| Hip replacement is one of the most successful | | | | want to put your feet up for a rest or to reduce |
| medical technologies. Hundreds of thousands of | | | | swelling. This is fine as long as you don't lean forward |
| people have their hips replaced every year, the vast | | | | for something. If you want to lean forward, take |
| majority with every expectation of many years of | | | | your feet down first. |
| pain-free function from their new joint. | | | | 5. Avoid rotating with your weight on the new joint. |
| But can you go on with your life just the same after | | | | This is similar to point 3 above. Standing on your |
| your hip is replaced? Not exactly. Even though your | | | | replaced hip and swinging your bodyweight around |
| pain will be gone, it is wise to remember that a new | | | | puts huge leverages on the hip. Get used to moving |
| hip is not your old hip. You will find you can go back | | | | your legs to get into a new position, leading with the |
| to do all the things you used to do, the walking, the | | | | replaced one. |
| activities, the hobbies and the jobs, without pain. But | | | | 6. Take care when sitting down. The correct |
| it's useful to observe a few thoughts about your | | | | technique will soon become automatic, but sitting |
| new hip if you are going to get the best long term | | | | down can be a risk. When we sit, our body weight |
| use from it. | | | | forces our hips into a new position. This is fine as |
| Your new hip is different. It is steel alloy and plastic, | | | | long as it does not happen too fast or go too far. |
| the ball of the hip being much smaller than your | | | | Sitting onto an unexpectedly deep sofa would be an |
| original one. The steel thigh component is often | | | | example of an risky scenario. Know your chair heights |
| cemented into the shaft of the femur. The metal | | | | so you don't get surprises, with 18 inches being a |
| and plastic parts bend in different ways to the bone | | | | minimum. Chairs with arms are best as they allow you |
| into which they are inserted, setting up stresses | | | | to let yourself down in a controlled way. |
| across the junctions. The artificial materials do not | | | | 7. Avoid high impact activities. I know you want to |
| have the ability to become inflamed and then heal like | | | | do things you haven't been able to, but there is a |
| our own tissues, so if they become altered then | | | | price to be paid for having an artificial joint, if you |
| they will either stay that way or worsen. | | | | want it to last. What you can do with it and what |
| You want to ensure a long, pain-free life for your hip | | | | you should do are two quite different things. |
| replacement. Revision surgery, where the hip is | | | | Avoid sports and activities such as running and |
| redone, is not the same as the original surgery in | | | | jumping, carrying heavy weights, repetitive heavy |
| many ways. Apart from the fact that it is another | | | | work, football, rugby, soccer, squash, downhill skiing |
| operation to undergo with its attendant risks, revision | | | | and anything else which requires extreme joint |
| surgery is harder to perform and the satisfaction | | | | stresses. You really want your joint to last more than |
| scores of patients afterwards are lower than with | | | | twenty years. Invest the care in it and it will. |
| first time surgery. First time is best. | | | | Suitable activities could include walking, cycling, |
| There are things you can do to keep your new joint | | | | swimming, bowls, cross-country skiing, amongst |
| in good shape for as long as possible: | | | | others. Take advice if you are unsure. |
| 1. Observe the post-operative advice. The team who | | | | For more detail about what goes on in the interfaces |
| take you through the procedure are experts at | | | | between the metal, bone and cement, see The 5 |
| getting the best results. If they ask you to do this or | | | | facts of implant fixation. |
| to avoid that, then observe their recommendations. | | | | 8. Avoid crossing your legs when you sit. This puts |
| There are always good reasons behind treatment | | | | the hip into a more vulnerable position and should |
| programs, along with many years of experience. Use | | | | certainly be avoided during the first three months |
| this knowledge. | | | | after surgery. Many people do cross their legs later |
| 2. Observe the weight-bearing instructions. Every | | | | on without ill effects but it remains a risk to some |
| operation is different and there may be different | | | | extent. |
| instructions for you depending on how the surgery | | | | 7. Avoid bending over rapidly. This can cause |
| went and what the surgeon hopes to achieve. | | | | impingement on the socket like leaning forward too |
| Sticking to the recommended weight through your | | | | far, and risks dislocation. Using a long handled reacher |
| joint is very important. You may well find you can | | | | and a long shoe horn can be sensible. |
| put much greater weight, even your whole | | | | 8. If you get an infection, tell your doctor straight |
| bodyweight, on the new hip. However, what you can | | | | away. Infection is the single biggest risk for |
| do and what is wise are two different things, so pay | | | | successful joint replacements. Infections such as |
| attention to the instruction and carry it out until told | | | | teeth, urinary or chest can spread to an artificial joint |
| otherwise. | | | | via the bloodstream, either in illness or during a |
| 3. Avoid getting your thigh too close to your chest. | | | | procedure. Consult your doctor or dentist and get |
| The angle between the chest and the thigh should | | | | the problem sorted early on. This applies no matter |
| not be less than 90 degrees. If your new hip bends | | | | how old your replacement is. |
| too much, the neck of the thigh component can | | | | 9. Enjoy yourself! Despite these restrictions, the |
| impinge against the plastic socket component, | | | | positive aspects of joint replacement vastly outweigh |
| levering the hip out of the socket. This is called | | | | the negative ones, so go on, enjoy all the things |
| dislocation and is potentially a significant problem as it | | | | you've wanted to do, without the pain. |
| can then recur. When you reach down to your | | | | Even though these precautions are mostly more |
| shoes, let your knee fall outwards so you reach | | | | important during the initial 6 to 12 weeks after |
| down between your legs, and do it slowly until you | | | | surgery, they remain sensible guidance over the long |
| feel secure. | | | | term. |
| 4. Watch putting your feet up. You may feel you | | | | |