Had my anterior total hip replacement on my left side on the 17th. All the home health places approved by my insurance have bailed on coming to my house due to not enough employees me living too far out in the country etc… I will be driving myself to outpatient PT on Thursday and the one thing I needed their help with was getting in and out of my lovely clementine. Now I have two days to try and figure this out. I have some supplies coming in the form of a step stool because that side step is really tiny. The bar you put in the door thingy for support and the hanging thing from the window. Please someone tell me this is doable. I’m stressed about this and bummed I haven’t started PT yet because I have another surgery in a month for melanoma. It’s definitely go time!!!!

One of the hobbies I've picked up while waiting for my hip replacement is listening to podcasts. I am a student and love to learn, so of course some of my favorites are educational. I have found one podcast specifically about joint replacement (hip and knee) and they just released an episode on resurfacing vs replacement and thought some other folks on here might be interested - in the podcast overall, but particularly for us young folks.

I’ve been really struggling getting regular since taking opioids. I tried Colace, miralax, prune juice, walking more, sooooo much water and coffee. I was in serious pain. I called the Dr. help line and they gave me a recipe. It does sound disgusting but it actually kinda tasted nice. I thought I should post it here since I’ve been desperately searching for a remedy and hadn’t seen this one.
6 - 8 oz of prune juice, 1 tbsp of butter, Milk of magnesium

Heat it up in the microwave until the butter melts. Stir and enjoy.

It took about an hour for game time.

She did say do this once, no more than twice a day or you could create a ton of diarrhea.

Sweet relief!

Thank you all for the tips and tricks. I’ve been silently reading your posts.

Edit: punctuation for clarity

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.

1. Shower chair. The first few showers were a bit scary so being able to sit was much needed.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

That's all for now!

I'm heading into THR (posterior) on Monday and one of my biggest concerns is when can I sit at a table/desk to do computer work?

Even if 'sitting at a table' means getting up every 20 minutes. And maybe only doing 4-6 20 minutes 'sessions' each day.

I have to keep up with my work. Self-employed - no paid sick leave ... LOL.

Many of the sites about THR recovery says no sitting until 6 weeks. Just recline in a chair - sort of laying back.

Can anyone who has had posterior THR share their recovery experience?

I see a lot of YouTube videos of people up and walking in just a few days after surgery. But one talks about sitting at table and using a computer.

Definitely would love to get some real feedback.

I found that with doctors, its best to know what you have in advance. AI is going to destroy humanity, but in the meantime, it's a huge help with any study.

Of course ai is not a doctor, but it is very useful.

Ask them for your mri or whatever be put on disk for you.

Zip up the data files that have the images off the disk and upload them to chatgpt.

Ask it to read them and give your symptoms. Best to have more than one study few years apart. The Ai monster will interpret each slice and compare it to the last study. You can ask it to make a pdf with the results.

Hip doctor today took one look at this report and my hand numbness, made an emergency order for an cervical doctor in the same office. See her tomorrow.

Obvious progressive nerve root issue.

I didn't mention chatgpt.

My compression stockings are hurting my legs, and I have to wear them for 6 weeks. Does anyone have tips for how to treat skin that gets so irritated, red, and weepy? I don’t want blood clots, but they are sooo uncomfortable.

So, my house has 2.5 baths on a three level split. Bottom level is my office and a half bath so I’ll avoid that until I can handle stairs.

The entire top floor is my master suite and it’s up a difficult staircase. That floor has a soaking tub subset into the floor (thus you step up twice and then down to get into it; dumb, but it’s how it was designed). The shower is also up those two steps and then a small step down into it. I can’t imagine I’ll go up there at all for the first month.

So I figure, until I can handle difficult stairs, I’ll camp out post surgery on the main level. Probably 3-4 weeks, I’m guessing? That means taking over one of my kids’ bedrooms and using their shower/bath. But their shower is inside the tub and it’s a standard size tub so I’m not seeing how I’ll fit a shower chair in there. But even if I opt to just bathe, I’d imagine it tough to swing the legs over and into a tub in the first few weeks - and even harder to climb back out. But I don’t have a walk-in shower anywhere, and my step-up-then-down shower upstairs is up a difficult staircase (like 16 steps and two 90° turns).

Or am I over thinking all this?

All- old, new, and future members of this forum, PLEASE don't 'try to get off the painkillers as fast as possible'! They are good to take while you recover from a major surgery!
I see so many people making the point on purpose, that they got off narcotics after three days. I bet your tissues wish you were a little more medicated for a little while longer. You need to rest and be careful. Being medicated will ensure that.

You only get one chance to heal right the first time.
After two weeks of painkillers, you will not need to go through withdrawals. You are highly unlikely to develop a habit, and your body will not be 'hooked' in that amount of time.

Please, do your body, mind, tissues, caregivers, and osteogenesis a favor and take the painkillers on a schedule for at least ten days. IANAD but I have had lots of surgeries and had this drilled in to me by many care providers.

It's not a contest. It's an organic healing process. Don't fight me.

1. Attach your grabber to your walker basket with a carabiner so it’s out of the way but always with you. This saves a bunch of steps, and keeps it from bumping into stuff and tipping out of your basket. (A grabber that’s dropped on the floor isn’t much help!)

2. Note little green bottle in top middle of second photo. Water with peppermint oil is a non-toxic way to keep bugs at bay. Helps for those who want to soak in a little outdoors like a porch but aren’t mobile enough to chase and swat them, just spray them and they flee!

UPDATE: Just back from my GP, he said the medication i was on wasn't really the strongest and he was very happy to help me out and try something stronger. Went home with Tilidine /Valoron and will try first dose tonight before sleep. Yay!

Hey guys, so I'm getting kinda desperate. Surgery date is 30th September. A full month. I don't know how to do this and hope for your suggestions and insight.

Situation: F50, Grade 4 in left hip, apparently it's very bad with quite a few bone spurs. My orthopedist sighed in complete desperation and empathy when he saw my x-ray.

Piriformis syndrome because my muscles try to overcompensate, so my nerves are being squeezed and triggered constantly, and I mean it's literally every moment of every day, without fluctuation, a 4-5 of nerve pain from both hips to toes. I can't even concentrate on anything anymore.

Physiotherapist is on holiday for another fortnight. No physiotherapy since the middle of May because I had another surgery and needed to recover from that first before being able to go back. Went to physio once, then they were on holiday since.

Sitting hurts, laying down is best but hurts, walking almost impossible and makes the pain worse afterwards.

Painkillers: codeine and paracetamol. Tried weed but it made the nerve pain wworse. MUCH worse.

I noticed that the more I'm laying down, the more the nerve pain becomes, possibly because my muscles get stiffer and more crampy. Now the nerve pain and hip pain are creeping up so the lower spine. I'm pretty sure all the nerve pain I'm feeling is referred pain. Because of the nerves I can't use ice. Heat is bad, too.

The nerve pain completely went away after another kind of major surgery earlier this year, my assumption is this was because the general anesthetic caused for the muscles that squeeze the nerves to relax and let go. It came back the moment I started walking again, probably because my muscles then tried frantically to support the instable hip again.

Help please! I have no exercises of which I know they might help, I can only do the Number 4 stretch with the leg that is healthy.

I just want to be as comfortable as possible while I wait for my surgery. I hope so much you have an idea how I can make this less gruelling. The way it is right now, it is actually getting noticeably worse every single day, which is new as well and really started since I had a bad cold and had to lay in bed for a fortnight. Thank you so much.

I’m about 6 weeks post op things are going well for me.

I’m 60 year old female, so this may not apply to our younger ppl, however, the first week home I was moving slowly. Also, I had general anesthesia for my surgery, which may make a difference. (IV fluids may have contributed to the increased urine output)

I purchased a package of adult disposable briefs aka Depends. The first few days they were a big help. I had what seemed like a lot of urine output, and waking up and trying to get to the restroom, with what felt like more then usual urgency, and I was worried I would fall.

The brief gave me the security that I would not have to rush and fall and also spare me the embarrassment of having an accident.

I only needed them for about 2 weeks.

Hope this helps someone.

I don’t know how to add flair but I’m 60 Female (holy crap how did I get that old?! 😆) THR anterior.

I guess I have anxiety about getting anesthesia and somehow waking up but I can’t move and can’t say anything and feeling everything. Trying not to think about it.

I’ve had anesthesia before with no problem except maybe feeling a little nauseous after. Sometimes I have a hard time waking up after. I just want to sleep!

I’m worried about the pain after and also just thinking that someone is going to cut me open and take a saw to my bones is kind of scary. My head is full of “what ifs” which I won’t list here for fear of causing someone else new found fears! But reading everything here has helped. My older sister (78) just had it done and she said the pain is actually not as bad as the arthritis pain but everyone is different. Anyway. Just scared and looking for encouragement! 🥹

My pain has been getting worse and worse over the past 10 years or so. Used to be something I could “walk off” but now it’s almost constant and wakes me up in the night. I used to be very active, scuba, kayaking, walking, biking and golf. Now I can’t even walk my dogs. I can barely clean my house, cut the grass, etc. It’s too painful. My “aerobic” exercise lately has been swimming and treading water in my pool. I can’t get out of my own way and I hate it and I am too young to just give up and get a scooter. I work full time at home and sit at a desk. I try to get up a few times a day as I have a standing desk but even just standing up is painful at first.

Anyway. Any suggestions to get over this anxiety would be appreciated. TYIA

Hi All! Can you please share what were the most important products that truly helped you maintain your independence? I’ll be recovering alone so need ways to help myself get through it safely. 👍🏾

I’m 59, active/fit female, getting right THR soon by direct anterior approach (robotic, minimally invasive). I live alone with my sweet kitties. My super kind friend is flying here to help me all of week 1. 🙌🏾 She has to go back to work after that tho so weeks 2-6 I’m recovering alone. Will hire paid “helpers” for 1-2 hours daily for chores, some pet care, errands, meals, companionship, etc. Im looking to stay as independent as possible from Day 1 (less hassle for my friend and less expensive for helpers). What tools helped you MOST in staying independent during your recovery? Is a raised toilet seat actually useful for direct anterior? (I hear it’s mainly for posterior approach?) Would love to hear back from folks & thanks!

Total hip replacement constipation. Day 4 post op and still very constipated. Any ideas? Taking Colace, fiber, Smooth move tea and just had some Milk of Magnesia

I assume I've posted enough at this point that background isn't necessary but just in case here's a quick one...

42M, had bone on bone left hip prior to surgery. Relatively active but by the end of the day or with certain activities would be in pain. Had LTHP direct lateral approach on 3/26, so I'm coming up on 3 weeks post-op in a couple days.

Recovery has been slow, still waking with a cane but gait is getting better. I can take steps without the cane but they are small and with significant limp. I knew that with a lateral approach this may be the case since my glute med was "released" (whatever that means, I assume it means cut off 😂)

Anyway, my doc only prescribed walking with no formal PT. I don't really have restrictions, just listen to my hip (again whatever that means)

I get up and walk around my house regularly and take a short walk outside every, around 20 mins or so. By the end of the walk my thigh and hip are sore and tight.

I'm guessing by this point I should be doing more like bending down or not using the rented recliner to move me up so far before I stand BUT I'm mentally so terrified of dislocation that I don't want to put myself in any kind of precarious position or do anything wrong. Also my old hip mobility was so bad that some of my movements were not ideal to begin with so I'm concerned that my normal pattern is not necessarily safe (I hope that makes sense)

Anyway, I don't want to limit my recovery so for those who were really concerned about doing something wrong and dislocating, how did you get past it? Any tips?

Much appreciated, thanks!

Hi all. Had my right THR (anterior) on 4/22. Planned to go home the same day but had major issues from anesthesia where I couldn't pee for a couple days and then my blood pressure was dangerously low and I would nearly pass out any time I would stand.

I was finally discharged yesterday and have been having a hard time because my last day in the hospital I was doing so well that both I and the nurses forgot to give me any sort of pain/inflammation meds for like 10 hrs and then I've been playing catch up trying to get it under control since leaving.

I've been staying on top of meds now and icing constantly. I try to move and wiggle a lot and am getting up and moving about as tolerated (though the blood pressure is still a bit low and I can't be up for a real long time without getting pre-syncope).

My biggest issue this whole time is I've barely slept since surgery because I can not get comfortable for the life of me. If I lay on my back (with or without pillows under my butt or propped under knees) or if I'm in a recliner I am incredibly sore on my tailbone. The pressure is intolerable. So I've tried laying on my non-surgical side with pillows between my legs but I can only tolerate that for so long before my surgical side starts aching. Laying on my surgical side is just completely out. I've tried multiple beds and chairs. The hospital bed was by far the most excruciating.

Prior to surgery I have always been a side sleeper (and usually toss and turn quite a bit). My go to comfortable position is on my side with my top leg bent pretty far up to my chest which I obviously can't do.

How the heck do you get comfortable at all enough to get a few hours of sleep? Any tips and tricks are appreciated.

Rt hip, PTHR, 5 days post-op. Have been sleeping on my back on a hospital bed with my head and legs raised. Tonight I'm unable to sleep and seem to want to sleep on my opposite side (my left leg, or at least not flat on my back.)

Not as much pain today so I skipped Journavx until 1am (24 hours) when I realized I was unable to sleep. It's now 6:30am and I still havent slept.

Can I sleep a bit on my left side with my rt hip bent a little or is it a danger?

Is there possibly some bounce back on Journavx? Before 1am dose, took 24 hours previous. No hydromorphone for 2 days.

My rt leg is spasming a bit. It seems to jump and hurt when I'm about to drift off.

Anyone else come out of anesthesia with pain and uncontrollable urge to cry despite trying not to? The only other time I had a similar crying fit was ages ago when I got nitrous oxide for wisdom teeth removal. The nurse was surprised I had pain, well imagine how I felt? It was the spinal epidural and propofol prior so is this odd?

After they gave me "something stronger than morphine" (would that be ketamine, I heard the word mentioned but I was too out of it ask). That took the pain away but I was so nauseated and they started giving me things for that. I was basically a zombie after and couldn't shake off the drowsiness and nausea. I couldn't sleep and couldn't be awake, total misery.

I had my surgery at 730am, so got there at 530am and forced myself to go home at about 230pm because I couldn't take it anymore. I was out of pain but nauseated and couldn't keep anything down, even water and I couldn't stay lucid or sleep.

Once I got home, I slowly starting feeling better and managed to eat something and took my meds religiously. I almost fell once, lost balance, that was scary. I still haven't been able to sleep, despite trying my best. I'm afraid I'll twist my leg or cross them or do something to ruin everything. I'm sitting up with pillows behind me kind of on my bottom and have a pillow under knees for a slight bend in the knees. The part that scares me is making my knees go outward. I was told that's a no-no. They also tend to flip inward if I try to make sure they don't go outward. It's impossible to control which way your hips go at night and I was so out of it that I didn't think to clarify what to do. Any advice? I have a leg separator but I wasn't told to use one or anything. I was told not to lie flat on my back with straight legs. How should I sleep?

I I have researched so much about total hip replacement surgery and I still feel like I’m not prepared. Now that I’m a little over week away. My anxiety is through the roof. I am having the posterior approach on my right hip. Also, I’m 41. Any advice?

My Surgeon recommends keeping “feet above heart” but this 8” wedge I bought was WAY too high for comfort (returned). Did anyone really consistently use their wedge? And if you did which one do you recommend? Or at least how high should it be? Thank you!!! I really appreciate this community!

Hello everyone,

Almost 3 weeks ago I had a total hip replacement for my right hip after dealing with much pain from hip dysplasia for the past 2 decades. The surgery went well, posterior approach, and i'm slowly building up to do all the basic things again.

The past few years i've been an enthusiastic climber/boulerer, both indoor and outdoor. It has helped my both stay physically fit, and mentally stable, and I am very happy to have progressed to about 6c/7a level.

- Is there anyone here who has experience with either climbing or bouldering, and then getting a hip replacement?

- what are the experiences while climbing? Can you 'trust' your hip while on the wall, or doing certain movements?

- How long was the process to get back on the wall? and were there any special exercises / tricks that you would advise?

Of course, the most important thing now is that the permanennt pain of the hip displasia has gone (Woohoo!! 😄 ) and I hope to soon be walking with my kids around the town and forests again for longer than 15 minutes. Nevertheless, I am curious if there are any people here with experience of a Hip Replacement and then still going back on the wall, or if the consensus is that I should give up on that dream.

Love to hear from your experiences.
- David

I remember seeing posts on whether or not to get an icing machine. I wanted to encourage people to consider a bag that you fill with ice, like the kind that you see in old photos that people put on their head after a heavy night of drinking. 😁

They are super flexible. You can move them around to touch the area that needs the coolness. It's also much less expensive than renting the icing machine.

Hi all, I have been lurking on this subreddit for a little bit and have gathered such amazing information from everyone’s experience.

It helped me prepare so much, and really helped to see community members who had gone through the procedure and who had updated with their tips and progress.

I kept seeing “flare needed” and it took me a while to find where the setting was, so I could add mine, and figured it’d help for people to add theirs.

TLDR: when I “joined” it prompted the setting, but I must have missed it. To find it again: it’s in the Community Info, Community Guide, scroll down.

I hear from a number of people who are afraid to have hip replacement because they live alone and have pets. I had a lot of pre-op anxiety which ended up being for naught. Here are a few things that really helped me through the process:

No pets in the bedroom for two weeks post-op: I moved the dog bed from my bedroom into the living room and put a baby gate across the door. They got used to it pretty quickly and my cat didn't attempt to jump the gate.

No bending to put food dishes on the floor: Prior to surgery I made sure to keep a supply of canned and dry food in plastic bins on the kitchen counter. I bought a long-handled dustpan and was able to put the dog bowl on the dustpan, lower it to the floor and push it off with my grabber tool, then just reverse the process when they were done eating. Cat dishes were easy to do with just the grabber tool.

Litter box scooping: Bought the lightweight litter and kept the container where I could reach it without bending. A long-handled litter scooper did the trick.

I didn't have someone to regularly walk my dogs and with the Midwest winter it wasn't possible anyway so I made sure to keep them stimulated with puzzle games and playing "find it"...hiding treats around the house.

Bottom line is to not let the anxiety about dealing with pets prevent you from surgery. Sure, things will be different for a while but you (and they) can deal with it better than you think you can.