Life after a hip replacement

I have hip dysplasia and torn labrums on both hips. My normal routine causes pain, so I’ve become pretty worthless outside of going to work every day.

Damn, man I’m sorry to hear that. I don’t know much about hip replacements except that they take a really long time to recover from, but you are younger too, so it may be a little faster. Best of luck.

I can walk alright. I just have to be a little more careful, especially when I turning.

Running is off the table. The doc told me to get cortisone shots until they don’t work anymore. Then get the replacement. I got one a few months back. It worked for a while but I probably need another one.

I’m not sure about total hip replacement, but I shattered my acetabulum when I was 26 (10/2016) Have a bunch of plates and screws and couldn’t put weight on it for 4 months. Went back to work after 7 months and 13 days. I have an active, outside job, so they took longer to release me. Sounds like total replacement takes less time. I also lacerated my sciatic nerve and broke my foot/ankle, and I was back to moving good (not 100%)about 2 months after they let me put weight on it. Waited a whole year before I started lifting heavy again. Only issue I had really was a blood clot down my femoral artery. Been on blood thinners since may. This was me last night you get better after some time.

I’m a nurse that assist with Hip/Knee replacements all day. Hips aren’t near as bad post-op as knees. The surgeon performing is everything. I definitely recommend finding someone who does your replacement via anterior approach.

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Had hip replacement surgery (right hip) in 2014. Things to consider.

I would talk to as many people as possible that have had HRS and see who did the surgery. Just like every "craft" there are surgeons that are good, better and best. Try to find the best.

I would only use a surgeon that performs the procedure using the frontal incision, not the outside of the thigh. MUCH less invasive to muscle and tissue.

At your age, you may want to look into "hip resurfacing" instead of replacement. There is a doctor in Shreveport that does this procedure and a friend of mine used him and was extremely pleased with the outcome. He is an avid tennis player and it left him with more mobility. This was in 2015 and I'm sure there or more docs doing this method now....check around.
Resurfacing vs replacement

Hip replacement recovery is much easier than knee replacement. You will be out of bed walking the halls of the hospital the day after surgery.

Be prepared for the side that has the hip joint replaced to feel longer, because it will be. Have the surgeon explain this to you when you are discussing the surgery with him.

And of course ... be careful with the pain meds.

I had both hips replaced in May 2021. Yep, same day and time. I was 40 at the time and the doctor said typically a patient gets one hip done and then comes back 6 months to a year later, but he said I was in decent health and young enough to get both done.

I decided I didn’t want to go through two amnesia treatments, two hospital visits, and two rehab programs, so I got both done at the same time.

I had the surgery on a Friday morning. They kept me that night but had me moving around a lot Friday evening and Friday night. They also had me moving around and doing stairs before they discharged me Saturday morning.

I had home health nurses come to my house 2-3 times a week for an hour each time for the first two weeks I was home. Then I went to to PT three times a week for about 3 months.

I was so drugged up the first 2-3 weeks that sleeping was fine. Once I stopped taking the pain medicine and some other medicine, sleeping was absolutely awful. I’m a side sleeper and since I had both hips done, I didn’t have a “good side.” I would fall asleep through the pain on one side but eventually move too much and the pain would wake me up. This happened every 30 minutes to hour, every night for over a month. It was easily the worst part for me.

Other notable facts:

-couldn’t shower for 2 weeks
-couldn't take a shite without pain for 2-3 weeks
-PT was brutal but of course got better with time
- I made sure to do lots of exercises at home that the PT had me doing at their location.

Overall I’m glad I did it, I’ve been somewhat active some my surgery, like playing basketball and umpiring some baseball. I feel like I’m still hesitant to really try and run full speed. I just would jog when playing basketball and umpiring baseball.

Ask anything and check this thread to answer what I can.

Yes. Policy where I worked was that if I could not perform my job at 100%, then I was not allowed to return. I qualified for LTD. People don’t understand that being classified a disabled is not the same as being an invalid. I was a plant baw. Would never be able to do the things I used to. There are many low impact exercises in the gym to do. You need to focus on what you CAN do. Not what you can’t.