Hip replacement pre/post operation pls

Slow progress Aveline????
What are you talking about? I'm absolutely thrilled with my recovery. I had a physio appointment where my crutches were exchanged for walking sticks which I need for uneven ground and when I'm a bit stiff first thing in the morning. Much of the time I don't need them. We all come to this surgery from a different point and your recovery isn't my recovery. I'm sure you didn't mean it to sound rude

I'm sorry I don't mean to be rude. I was just surprised to hear that you were on crutches at four weeks post op. Glad to hear you don't usually need sticks at all but your post sounded like you were on crutches all the time. I'd wondered if you had issues other than a hip replacement that led to your being on crutches.

Aveline would it be a problem if I still needed to use sticks /crutches all the time at four weeks? I think not. I have no other issues & not carrying any extra weight. My surgeon visited me prior to discharge and told me that my recovery would take a long time and NOT to push the exercise but to keep moving within my comfort zone for the best long term results. I imagine by that he meant that my hip joint was every bit as knackered as it looked on the X rays. And here I am, exceeding all expectations.........

It's not a problem. I'm just thinking about how I was at your stage. Obviously, we're all different. I have a friend who was still using crutches at 8 months post op but this was because she was experiencing balancing difficulties which is what made me wonder if you had some additional issue like that. Hence my comments.

I didn’t see anything in GrannyLaine’s* post to suggest that her recovery took a bit longer than average but even if it did, it doesn’t matter in the slightest does it?
It’s not a race to see who can get off crutches the quickest, and in fact by staying on two crutches for the first few weeks after the operation is sensible to allow everything time to heal and bed in without full weight being put on the new hip.

It’s wonderful to be out of pain, but inevitably leg muscles will have weakened before surgery as it is just too dammed painful to walk far. Even I found that and I was fortunate enough to have only waited 5 months from when I was put on the surgeon’s list in July to having my operation in December.
Some poor folk of course have to wait a year or more.

Best of luck to SusieB50
silverlining48 and FannyCornforth for your forthcoming surgeries !

I was nervous before mine - I’m sure everyone is but hip replacement surgery is a very common procedure with a very high success rate.
I hope to hear how you are all getting on in due course.

JenniferEccles

I didn’t see anything in GrannyLaine’s* post to suggest that her recovery took a bit longer than average but even if it did, it doesn’t matter in the slightest does it?
It’s not a race to see who can get off crutches the quickest, and in fact by staying on two crutches for the first few weeks after the operation is sensible to allow everything time to heal and bed in without full weight being put on the new hip.

It’s wonderful to be out of pain, but inevitably leg muscles will have weakened before surgery as it is just too dammed painful to walk far. Even I found that and I was fortunate enough to have only waited 5 months from when I was put on the surgeon’s list in July to having my operation in December.
Some poor folk of course have to wait a year or more.

Exactly this & thank you Jennifer Eccles
I think that on a supportive thread like this its important to understand that recovery times and experiences will vary enormously between individuals. Sometimes I'm a tortoise, sometimes a hare. We all know the outcome of that story.

It's not a competition! I have explained the reason for my posts. I sometimes think that people read things into others' posts that simply isn't there.

I’m pretty certain that my recovery will be a slow one.

For instance: stairs. I haven’t been able to do more than three steps for over a year.

Also, putting on socks, and even more so, shoes.
There are things that people are struggling to do post surgery that I haven’t been able to do for years.

I’m certain that I should have been put on a waiting list over two years ago when the state of my hip became apparent.
I had to stop work for heaven’s sake!
But because of my age (48 at the time) I wasn’t.

I’m quite bitter about it, as you can see!

I have had a dreadful run around too Fanny so do understand something of how you feel. I really hope you get a confirmed date soon, it’s the waiting and not knowing.
Yes socks are a literal pan and shoes are really awkward too, also trousers and pants come to that, though the lassoo method with pants works reasonably well. Yee hah!
Best wishes

Pain not pan ...

Thank you!

You might surprise yourself FannyCornforth. I think most of us probably struggled for years before the op. After my knee replacements I expected the hip replacement to take ages to recover from but was amazed at the rapid recovery. Long shoe horns and sock devices were great as I was so well so soon I reckoned I could easily overreach myself and risk dislocation. No problem bending straight down but the absolute no no is twisting. Dislocation is rare but does happen. My surgeon had two cases : one was a man trying a difficult yoga position and one was a poor soul who fell over her two year old who suddenly ran in front of her.

Does anyone have any advice Re seating? Keep hearing about dislocation if bending less than 90 degrees . I have a perfectly good newish chair which i can add extra cushions to, but my dd says I should buy a new one. ( def don’t want to do that).
Approximately How long after the op before normal seating is ok. ?
Oh and shoukd I buy some ‘forgiving’ dresses/skirts instead of trousers? If so will can limp off to my favourite charity shop today to have a look.
That’s it fir now, thank you x

I bought a special 'stiff' cushion to raise the seat height but only used it for a few days as it gave me a bad back as it affected the height thus supportiveness of the chair back. I bought a couple of large dresses so I could just pop them on over my head and be respectably covered. That worked well. My op was last summer do it was pretty warm. I suppose I'd do the same again but wear a cardigan over it if it got chilly.
You'll really know you've recovered when you find that you've put all the special stuff you bought away or chucked it. It just becomes redundant.

PS I was told the 'don't bend more than 90°' was old hat. Fine to do it but just don't twist.

The thought of not showering for days was awful, but someone suggested wrapping clingfilm round myself several times to cover the wound, and that worked very well.

silverlining your bed must also be a decent height. Before my last knee surgery I bought a mattress topper and that appeared to do the trick for me but hips are different.

You should not need to buy a new chair, your present one should be able to be adapted especially as it is not for life!

A cheap way to raise it is by buying foam that fits the seat and if necessary putting two pieces to raise it.

Take a measurement of the chair's height when you go for your pre- op appointment.

Dining room chairs may also need to be raised so a portable cushion would be helpful.

Do not forget the car when you are picked up on discharge!

I don’t have a shower; just a bath with a (brilliant) bath lift thingy that Riverwalk recommended.

I’m a very sweaty, smelly (and candid!) person and I’m used to at least one bath a day in the warmer months.
I’m going to struggle, aren’t I?

Btw, thanks everyone for your advice x

Just buy 'Drench' wipes. Excellent things. Large size. Unscented. Non allergic. Ideal way to have a really good clean without trying to get in a shower.
You'll be able to have a shower very soon. I had my first the day after the op. Very good dressings will be in place for about a week to ten days

Gentle hand hold FannyCornforth & silverlining 48
Nothing wrong with a slow recovery. After years of pain, it's
very hard to imagine a life without it. Can well understand your anger at being made to wait so long and honestly, its very old fashioned thinking. I was told when I first got my diagnosis that the decision for surgery is based on how the OA is impacting on your life, NOT your age or your X rays. That was a good six or seven years ago.

silverlining48 you ask about chairs: possibly more important than the actual height is that it has arms that you can push yourself up on. I've been very comfortable on one of our old Parker Knoll wing chairs, the seat height is 17" from the floor. The seat cushion is 19" front to back and I'm 5'5" You will be taught to stick your affected leg out in front of you on sitting and rising. Also helps when using the toilet. I don't tend to wear dresses much and wouldn't have wanted bare legs in February so chose myself a couple of pairs of loose, straight leg joggers and a cosy hoodie. I had about a week where my affected leg & foot were quite swollen, so it covered it up quite nicely.

Honestly don’t go to the expense of a new chair. It’s really not necessary. Our settee would probably have been absolutely fine, but I did put a fairly firm seat cushion from our outside chairs on it to raise the height a bit. I had another one on the passenger seat in the car until I was back driving again.
At the six week mark when I saw the surgeon I was given the go ahead to do away with those along with the raised toilet seat and the walking stick.

I got my special cushion from Amazon. It's for raising seat heights after hip ops. It has a carrying handle so was easy to move from seat to seat as required. I passed it on to DD after her hip replacement.

Thanks for all the helpful advice. Really appreciate it.
Will check Amazon re seat which sounds very useful
and as my chair has arms won’t buy another one.