Hello !
And welcome to One Care Medical Center, an international orthopaedic hospital in Coimbatore. My name is Dr Salam and I am a full time practicing orthopaedic surgeon in Coimbatore.
In this blog post we are going to discuss on how painful an actual hip replacement surgery is going to be and also on what you must expect from the surgery.
The truth is when, when the hip joint is affected by arthritis, pain can usually be unbearable. The pain from a worn out joint can affect your day to day activities such as climbing a staircase, getting up from a chair or in general walking.
But all said and done, hip replacement surgeries are exceedingly safe. The silver lining in the sky is that, joint replacement procedures are becoming less invasive as well. This is due to the availability of better materials and utilization of newer surgical techniques. The newer techniques, involves placing smaller incisions in the body and also lesser cuts through the muscle and soft tissue, thereby the recovery time is faster.
What also more interesting is that, most surgeons have now started using local anaesthesia rather than general anaesthesia allowing safer recoveries for patients. With regional anaesthetics being used more and more frequently, the chances of bleeding are also much lesser.
However, in women, the story is slightly different….
After undergoing a hip replacement procedure, most likely your pain should have gone. Most individuals report an excellent reduction in pain scores (almost 80%) post surgery.
However, the pain of surgery will be there and most patients manage this very well with pain medications that are prescribed.
Recovery of course also depends on the presence of other co-existing medical conditions. The presence of Diabetes can slow down recovery significantly. No diabetic patients recover much faster though.
Furthermore, if you have not moved your hip for years, the muscles supporting the hip joint also atrophy (they shrink!). This can severely restrict your range of motion. You may never be able to recover your full range of motion if your muscles have not been used for long years before the surgery.
All said and done, hip replacement surgeries can positively ease your suffering!
While they may not be fun, if you are suffering from hip pain due to arthritis, a hip replacement surgery will definitely help you get back to all your usual activities. Most patients will achieve full recovery with 3 to 6 months post the procedure.
Regular physical therapy and sincerely following the advice of your ortho surgeon usually works wonders
I hope you enjoyed reading the short blog post!. Please do share this with all your friends and loved ones. This is Dr Abdul Salam, keep watching this space for more interesting reads!
