8 Things I Wish I Knew Before Hip Replacement Surgery
Key takeaways:
If you have severe hip joint damage or pain that significantly affects your quality of life, you may be considering hip replacement surgery.
To prepare, you can have a medical evaluation and consult with an orthopedic surgeon.
Jennifer DeRosa, who has had both of her hips replaced, shares what she wishes she had known before her surgeries.
For more than 5 years, Jennifer DeRosa tried to figure out why her legs hurt after long walks. She also had throbbing pain that ran down her legs every night as she lay in bed.
It had to be her back, right? Had she pulled a muscle, fractured a bone, or developed cancer? Jennifer visited three different chiropractors and two spine specialists, repeatedly tried physical therapy, and got deep tissue massages. Doctors X-rayed her back and ordered MRIs, prescribed painkillers that didn’t help, and administered multiple cortisone shots.
“I tried everything that I could do,” says Jennifer, who is 53 and runs an online coaching business and an SEO agency. “I thought, ‘This shouldn’t be happening to me. I am not that old.’”
Then, one day last year, Jennifer, who lives in Sarasota, Florida, was out shopping when “all of a sudden, something happened. I could not walk without severe pain in my hip area,” she says. “It felt like sand or something in my [hip] socket. It was so, so painful.”
After a visit to an orthopedist, Jennifer finally had an answer: It was her hips, specifically the hip joints, where a lack of cartilage was forcing the bones to grind together, leading to arthritis.
“If the pain’s in the front, it’s the hips. If it’s in the back, it’s your back,” she recalls her doctor telling her.
When targeted cortisone shots didn’t help, Jennifer scheduled hip replacement surgeries. The first, on her left side, occurred in July 2022. Doctors replaced the right side in October 2022.
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Both surgeries were fast and effective. The procedure on her right side began at 7AM and was complete by 8:30AM. “I was home by noon. And I could walk,” she says. “My surgery was on a Monday. Saturday was my birthday, and I was out at a park with friends, listening to music.”
After each operation, Jennifer had physical therapy three times a week for about 2 months. One year later, she’s fully recovered. She runs. She kickboxes. She sleeps without pain.
“Sometimes I forget I even had surgery,” she says. “I literally don’t even think about it.”
Here are Jennifer’s tips for anyone considering hip replacement surgery.
1. Have the surgery sooner rather than later
Being younger and in better physical condition will speed recovery, Jennifer says.
“A lot of people think it’s for elderly people,” she says. “But don’t wait. Doctors used to say a hip replacement would last for 10 to 20 years. Now, they last longer. These should last for the rest of my life.”
2. Ask your surgeons where they’ll make their incision
Jennifer researched what to expect with her surgeries and how to prepare. She discovered that the placement of the incision makes a difference.
She wanted a frontal incision because it pushes the muscles aside to reach the hip socket, rather than entering through the back, which often involves cutting muscles. She recommends seeking a second opinion if your doctor wants to make an incision through the back.
3. Find out how your surgeon will close the incisions
Doctors used adhesive during Jennifer’s first surgery. The wound itched and oozed, which is how Jennifer learned she was allergic to the adhesive.
Her surgeon used staples to close her second surgery.
“If they’re using adhesive, ask them to do a spot test beforehand” to make sure you don’t have an allergic reaction, she says.
4. Increase your leg workouts before surgery, if possible
“If you have stronger muscles in the front of your legs, physical therapy is easier and you’ll recover faster,” Jennifer says.
5. Watch before you sit
Jennifer says the brown, antibacterial liquid applied to her wound before she left the hospital soaked through the bandage and her clothing.
“I still can’t get the stains out of my white leather couch,” she says.
6. Buy comfortable pants or shorts for your recovery
Jennifer also recommends buying oversized pants or shorts in soft fabrics like fleece to wear during your recovery.
“You have to pull your pants up and down when you go to the bathroom, and you’ll be walking around, and it’s so much easier,” she says.
She didn’t do this before her first surgery, but she did before the second, “and it was so much better.”
7. Be prepared: Some pain relievers can cause constipation
Jennifer found that some pain relievers she was prescribed after surgery made her constipated. She drank tea containing senna, a plant that has laxative qualities.
She says she also couldn’t drive while taking her medication, so she decided to stop taking the pain relievers as soon as she could.
8. Take charge of your physical therapy
Jennifer also did some research to find out how many physical therapy sessions her insurance would cover.
After her first surgery, she traveled for her physical therapy sessions. After her second, a physical therapist came to her home multiple times and had her repeat exercises to help in her recovery.
She eventually learned to do the exercises on her own and discontinued the at-home sessions so she could hold on to her insurance-allotted amount of physical therapy days. She built up her strength by herself and then resumed outpatient therapy.
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