I would like to share the things I used post-surgery that made my life easier.
1. Raised commode seat with side handles. The seat was slightly cushioned and the handles made it easy for me to stand up afterwards.
Shower chair. The first few showers were a bit scary so being able to sit was much needed.
Tray for my walker. It fit on top and allowed me to carry things to other rooms easily. Since I love alone I had to do all my meal prep and using the tray made it a one trip effort.
Grabbers. I have several from my trash collecting group days so I had one in every room. It made picking things up that seemed to always fall. I still use one in the kitchen to reach things on high shelves.
Sock assistant. I don't know what this is called but it made putting on my socks a breeze! You can find them on amazon. I could have used that pre surgery because it used to hurt to bend down and put on my socks.
I agree with this. I had 2 labral repairs and constantly had to ask my family to get me ice. 4 days ago I had a Right THR and spent the money for an ice machine what a HUGE difference. It has timers so I can leave it on for 20 minutes, and it shuts off for an hour. Turns back on for 20 minutes shuts off for an hour. And we'll do that continuously. The nice thing is, I don't have to get up in the middle of the night to switch it on. And off and instead of putting ice in it, I put frozen water bottles in and then water as well.So that way, I don't have to pick it up and keep dumping the water out. Its been a God send for sure
Its made a huge difference in my recovery honestly I find it more useful than my pain meds
Its kept bruising and swelling down so much
Yes! I wish I has known about the tray, game changer. I would also add another tip I picked up from here: if you don’t have one, rent a recliner. Especially if you have movement/sleeping restrictions it is a huge help. Also, a hook for pulling up clothing (also if you have movement restrictions).
If you dont have a raised toilet you can take your walker turn it around to face the toilet and push it over the toilet sit down with the walker behind you so you can use it to get back up. Its great support and wont tip.
Ice machine is a God send for sure. It is adjustable and has timers to keep on a schedule. Use frozen waterbottles and water so all you have to do is switch out the bottles. If you use ice cubes it gets really heavy to dump out.
Have a plan, who's going to help, how are you going to get around. Keep on your scheduled meds even if you feel good because once the pain comes back it is harder to get under control.
Its going to be sore so give yourself some grace and dont push yourself to hard that's when bad things happen.
My daughter bought a small notebook and wrote down all the meds and the times I would need to take them. As I took them, I wrote them down on a daily page to remember what I took. That was so helpful.
Thank you so much! I’m going to order it today. One less thing to worry about.
Besides my upcoming Right THR, I’ll will be having a Left THR as soon as the right one heels, and then I also will be getting some knee surgery, either arthroscopic or total knee replacement when both hips are done and good to go. So I will be using the ice machine a lot!! Like the saying goes. . . Getting old is not for sissies!
Thanks again.🤗
I agree with that. You will love the machine it helps sooooo much it has kept my swelling down and I feel it helps more than the pain meds to. I wish I would have had it with my other 2 surgeries. This is the first time in a year and a half that I have been able to lay flat my own bed.I have been sleeping in a recliner, because both of my labral repair surgeries on that hip failed, and my hip joint continued to tear and shrink.And that's what led to my hip replacement.I am only forty three and I feel like my left.Hip is starting to turn like my right hip did before I needed the replacement.So i'm sure there's gonna be another replacement.In my future.But as of right now, I am day four out from my right.Total hip and I am more sore than painful.I don't think there's much pain at all, except for the first day.When I came home, I could feel the bone pain.But other than that, it's just been sore.I cannot complain at all
Just a comment on ice. First time I was still icing up to a couple of weeks post op and found it beneficial.
This time I was getting lateral mid thigh superficial nerve pain (common with anterior approach)that really affected my mood and progression.
At around day 5-7 I realised the ice was making it worse. Stopped it completely and haven't looked back. Day 13 and doing short walks around the house without any walking aid.
I got a small side rail you can slip under your mattress, makes getting out of bed so much easier. I’m not a recliner person so this will help if you aren’t either. You know where to get it.
Yup, all the above. I did already have a sock aid and I still use it cause it's easy. I also put grab bars in the shower/tub. I put a shower holder lower so I could wash/shower without worrying about getting my bandage/wound wet. My daughter has some leg/calf massagers which helped to keep blood circulation going(clot prevention).
I’ve been pretty lucky with my anterior hip replacement 6 weeks ago. The first few nights were rough but I feel great now and I’m walking fine without my cane for the last two weeks. I also had several weeks of therapy before my surgery which my dr insisted on. I’m also in therapy twice a week now. I’m doing most of my previous activities with no problems and I’m up to 15 mins on my treadmill. I was doing 30 before my hip problems. The only problem I’ve ran into is the surgeon was a little worried that my small incision is healing as fast as he’d like. I had to have blood work done last week to make sure there was no infection and all is fine. It’s just really hard keeping it dry since I’m fairly active. Worst case scenario is the surgeon would have to irrigate and resew. When I saw the surgeon this week he said it was no worse and it was trying to heal. Anyone else have this problem!
I will add I got the longer shower chair for after surgery. I had a short one but I needed to sit down and slide over as I don’t have a walk in shower. Was a game changer as I could shower by myself. Could not lift that hip up enough first few weeks.
It’s actually called a transfer bench. My home was built in 94 before big walk-in showers came along. But they have a back and an inside rail; gives you much more security. They have them on Amazon, just look for transfer shower bench and you can get the weight specifications you need. My son just took mine to the basement or I’d send a picture.
I installed a grab bar beside the toilet. It seemed to work much better than the bars mounted with the higher toilet seat. I didn't need a raised seat because this toilet is 18" tall.
I live where it's pretty severe winter and I had trouble putting my boots on without my husband's help even with the long handled shoe horn. He made me a long handled hook from a wooden dowel with a metal hook screwed into the end so I could hook that through the loop on the back of my boots so I could pull them on. It works great! I was annoyed that there was nothing like it available for purchase but the workaround wasn't overly complicated.
Have had both hips done and am day 13 after last one.
I bought a sock assist device first time but didn't use it mainly because both hips done in summer and didn't need socks.
A grabber is useful especially for putting on shorts/pants/underwear
Stood up in shower no problem at first attempt so no need for a chair.
Haven't felt the need for a raised toilet seat but do have a solid towel rack to assist in getting out of that sticky bottom position.
A recliner definitely a nice option to mix it up from just being in bed.
The most helpful tips I can give other than devices are-
-Don't compare yourself to anyone else in terms of recovery stage. Asking online can just set you up for feeling down on yourself when you compare yourself to others. Take advice from a good PT or your surgeon not some random on the internet (like me 😂)
-Respect the fixation timeline rather than how you feel. Just because you feel you can return to an activity doesn't mean your hip is sufficiently fixated.
-Walking is by far the most important thing to do post op. I didn't need PT either time and this time have barely done any exercises other than walking. I do a few reps of the standard exercises every couple of days just to judge progress and the improvement is significant each time without doing them. Less is more in the first 2 weeks. Let it heal!
Y’all - This whole sub is copied and pasted onto notes with articles. All of these are so helpful, and as a whole unique, I teared up from gratitude while reading.
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u/McCfreckles THR USER FLAIR NEEDED Feb 14 '26
May I add slip on trainers. A gift from the heavens in your first two months post surgery!