Clinically reviewed by What is hip replacement recovery
A hip replacement removes the worn ball and socket and replaces them with an artificial joint, kolhe ka operation. It is one of the most reliable operations in orthopaedics, and most people are surprised how fast the old pain goes.
The difficulty afterwards is not pain. It is that for the first weeks the new joint can slip out of its socket if the hip is taken into certain positions while the tissues around it heal. Those positions are what hip precautions are about.
Your surgeon decides which precautions apply and for how long, because they depend on how the hip was approached.
Symptoms you might have
- The old hip pain largely gone within days, which is the usual experience
- New pain from the wound and the muscles that were moved, settling over a few weeks
- Swelling and bruising around the hip and thigh, sometimes reaching the knee
- A feeling that the operated leg is a different length, common early and usually settling
- Thigh ache and tiredness when walking further than usual
- A limp that persists until the hip muscles are strong again
Why it happens
- Bending the hip past about ninety degrees, which low chairs, sofas and low beds all do
- Crossing the legs, or letting the operated leg roll across the middle of the body
- Turning the operated leg inwards, particularly while standing and twisting
- Sitting on the floor and getting up again, which combines deep bending with twisting
- Squatting, including on a squat toilet, which takes the hip to its deepest range
- Falls, which are the other main cause of early problems
When you should see a physiotherapist
All of this sits under your surgeon's instructions: which precautions apply, how long they last, how much weight the leg may take and when you may drive. Precautions commonly run six to twelve weeks, and some surgeons use very few. Ask for yours in writing.
Physiotherapy usually starts in hospital the day of or after surgery. Come in early if nothing was arranged, because the walking pattern and the hip muscles need early attention.
Go to a hospital immediately if the hip suddenly becomes very painful, the leg looks shorter or turned out, and you cannot bear weight. That can be a dislocation. Contact your surgeon the same day for a hot, red, swollen or leaking wound or a fever. Go to hospital for a hot, swollen, painful calf, with or without breathlessness, or for sudden chest pain or breathlessness.
Al-Shama Physiotherapy Clinic
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اپائنٹمنٹ کے بارے میں پوچھیںAppointment ke liye poochein
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یہ فارم پُر کریں؛ واٹس ایپ پر آپ کی تفصیلات کے ساتھ پیغام تیار ہو جائے گا۔Yeh form bharein, WhatsApp aap ki tafseel ke saath khul jaye ga.
How it is treated
The first session covers your precautions, sets up your home, checks how you are walking and tests which hip muscles have switched off. The gluteals are usually the problem, and they are what removes the limp.
- Exercise therapy for the gluteals, quadriceps and trunk, progressed from lying to standing to step work
- Gait retraining, walker to crutches to stick to nothing, with the limp corrected deliberately rather than left to fade
- Manual therapy to the thigh, lower back and surrounding tissue, away from the wound and within your precautions
- Cryotherapy, compression and elevation for swelling in the early weeks
- Balance and falls prevention, which matters as much as strength in the first three months
- Stairs, car transfers and bed mobility practised step by step, since these are where precautions get broken unnoticed
Ultrasound, electrotherapy, needling and cupping are not used over the replaced joint or a healing wound. Nothing in physiotherapy changes the implant, and further surgery is your surgeon's decision alone.
Exercises, and what to avoid
What helps
- Ankle pumps and static gluteal and quadriceps contractions, started the first day and repeated hourly
- Hip abduction, taking the leg out to the side, the main muscle for walking without a limp
- Standing knee bends, heel raises and marching on the spot while holding a support
- Short walks several times a day, and sit to stand from a high firm chair
What to avoid
- Low chairs, sofas, floor cushions, low beds and squatting, until your surgeon lifts the precautions
- Crossing the legs, including in bed, and sleeping on the operated side early on
- Bending to the floor for socks, shoes or dropped items. Use a long handled aid or ask someone
- Twisting on the operated leg. Lift the foot and step round instead
What you can do at home
Sit high, with hips above knees. A firm dining chair with arms, and nothing soft that you sink into.
The bathroom needs planning before you come home. A squat pan cannot be used while precautions are in place. A commode chair over it, or a raised toilet seat, are the usual answers.
Floor sitting for meals is out for the same reason, so use a chair and table during those weeks. Many people return to floor sitting afterwards, but deep squatting often stays limited.
Sitting on a chair to pray is the normal arrangement while precautions are in place, and your surgeon will say when floor positions may be tried again. What is religiously required is a question for a scholar.
Sleep on your back at first, with a pillow between the knees if you are allowed to turn.
How long it takes
Most people walk with a frame or crutches on the first or second day, move to a stick within two to four weeks, and walk unaided between four and eight weeks, depending on strength beforehand.
Precautions commonly last six to twelve weeks. Driving is often around six weeks and office work four to six, but both are your surgeon's decision.
By three months most people manage daily life normally, with a near normal walking pattern and no aid. Strength and the last of the limp keep improving for six to twelve months.
Recovery is slower if the hip was very stiff or weak beforehand, and if the gluteal strengthening stops once the pain has gone.
Urdu / Roman Urdu
Choose your reading script / اپنی پسند کا رسم الخط منتخب کریں
اردوUrdu script
کولہے کا آپریشن درد کے لیے بہت کامیاب ہے۔ پہلے ہفتوں میں اصل مسئلہ درد نہیں، احتیاط ہے، کیونکہ نیا جوڑ اپنی جگہ سے نکل سکتا ہے۔
عام طور پر چھ سے بارہ ہفتے یہ احتیاط ہوتی ہے: کولہا نوے ڈگری سے زیادہ نہ موڑیں، ٹانگیں کراس نہ کریں، اور آپریشن والی ٹانگ اندر نہ گھمائیں۔ آپ کے لیے کیا احتیاط ہے، سرجن بتائے گا۔
اونچی اور سخت کرسی پر بیٹھیں، کولہا گھٹنے سے اونچا۔ ان ہفتوں میں زمین پر بیٹھنا اور دیسی بیت الخلا ممکن نہیں، کموڈ کرسی کا بندوبست پہلے کر لیں۔ نماز کرسی پر پڑھنا ان دنوں میں عام بندوبست ہے۔
اگر کولہے میں اچانک سخت درد ہو، ٹانگ چھوٹی یا باہر مڑی لگے اور وزن نہ اٹھا سکے، تو فوراً ہسپتال جائیں۔
Roman Urdu
Kolhe ka operation dard ke liye bohat kaamyab hai. Pehle hafton mein asal masla dard nahi, ehtiyat hai, kyunke naya jor apni jagah se nikal sakta hai.
Aam tor par chhe se barah hafte ye ehtiyat hoti hai: kolha nabbe degree se zyada na morain, taangein cross na karen, aur operation wali taang andar na ghumayen. Aap ke liye kya ehtiyat hai, surgeon batayega.
Oonchi aur sakht kursi par baithen, kolha ghutne se ooncha. In hafton mein zameen par baithna aur desi toilet mumkin nahi, commode chair ka bandobast pehle kar len. Namaz kursi par parhna in dinon mein aam bandobast hai.
Agar kolhe mein achanak sakht dard ho, taang chhoti ya bahar mudi lagay aur wazan na utha sake, to foran hospital jayen.
Treatment at the clinic, and online
INFORMATION → INDIVIDUAL CARE
A plan built around you.
Talk with Dr. Zahra Fatima, DPT. Understand your next steps, with guidance for your own symptoms and daily routine.
Talk it through
Discuss your symptoms, what you find difficult and what you want to get back to.
Understand your next steps
Use the consultation to discuss which care and exercises fit your situation.
Take your plan with you
Your online consultation includes a written plan you can refer to afterwards.
Questions people ask
How long do hip precautions last?
Can I use a squat toilet after a hip replacement?
How should I sleep after a hip replacement?
When can I walk without a stick?
Will I be able to sit on the floor again?
Related conditions
- Rehabilitation after a fracture
- Recovery after knee replacement
- Recovery after ACL surgery
- Physiotherapy after surgery
- Sports injury treatment