Hip Replacement Guidebook
Physical & Occupational Therapy
Hip Replacement Guidebook Home | Getting Ready for Surgery | What to Expect the Day of Surgery | Physical & Occupational Therapy | At Home After Surgery
You will meet an occupational therapist in your preoperative joint class. You will also see one during your hospital stay. He/she will show you how to use equipment that will help you dress and reach for items. These include:
- Long reacher and/or dressing stick
- Long-handled sponge
- Sock aid
- Long shoehorn
Dressing yourself
- When dressing your lower body, sit in a chair or at the edge of your bed.
- Don't reach further than your knees when sitting.
- Dress the surgical leg first.
- Keep your surgical leg straight out in front of you while dressing.
How do I go up and down stairs?
- Go up with the unoperated leg first.
- Go down with the operated leg first.
What if I trip and fall?
If you are hurt, DO NOT try to get up. Call for help.
If you are not hurt:
- Scoot on your buttocks to the base of the stairs
- Bring a crutch or your walker
- Bump up two or three stairs
- Use the railing to get up and then come back down, or
- Put a foot stool in front of chair
- Bump up onto the stool and then onto chair
Preventing hip dislocation
Follow these guidelines until you see your surgeon for your first follow-up appointment, which will be four to six weeks after surgery. Our team strongly recommends these tips to avoid accidentally dislocating your new hip. It is important to note that you may not feel discomfort or pain until it’s too late so you need to know your limits as you go through the healing process.
Flexing the hip joint
- Avoid flexing the joint to more than a right angle or 90 degrees. To help you, we recommend that you wear:
- Clothing with an elastic waist
- Shoes that slip on and off easily
- Socks that fit loosely
- If you prefer shoes with shoestrings, switch to elastic laces that will allow you to slip them on and off rather than bending down to tie them.
- Do not cross your legs.
- When you are in bed, your toes should be pointing up.
- When standing or sitting, your toes should face forward.
No twisting
- Do not reach across yourself to get something, instead use the hand on the same side as the item.
- Try to avoid pivoting on the leg that was operated on when you are turning, standing, or walking.
1. Ankle pumps: the most important exercise of all
- While lying down or reclined on the bed, point your toes up to the ceiling and then point down as far as you can go.
- Repeat ten times every hour.
2. Buttocks exercises
- While lying down or reclined, pinch your buttocks (“cheeks”) together.
- Hold for a count of five, then relax.
- Do ten repetitions, six to eight times daily.
3. Inner-thigh exercises
- While lying down or reclined, squeeze a pillow between your knees to tighten the muscles of your inner thighs.
- Hold for a count of five, then relax.
- Do ten repetitions, six to eight times daily.
4. Thigh exercises (to strengthen muscles on front of thigh)
- While lying down or reclined, have someone place a rolled-up towel underneath the knee of the operated leg.
- Push the back of that knee down and try to straighten your leg.
- The muscles on the front of your thigh should tighten.
- Hold for a count of five, then relax.
- Do ten repetitions, six to eight times daily.
5. Hamstring muscle exercises
- While lying down or reclined, dig your heel into the bed (or your recliner's foot rest).
- You should feel the muscles on the back of your thigh tighten.
- The back of your knee should lift off the bed slightly.
- Do ten repetitions, six to eight times daily.
6. Heel slides
- While lying on your back, bend the knee on the operated side with your heel touching the bed the entire time.
- Then flatten out your foot.
- Slide your foot back down and slowly straighten your leg.
- Do ten repetitions, three times daily.
7. Quadriceps exercises
- While lying on your back, have someone place a rolled pillow under the knee on your operated side.
- Lift your foot up to make the knee straight.
- The back of the knee should not come off the pillow.
- Do ten repetitions, three times daily.
8. Sliding exercises
- While on your back, keep your legs straight with your toes pointed up to the ceiling.
- Move your operated leg out to the side by sliding it across the bed.
- You can use a leg lifter to help move your leg.
- Slide your leg back to its original position.
- Do ten repetitions, three times daily
9. Knee bending and straightening
- Sit slouched in a chair.
- Bend your knee on the operated side as far as you can with the foot on the floor.
- Hold steady for 30-60 seconds if possible, then release.
- Lift your foot up to straighten your leg. Hold for 30-60 seconds. You should feel tension in your front thigh muscles, then release.
- Do five repetitions, three to four times daily.
10. Standing hip and knee bends
- Stand while holding onto firm support (either a solid chair or your walker).
- Lift your leg on the operated side up in front of you and bend your knee.
- Do not let your knee go higher than your hip.
- Then, bring your foot straight up behind you, toward your buttocks.
- Do not move your foot side to side.
- Do ten repetitions of each, three to four times daily.
