Five Top Tips for Recovering from a Hip Replacement

Recovering from surgery can be a long, painful and frustrating process, one where you must take it steady and follow the advice of your healthcare professionals. Hip replacements, especially, can involve a long recovery, especially later on in life.

If you’re due to have a hip replacement in the near future, then read on below as we list our top tips for a smooth, successful recovery.

1 | Prepare Your Home in Advance

Before going into surgery, you’ll want to ensure that your home is ready for you post-operation. You should reorganise your kitchen, bathroom and bedroom so that all your everyday essentials and anything else you may need are easily accessible.

You may also want to consider stairlift rental to make it easier and less painful to get up and down the stairs, especially considering that you’ll be in recovery for at least six weeks if not longer.

2 | Don’t be Afraid to Ask for Help

After receiving surgery, you may find that you struggle to complete daily activities that you would normally do with ease. For example, household chores like cooking and cleaning or shopping. As frustrating as this may be, there is no shame in asking for help.

It’s much better to ask for help from friends and family rather than risk causing yourself further pain or injury and slowing down your recovery.

3 | Do Gentle Exercises

As important as it is to rest and avoid over-exerting yourself after a hip replacement, you’ll still want to complete some gentle exercise where possible to avoid becoming stiff and hindering your recovery. This could include short walks around or outside your home using a walking aid.

You will also be given some physiotherapy exercises to help strengthen your hip and you may partake in some supervised physiotherapy, such as hydrotherapy, in the weeks following recovery.

4 | Eat a Nutritious Diet

Of course, it’s important to eat a healthy, balanced diet in general for your overall health, however this is even more important after undergoing surgery. This doesn’t mean going on a diet that limits your food groups, rather it means to ensure that you have a varied diet containing all the important nutrients – including protein, carbohydrates, fats and vitamins – all of which are needed to support your body’s healing process.

5 | Rest and Recover

It can be tempting to do a lot more than you should be after you return home after your operation, especially the longer your recovery period progresses, though it’s important that you don’t overdo it.

Whilst gentle exercise is recommended, it’s still essential that you rest your body after your hip replacement, since over-exertion can end up having the opposite effect and slow down your recovery. Instead, you will need to have patience and should find activities that you can do whilst resting that can keep you entertained.

Domestic Stairlifts in Aylesbury

Whether you’re due a hip replacement or would simply benefit from any easier way to go up and down your stairs without causing pain in your joints, then you should consider investing in a stairlift.

Here at Alfix, we offer a range of new and reconditioned stairlifts available to buy or rent. Get in touch with us today to discuss how we can meet your needs by emailing us at mail.alfixstairlifts.com or by calling us on 01926 334848.