Thread: Hip replacement

Pedro my mate has just had a titanium joint fitted, he was bad for the first couple of weeks but was soon back on the sort of duties you are talking about. I can't remember exactly how many weeks before he was back, roughly 4 weeks I think. I can check if you like.

Thanks Claw Hama,
That sounds promising, I hoped that it wouldn't be much more than that.
I would be interested to know how your mate got on.

Pedro

I had a knee reconstructed a few years ago
was off work for two weeks
was largely immoble for two days after the surgery, then on crutches for about 10 days

the real bugger was the physio — months of the stuff but if you don't do it you might as well not have the surgery in the first place


ian
1

Pedro, I've had both knees done, and I had to wait for years to do it, because they packed up when I was relatively young. I see you live in my state, in South Australia, so I can recomend my surgeon to you. (P.M. me).

These ops are quite serious, and yet today, they are relatively quickly done. Recovery is amazing provided the right bloke is at the helm. I saw very old people get out of bed within hours and start walking excercises with hip jobs whilst in hospital. With my first knee job, I stood up with a walking frame, less than twelve hours after. Walking is only tender for a few days. My neighbour was astounded after I had only one knee done, and went to their place to cut down the long grass with a wipper-snipper in under a fortnight.

Go ahead, improve your lifestyle mate, because I now cannot stop finding all the jobs to do that were left undone for 15 years. I cannot run yet, but after I lose a lot more weight, who knows? The weight came from all those years of being sedentary due to pain which has now gone. There will be twinges now and then, but nothing like what you have now. I now go up ladders like the old days.

My wife has just had her left knee replaced ,plus some cruciate ligament damage repaired been in hospital one week today, walking by herself with the aid of two walking sticks which she will have to use for six weeks,hospital she is in does nothing but hip and knee relacements most are up and around within two to three days albeit gingerly walking.Doctor was telling me had a guy had both knees done and was back playing golf within six weeks ,different outcomes for different folks I guess.Have it done!!!

They want you up-and-around ASAP as it avoids muscle wasting & long physio sessions, also for the elderly it reduces the chance of pneumonia from a long hospital visit. The 'glue' only takes a few hours to get to full strength, the main wait is for the healing of the 'soft' tissues.

Where I used to work we had a customer who used to turn up every Sunday. He turns up one Sunday with a pair of walking sticks. When i asked what had happened he told me that he had had double knee surgery only a day earlier, and that the doctors had recommended he get out and about!

prozac

Pedro I had my hip done a couple of years ago using what they term minimal incision surgery ( a cut of only 3inches), the reason being one of the greatest problems was that with an incision that they used to do (eight inches or more -through large muscles) it took quite sometime to heal.
However with my surgeon I was walking 3 metres only hours after the op', and by the next day was doing some 50metres. All in all I was doing the things that you speak of within a month, after 6 months you wouldn't know that I ever had a problem - especially as my hip had completely dissintegrated and I was unable to walk at all. These days I run, I snorkle with whalesharks and I once again go bushwalking.


Denn

Had a knee replacement in March this year. Was expected to be of work for about 10-12 weeks. I was back in 6 weeks and have had absolutely no problems.

The biggest thing is to do your physio. Don't get slack at any time, if you can handle more than they give you, do it.

I have had 2 reconstructions on the knee before the replacement, and the first one I was a little slack with the physio, it took forever to come good. Learned my lesson second time round and recovery was about 5 times quicker. Even quicker for the replacement, but it wasn't as long a surgery and I was a lot more mobile than when I had the reco.

Not sure what the physio would be for a hip, but I spent a lot of time on an exercise bike for the knee.

Good luck with it.

Pedro, one of my neighbors got a couple of month ago a new hip, he's 70.
The surgery goes fast, in a few days he was back home from the hospital, seems like a factory these days.
Than he had to recover of course, but he has to walk with the help of walking sticks.
After a month I saw him walking without walking sticks, and he drive his car too.
Well it takes some time, which is understandable.
Ad

Although a long time ago, my grandmother had a hip replacement and, like some of these others mentioned, was a fairly quick recovery. For the hip, it was the best thing she could have done, she lived another 10 years without a hint of trouble. Well, in the hip that is, unfortunately they think due to the anesthetic (spelling), it caused very quick onset alzheimers - I'm sure not a problem for you though.

My mother in law had one done about 5 years ago and she was up on it the next day. Probably took her 6 weeks before she was confident to walk on it without assistance.

Unfortunately, when she had the second one done a year or so later, they damaged a nerve and she lost all feeling in her foot. It took about three years before she got enough feeling back to be able to walk without a stick.

Originally Posted by abitfishy

Although a long time ago, my grandmother had a hip replacement and, like some of these others mentioned, was a fairly quick recovery. For the hip, it was the best thing she could have done, she lived another 10 years without a hint of trouble. Well, in the hip that is, unfortunately they think due to the anesthetic (spelling), it caused very quick onset alzheimers - I'm sure not a problem for you though.

In my case it was suggested after some discussion that an epidural would be far less problematic. I went ahead with that and would recomend it to anyone.
less chance of complications because your heart and lungs are fully working on thier own, whilst under a general aenesthetic you have to have support for both these functions, thereby increasing the risk of complications.
I know that some people will mention the death rate and rate of permanant damage to patients having an epidural but what is never mentioned is that the figures are even higher with a general aenesthetic.

Denn

This thread is most timely, and definitely worth adding to my WWFindex.txt. I expect I'll need similar attention in the not-too-distant future, and can provide the link to my ortho if he/she is so disposed. The minimal incision is very intriguing. As some have said, the sooner you get up and about, the more rapid the recovery. I think that applies to most surgeries in our more enlightened times, even as far back as about 20 years.

By chance, a few years ago, I visited a garage sale, and came upon a set of acetabular spherical reamers. All I really wanted was the aluminium case. The reamers were a bonus: from 38mm to 76mm in 1mm increments. That should almost cover the range from children to horses. I think it must have been a salesman's sample box, but the seller was too busy on his cell phone for extended conversation; although he did say they could be used on timber. One of the reamers, about 43mm IIRC, was suitable for a ball-and-socket connection using a golf ball. Later investigation via the weird wild web suggested a base price in the neighbourhood of US$10,000; I paid US$7 for the set and a companion empty aluminium case. Not gloating, mind you; I haven't found any other application.

DIY hip replacement is of course beyond my ambition. Some things can be carried too far.

Joe