I am due to have my right hip replaced on 17th January and to say I am terrified is putting it mildly. I go for my pre op on Tuesday.
I was wondering if anybody has had it done and do you think it was worthwhile ??
I am in really bad pain with it and also in lower back, cannot walk it’s that bad. Frightened of having it done and still have this pain in my back. I am 73 years old, might not be as bad if I was twenty years younger lol. Just looking for reassurance I am doing the right thing.
My sister in law had it done last year after several years of pain and reduced mobility, and the relief from the pain of movement was almost immmediate. She felt that the way she was walking beforehand was what was putting strain on her back as much as the affected hip, and very much just wished she had done it sooner. I understand your fear, but surely it’s got to be worth a try? Just make sure you do your post-op exercises religiously. Hope that helps!
That’s what they think at the hospital that the back pain is walking in a funny position due to the hip. I hope so as the back pain is unbearable at times. Many thanks for your reply.
Hi pip12,
I had my hip replaced when I was 68. I suffered for 4 years and tried PT, acupuncture, nothing worked. One doctor told me I should wait until I was older...I laughed and asked him how old I had to be, he didn't really answer me. The bottom line is it was such a relief, the terrible pain was gone almost immediately. I wished I had done it sooner. As Soreknees said, do your exercises before surgery and after and you will do just fine. I'm 72 and my other hip is acting up and I won't hesitate to replace it if it gets worse. Best wishes, Kjok
Thanks Kjok, they have been wanting me to have it done for a couple of years and I kept putting it off. The Rheumy made me laugh, he said what are you worrying about, you are only a bit of a girl yet and still young for this op. He made me feel a bit happier but what he said next persuaded me. He said it’s all about quality of life and that got to me. I have no quality of life at the moment. I cannot do anything because of the pain.
So here goes in for a penny in for a pound as the say. Thankyou for your reply.
Go for it
I’ve had both hips replaced and both knees
And I had aright hip revision dec2017
When I had my first op in 2000 I was working for nhs
And within a few months I was back working
Best wishes
Thanks Dixiedeane147, after all the positive response, definitely feel better about it and will give it a go xx
Good luck I’m sure you will be fine😀
I have RA and had both my hips replaced when I was 37 and am now 63. My advice would be to do the physio as advised and then don't try to run before you can walk! It takes time for your muscles to fully heal. That dreadful pain will go. Be sensible and careful. My hips, touch wood, are now 26 years old! You won't regret having this op done, even if you are uncomfortable for a few months getting used to how your new joint feels.
Please dont be terrified. But tell them you are at pre op. I have two hips done a year apart 14 yrs ago. 2 knees again separately 4 yrs ago and this yr a shoulder . I can honestly say the pain goes on waking up. Hard work and physio but as long as you do it all you will do well. Don't leave hospital till you can get up stairs with a physio and youll need a loo frame The pain relief and gained mobility are so worth it. I definitely feel rebuilt and very grateful. Do tell them you're worries all the way through but super good luck for pain relief. X
Hi . I am 54 I have had my right hip replaced 5 years ago .The best thing I ever did and I am having the other hip replacement left side now in the next few weeks. I can't wait the pain I'm is unbeatable. The recovery for hip replacement is so easy. I had a knee replacement and hand and foot reconstruction. The hip replacement was the easiest and less painful than all the other ops. Pleaae don't worry the quality of your life after the op will be worthwhile 🌻
Hi
well I've had knee replacement so nearly the same! Lol. erm defo do it, I'm 54 now had new knee at 52. they didn't want to do it because j was too young, but I was in crippling pain.
I was scared to death too , but it's the best thing I've ever done and would not hesitate to get the other one done.
my biggest advice would be see a physio before and you will see one after as with after a knee op it's the physio which is the key to success .
I can't stress this enough, it will hurt but you got to do it for going results.
And I believe hip operation is less intrusive
So defo go for it ! good luck and you will be fine .xxxx
I’ve just had my third hip replacement and I was still terrified, but I can honestly say do it! The pain you are in now will be so much better afterwards. Make sure you tell them at your pre-op, if you are worried about the general anaesthetic then you can discuss your options for sedation and a spinal injection or as I had a spinal injection and no sedation. My first two were under general and I don’t react well to it. I recovered after surgery much quicker this time and was out of hospital after 3 days (compared to 9 previously). Good luck 🙂
I was so worried about having knees done but it’s restored a lot of mobility so well worth while. You might have to wait a bit after you arrive so don’t be put off about that. I hope you’re ok on the day, let us know how you get on.
Thanks Cathie, pleased to hear you have got a lot of your mobility back, makes you think it’s well worth the op. I will let you know how I get on xx
I hope our solidarity helps! I found that getting a bit of physio in doing exercises helped me a lot. I got a pedals thing for exercise too but I dont know if that's good for hips. Do the exercises religiously(!) organise so you can rest as much as you need. My partner had one hip done and was back to hill walking in the year. I think being quite fit helped him. I took exercising at my own quite slow pace and can now walk to the local shops and things like that. XX
My elderly father in law (70s) walked the West Highland Way after he had his hips done.
Paddy says walking improves the pain in his hip - he’s due to get assessed for a replacement soon
No walking did nothing for my other half before his hip replacement. He was in agony and bent over. Driving was awful too. Think he had bone rubbing on bone.
The final straw for him was staying in a holiday rental that was minutes down a very street hil to town. Getting back up pretty much finished him off, he was practically on his hands and knees.
We got back on a Sunday and first thing on the Monday morning he was off down to his doctor and arranged to see a consultant. That was in March and he was done in November having been cancelled twice.
His hip didn’t just affect his quality of life - it affected mine too. I found it very hard to watch him hobble about. He kept working until the last gasp - he has a job he really loves and I suppose it took his mind off the pain but I really don’t know where he found the strength to do it.
I do have to say that he was extremely determined to do exactly what he wanted to do! On the other hand when he wasn’t working we didn’t do anything. So although he had the pain my life pretty much ground to a halt too.
I found the whole business very depressing to be honest, I don’t know if he cared that I couldn’t bear to see him staggering around saying there was nothing wrong with him etc. when it was obvious to everyone apart from him he had a major problem.
I couldn’t believe it when he said after his op that if he needed his other leg done he would do it right away. Men!
FruitAndnutcase. This is how I feel, I have no life at all now. I have always been very active. Broke my heart at Christmas, couldn’t clean the house had to rely on O/H but men don’t clean like women. I love baking, mince pies, Christmas cake etc all that’s gone. Christmas dinner was from M & S which o/h had to do. Just feel so useless now. Just hope I can do some of it again.
It says a lot that your hubby says he wouldn’t hesitate at getting the other one done. It does help to reassure me xx
Indeed! My partner has put it off TIL now so I hope he gets it done quickly now.
I have several friends who have new hips and they all say its a blessing. So look forward to it. All the best.
Thanks stbernhard, this is good to hear that your friends think it is all worthwhile. Gives me more confidence.
My sister has recently had a hip replacement at the age of 82 (she has RD as well). She is doing well back to driving her car after six weeks, doing her shopping at the market, socialising as she normally does. She is a very determined person and had twice daily physio to start with in a sort of half - way place after discharge from hospital as she lives on her own.
Can you pin-point what it is that frightens you? Is it the anaesthetic? or being dependent on other people?
Hi old timer, it’s so good to hear your sister is doing so well at the age of 82. I have family who will look after me after the op, no problems there. I am apprehensive at the anaesthetic, frightened I will not wake up again. I think if I was a lot younger I wouldn’t be as feared. I wish I could feel determined like your sister, I feel so weak and frail, just hope I can cope with the pain and physio. I know I am looking on the dark side and there is a battle royal going on in my head, one half is saying positive things the other saying it might make things worse. Only one way to find out I suppose. Anyway thanks for your reply, it has helped.
I can remember talking to the anaesthetist before my last operation. I think they are very used to people being fearful. He was very reassuring explaining that I would have light sedation and then a spinal, so I would not be so deeply asleep and would not take long to come around afterwards. I was not keen on the muscle paralysis that a general anaesthetic is usually given with. Is a spinal a possibility for you?
He also assured me that I would be pain free for at least two days. I was - I had not had such a length of time pain free for years! But whatever he gave me made me rather high and emotional - I cried all over my son who came to see me unexpectedly!
Not to sure what kind of anaesthetic I am having. Can eat upto 7 am and drink water till 11am and due in the hospital at 2pm so I think it sounds like a general anaesthetic. I will ask at the pre op on Tuesday, never know there might be a choice. That being pain free for two days sounds wonderful, 2 hours at the moment sounds good. Anyway thanks for your help and advice, really appreciated xx
Don’t hesitate! I’ve just had mine done and from the op itself to now 2 months post-op it’s been amazing! Instantly no pain!!!! Now walking without pain and no sticks!! I’ve been on MTX 20mgs Injection, Hydroxychloquine 200mgs twice a day and Humira for three years which has controlled the RA amazingly well - so was a tad anxious about leaving off the MTX and Humira pre and postop - needn’t have worried - all has been fine. Recommend GO FOR IT!,
Please feel free to contact m3 with any questions/worries would be thrilled to share and reassure you!! Good luck
Hi there. I’m so sorry that you feel so frightened about your upcoming hip replacement. I feel your concern I really do as I have RA since 17 yrs old but please look at it as a positive decision. I had my first hip replacement at 22 in 1986 with the other following 3 yrs later. Yes I know I was young and was terrified like you are but believe me when I say, it completely changed my life! I was newly married and couldn’t walk without awful pain and limping. I still have to this day the same replacements 30+ yrs later. My consultant is amazed how long they’ve lasted in such a young person! Hip replacement s have come a long way since then with new techniques and are very successful!! I hope this helps you even in a small way. Good luck and Im sure you will be up on your feet in no time! 😃
Thankyou Chester02. Your words are very reassuring and just what I am needing right now. Feel a lot better with all the positive comments on here, the thought of being able to walk again is urging me on xx
Hi
I've had both my hips replaced I was only forty nine and fifty
The pain relief was immediate it really is worthwhile you will feel like a new person. Good luck
I haven’t pip but good luck and you’ll be pounding about in know time x
Hi Please don’t be afraid. I felt exactly the same as you in December and had my right hip replaced on the 19th. I’m having a flare due to no biologics for a while but the operation was very worthwhile
Hip and back pain less and I’m healing now. Be brave and kind to yourself. Let us know how you get on? Warmed wishes Lesley
Thanks Lesley, so pleased your op went well, very brave to get it done just before Christmas. Sorry your having a flare at the moment, hope it easies off soon, but glad your hip and back pain are reduced. I certainly will let you know how I get on xx
I would just like to thank you all for your help and support, I am really overwhelmed by all your comments. I certainly feel more confident now than I did and just looking forward to positive side of things and hopefully being able to walk again. I will certainly let you know how I get on.
Many thanks once again for taking the time to to reassure me, let’s all hope for less pain in 2019 xxxx
Oh you are doing the right thing definitely. My husband had it done last November when he was 70. He was extremely incapacitated and in great pain before he had it done. I’d say he had been struggling on for at least five years, by the end he really could barely walk. I’d gone past being sympathetic too, it was really interfering with both of our lives.
The morning of his operation he had some carbohydrate drinks to take - think about six little bottles. Once he had seen the anaesthetist he was even able to drink water.
Within a very short time afterwards he said if / when his next hip needs doing then he will go straight away.
If you get the option of having it done with sedation and a local anaesthetic definitely go for that option.
It’s not at all grim, you aren’t aware of anything that happens during the operation. No recovering from an anaesthetic, his recovery was absolutely amazing. First thing he said was that he was absolutely starving so he ate everything that I had taken in for him.
The physios arrived and had him out of bed within minutes of him arriving back on the ward. He had it done on a Wednesday afternoon and got out of hospital in the Friday morning. It could have been the Thursday night but the ward doctor missed him on his round so it was late in the day when it was suggested - not much time to get his take home drugs - plus I was so shocked I couldn’t even remember where I had left my car or if I had even gone to see him by car.. I often use the bus or use a park and ride but walk to the hospital, it’s only a half hour walk. Anyway, first thing in the morning he was dressed and ready to go home.
I brought a single bed down to the dining room so that he could use the downstairs shower room which worked well. He had a thing for picking things up off the floor with and a thing that raised the toilet seat which was very useful. You have to be sure to keep your new hip at 90 degrees. He got a lot of use out of a gadget the physio people sold for putting socks on.
I had bought him crutches before he went in so we had an upstairs pair and a downstairs pair which was good. It saved carry8ng his crutches up and down the stairs. I had also got our builder to fit a second banister on the stairs - he scoffed and thought it was ridiculous but the hospital physiotherapist and the one who came out to the house were both well impressed.
One of the things he had to do was lie flat on his back for half an hour or so every day - we liked that because I used to go and lie beside him and chat - two people on a 3ft wide single bed was definitely cosy.
The big thing is that if you want to make a good recovery you absolutely must do all of your physiotherapy. The people who do definitely make the best recoveries. He had a physio who came to the house weekly for a few weeks then afterwards he used to go to my Pilates teacher who is a physiotherapist- not to do physio on his hip - it didn’t need it but he had become so ‘bent over’ with walking so badly before his operation he needed a lot of straightening up.
I had to stop him doing ridiculous things - for a start he wanted to change a light bulb and then I nearly had a heart attack when I watched him stand on the toe of a sock and kind of flip up to take it off. I went mad and reported him to his physiotherapist!
That’s about it, if you want to know any more just ask. I think the best thing for him though was having the epidural anaesthetic because it meant that he had no anaesthetic to get over.
Have a read through this website - it has loads of really helpful and useful information
bonesmart.org/hip-replaceme...
Good luck 😊
PS - husband has just asked what I’m writing and says ‘don't even hesitate’. Also according to him any post operative pain you have is not anything like the pain you have before. You will be taking regular painkillers.
Hi Fruitandnutcase. Thankyou for letting me know your husbands experiences, comforting to know he is so positive about it. I saw the surgeon but silly me never asked about the anaesthetic. I cannot have anything to eat after 7am and only water to 11am, due at the hospital at 2p.m. I think by the sound of this I am going to have a normal anaestic but when I go on Tuesday for the pre op I will ask. The surgeon said I would be in 3 days so hoping (God willing) I will be home on the Saturday.
I am the same as your hubby and really bent over after not being able to walk properly for about 2 years. Hope this will improve.
I have crutches, wheelchair and a stairlift. Hope I can use the stairlift to get to bed, it’s been a blessing. The only thing that worries me is we have a shower, but it’s over the bath. Absolute education getting a shower, baths have been out of the question for years, don’t know how I am going manage immediately after having it done. Will ask on Tuesday.
Anyway Thankyou so much for your help it really is Appreciated - Joan xxx
No, you can discuss it with your anaesthetist when he speaks to you pre op. My other half only found out when he met with the anaesthetist shortly before his operation. Same with the lady after him who was having her knee done. Just try and remember to ask about it then. If you can get it, it really is the way to go. Not grim at all. Take a list of questions with you and you won’t forget.
A stair lift sounds good to me. Depends if your physio thinks going upstairs I’d good physiotherapy for you.
Think if it was me I’d just sponge wash until I felt safe enough getting into an over bath shower. Your physiotherapist will advise you on that too.
My other half always says he doesn’t like baths but I’m pretty sure it was because he hasnt actually been able to get into the bath for years but would never in a million years ever have admitted it.
Good luck - make sure to come back on here and tell us how you get on.
Yes I will make a list of questions for when I go and I certainly will let you know how I get on. Many thanks again xx
Hi pip12,my uncle had two hip replacements within 6 months after breaks.Yes it is worth having.If you can get rid of some pain,he was 76 when he had them done.They can work wonders now,it’s not as bad as it used to be.Just do as they tell you and do your physio for a quick recovery.Good luck ,let me know how it goes.xxx
Thanks Nellie1965. I will certainly let you know how I get on xx
Hello pip12!! I'm responding to let you know that my husband had his hip replacement surgery 1 year ago this month. He is 65 years old now..64 when he had the surgery done. He waited 13 years before having it done, and he was in extreme pain and could barely walk. After 13 years of extreme pain..growing worse by the day..he finally decided to look into surgery. First, he went to a local orthopedic doctor who told him that his hip was so bad that he was sending him to a more high tech hospital in Springfield, Ma..about an hour and a half from us. At the Springfield hospital..he was told that his hip would require specialized surgery and they would have to send him to Boston, Ma..about 3 and a half hours from us. And..all during this time..our family and friends were telling my husband.."Oh, you waited way too long. It's never going to work out..etc", and my husband became scared to death and almost cancelled the scheduled surgery. But now..I am going to make a long story short..my husband had the surgery and this past fall (less than a year after surgery)..my husband was back on the football field refereeing high school football. He hadn't been on the field for 13 years. He walks upright again..and you would never know that he had a hip replacement. And..he said the best part is..NO PAIN!! I hope this helps, and I wish you well. Keep a positive attitude, and good luck to you.
Thanks Jeanie2222. - that is wonderful to hear somebody in such a bad way hip wise can make such a great recovery. Tbh reading all these comments on here has certainly eased a lot of worry. It’s just fear of the unknown really, but everybody on here has had such positive outcomes Ian has made a real difference to how I am looking at it. Just hope for some kind of life back as at the moment I don’t have a lot and cannot imagine what it would be like to be pain free. Thankyou once again xx
Hip pain
Hip Replacement
How bad should a knee be before having a replacement???
Hip replacement done.
