Hip Surgery

All about Hip Surgery Recovery

Hip surgery recovery comes with a very slow rehabilitation process. In fact, the swelling tends to remain a serious problem for the majority of patients. While every person will recover at different rates, doctors still expect patients to go back to work within six to eight weeks when it comes to office jobs; when it comes to jobs that are physically demanding, it could take between three and six months. Going back to work also needs to be phased. During the first week, work should only be attended for three half-days; during the second week, two full days; during the third week, five half-days and during the fourth week, full-time.

After hip surgery, it is likely that the patient will have to stay in the hospital between three and five days. In several cases, patients might have to remain longer for rehabilitation; however, discharge usually happens in a week. If both hips are undergoing surgery, also known as "bilateral" hip surgery, it might take a patient longer for recovery in both the hospital and in rehabilitation after release from the hospital.


The kind of work that you do could determine how long it would take before you go back to work. Patients can usually go back to administrative work and desk jobs in no time; on average, it would take around six weeks after hip surgery. Patients that succeed very well could even return in just a week; however, the overall decision would be completely up to your discretion and that of your doctor. Going back to manual work would be much longer due to obvious reasons. On average, returning to jobs that require excessive activities and heavy lifting could take between three and six months.


Remember that complete recovery from hip surgery for the majority of patients would stand between six and twelve months. The day you can go back to work would be based on your personal progress during physical rehabilitation, your overall adjustment, and pain levels, after the hip surgery.


Rehabilitation therapy for hip surgery could take a few weeks, during which you might assess your overall performance to find out if you are prepared to go back to work or not. It would be recommended by doctors, in general, that active sports be delayed until a complete recovery has been reached. Within the first month, a walker is most probably going to be put to use. Plus, knee immobilizers are meant to be put to use during the night or while sleeping to stop the hip from getting dislocated. The majority of doctors ask for these immobilizers to be put to use for six weeks after hip surgery.

 

The overall recovery time after hip surgery would significantly differ from one patient to the next, so ensure that you talk to your doctor regarding any concerns that you might have related to hip surgery recovery and rehabilitation.