So, you just had your hip surgery and there is nothing that you can do about the fact that you have to care for the wounds until they are healed completely. The staff in your orthopedic specialty clinic will recommend you a few tips and steps to recover safely.
Once you’ve had a hip replacement, you might expect your lifestyle to be just as it was before surgery — but without the discomfort. You’re correct in several respects, but getting back to your everyday life can take time. Being an involved partner in the recovery cycle will help you get there faster and guarantee a more positive result.
And if you’re going to be able to continue much of your tasks, you may have to adjust the way you perform them. For starters, you may need to learn different ways to bend down to keep your different hip healthy. The tips you’ll find here should help you appreciate your freshly operated hip as you comfortably continue your everyday routine.
Hospital Discharge
After the surgery, the hospital stay is usually as long as 3 to 4 days. It might be longer depending on the condition you are in but if you are overall in better shape, you might not require a lot of days in the hospital.
Some of the tasks that you need to complete before getting out of the hospital doors are:
- Getting out of the bed all by you.
- Having not a lot of discomfort and pain as day 1.
- At least being able to use the loo and consume food all by you.
- Ability to walk with a cane or crutches.
- Being able to climb 2 or 3 stairs.
- Ability to perform exercises for faster recovery.
But, what if I cannot perform all these tasks before leaving the hospital?
Well, in that case, what you can do is to stay in the hospital for a couple of more days as it might be unsafe and extremely hectic for you to manage everything. If your hospital cannot facilitate you any longer, you can transfer yourself to a rehabilitation center.
Discharged from Hospital and In the Home
If you are out of the hospital it sincerely does not mean that you are a hundred percent healthy and ready to jump around. Stitches take time to heal and you’ll require some support at home from a couple days to several weeks following discharge. During the operation, plan for a relative, family member, or caregiver to support at home.
The following suggestions will help make your return home more secure and should be discussed before the surgery:
- Rearrange the furniture so that you will use a wheelchair, walker or crutches. You should briefly adjust the rooms (for starters, render the living room your bedroom) to eliminate the usage of the stairs.
- Place commonly utilized things (e.g. computers, remote controls, shoes, pitchers and glasses, reading materials and medicines) within convenient reach so that you don’t have to climb up or lean over.
- Hire someone or get the food delivered for you as standing for longer durations in front of the heat might be extremely dangerous.
- You can also purchase a recliner which most orthopedic specialty clinic doctors recommend for good spine and hip health.
- For showers, you can arrange an adjustable shower seat as sitting in a bathtub or standing in a shower might be extremely uncomfortable at this stage.
- Care for the wounds at home becomes much more difficult and for that purpose, you need to be extra careful about not hurting yourself.
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- Hold the wound spotlessly clean and always dry. The dressing can be required in the hospital and will be adjusted as much as instructed by the doctor. Ask for guidance about how to adjust your dressing before you exit the facility.
- Follow the doctor’s directions about how long to sit before you take a shower or bath.
- If the wound becomes swollen or starts to drip, inform the doctor immediately. It could be a symptom of infection.
Carefully Taking All Medications
Take all drugs as instructed by your doctor. Home prescriptions can include opioid and non-opioid pain killers, oral or injectable blood thinners, stool softeners, and anti-nausea drugs.
Make sure to speak to a doctor about all the medications — including over-the-counter medicines, nutrients, and vitamins. Your doctor will advise you which over-the-counter medications are appropriate to use if you are taking prescribed pain medication.
This is especially necessary to avoid the creation of any bacterial infections in your artificial joint. Many people in specific conditions can need to take antibiotics before surgery to help avoid infection.
Maintain a Good Diet throughout Recovery
You will be consuming a regular diet by the time you head home from the hospital. Your doctor can prescribe that you take supplements of iron and vitamins. You might also be recommended to stop drugs that contain vitamin K and vitamin K-rich diets while you are taking warfarin (Coumadin) the blood thinner medicine.
Vitamin K-rich products contain broccoli, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, kidney, green beans, garbanzo beans, lentils, soya beans, soybean oil, spinach, kale, lettuce, turnip greens, cabbage, and onions.
Apart from food, don’t forget to drink a lot of fresh fluids, non-alcoholic of course, to maintain good blood flow and keep the inner wound oxidized for a faster recovery.
What You Shouldn’t Be Doing?
- Do not sit in a cross-legged posture for at least 6 to 8 weeks.
- Don’t raise your leg to the tip of your thigh.
- Don’t lean over whether you’re walking or lying back.
- Don’t rush to pick up something on the floor when you’re lying down.
- When you sit over, don’t switch your foot unnecessarily inward or outward.
- Don’t reach back and put the covers up while you’re lying in bed.
- Don’t curve past 90 degrees in the waist.
Conclusion
Caring for the hip after surgery is extremely important and the doctors suggest that you spend an adequate amount of time at the hospital before moving to the house where you will be taking further precautions.
