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

Prepare Your Home in Advance

Before going into surgery, you’ll want to ensure that your home is ready for you post-operation. Making sure your everyday essentials are close to where you will be recovering can help prevent you from needing to bend or move painfully once you arrive home. These essentials might include a water bottle, medications, reading materials and chargers for your devices.

Rest and Recover

Directly after your surgery, you will need to rest in the hospital, monitored by healthcare specialists. Here, you will be given medicine to help you manage the pain, as well as help from nurses and physiotherapists to help you start walking as soon as possible. If the surgery and healing go well, you will likely be able to return home between one and three days after your surgery.

It can be tempting to do a lot more than you should after you return home after your operation, especially the longer your recovery period progresses, though you mustn’t overdo it. Find activities that you can do whilst resting that can keep you entertained, such as crosswords and jigsaw puzzles.

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. Walking regularly every day, as far as it is comfortable, can help you recover. While you’re recovering, it’s important not to sit with your legs crossed or sit in a low chair where it will be difficult to raise your body again. Instead, try sitting in a reclining position.

Install a Stairlift

Introducing mobility aids to your home before having your surgery can also be beneficial for the recovery process. Stairlifts, in particular, are useful tools that can make travelling between floors safer. Stairlifts will make it easier and less painful to get up and down the stairs, while also reducing the risk of falls while travelling. Falls can result in major complications for people recovering from a hip replacement, making stairlifts a highly beneficial solution.

Stairlifts in Milton Keynes and Beyond

Whether you’re due for a hip replacement or would simply benefit from an easier way to go up and down your stairs without causing pain in your joints, then you should consider investing in a stairlift. At Alfix, we offer a range of stairlifts, from straight stairlifts in Oxford to curved stairlifts in Redditch. Get in touch with us today to discuss how we can meet your needs.