection might be an issue. It is recommended that you be started on preventative antibiotics prior to these procedures to minimize the risk of infection. After your surgery and recovery are complete, there is no reason why you should not be able to return to normal day to day life. With a few precautions, you’ll be back to your old self and pain free.