Take Care Of Your Body And It Will Take Care Of You
If you’re reading this then you, or a loved one, must have a hip replacement coming up, or physical therapy for the inevitable hip pain that comes shortly after. Regular visits to a physical therapy center are essential in ensuring that the recovery post-surgery not only goes well but goes well in the right direction. You see, whenever our bodies experience an injury or some type of high-level stress the healing begins as soon as the event is over.
If the healing process is not properly nurtured, this can result in arthritis, tendinitis, and inflammation in the most common pain center with lower back pain. Hip pain and knee pain are also quite common and if allowed to continue untreated, or without being rehabilitated correctly after treatment can lead to further injury or fractures. When it comes to hip pain, an important process your local physical therapy center will have you going through as quickly as possible (sometimes even the same day as surgery) will be to walking on that hip.
Good Rest Includes Good Exercise
While this may sound counterintuitive, it is crucial to your recovery to be not only retraining your muscles how to move correctly to avoid injury in the future but also will ensure that life-giving blood circulation will not stagnate in that area due to lack of use because of discomfort. In the physical therapy center, whether it’s at the hospital or elsewhere, it is also important that you learn how to use your legs and hips during recovery in a way that won’t create further pain, discomfort, or even potential re-injury. Part of this process usually involves an initial two week period (on average) in which you will be taking it easy and not doing anything to physically exert yourself.
The general landmark for being able to resume more hip-intensive activities such as driving is closer to six weeks and will usually have full function within a few months. In fact, patients commonly report reaching better than full function after a few months, as the surgery and physical therapy that followed trained them to use their muscles and joints even better than before!
To maximize your comfort and speedy recovery post-surgery make sure you are keeping the incision dry at all times, this includes when washing. For the time being, stick to sponge baths. If you do spot any redness, drainage, or fever, report it to your doctor immediately as it may be a sign of infection. Make sure you are moving as much as possible without causing pain or discomfort! This is one of the best ways to speed up recovery, it signals to your body that you want to be using it and the body will respond with more blood flow to the “squeaky hinge” in the hip.
Make Life Easy On Yourself
While most of what you will need to know and do will be covered at the physical therapy center, it is important to do some preparation in your home as well. Move furniture around to facilitate how you anticipate you will be moving for the next few months. If you have a second floor or basement, bring essential items to the main floor and make wide pathways to keep your life as simple as possible. As you walk, make sure to avoid “pidgeon-toeing” which rotates the hip inward in an unhealthy way. And as you sit, keep from crossing your legs, which would put strain and pressure on the hips. Again, the best way to ensure that you are doing everything you need to be is to maintain close communication with your hospital doctor or physical therapy center therapist. If you do this, you will also avoid spending quite a bit of extra money. In fact, patients who undergo physical therapy spend $2,736.23 less on average on medical costs. As always, if you have any uncertainties or questions, even about this article, speak with them before taking any action.
