hip replacements

[jackdaww]

my wife has been told by our local private consultant that she needs a hip replacement .

symptoms are pain and discomfort walking , bending and lying down, so losing sleep .

otherwise she is fit and well , bmi 21.

we are not looking for medical advice , just very interested to hear of others experiences , stories and outcomes.

many thanks.

[Dod1010]

I have had both hips replaced, the first in Feb 2013 and the other September 2016. I comfortably walk 3 to 6 miles every day now and I would not know they had been done. After the op six weeks before driving again which was my biggest concern. Followthe advice your wife will get from the hospital about walking post op. Virtually from day one after discharge get out and walk a short distance down the road outside your house and then up, at this stage on two sticks and gradually increase the distance each day. Also of course there are exercises and procedures she must follow like a higher than normal chair for six weeks and being very careful about bending and stretching. At the time it seems it goes on for ever but really it does not take long to return to normality. As for post op pain, I took a codeine a few times but not for more than the first week or so.

Depending on where you live will presumably determine the wait before the op. In Scotland we have a guaranteed waiting period of 3 months but just on three months I got a letter reminding me but telling me they could not keep the guarantee nor could they give me a date! I waited about six months. The guarantee means nothing nor I think are there any sanctions on the Health Trust.

People complain about the replacement not making much difference but often they are overweight and/or they do not follow the advice they receive. Being in general good health I am sure also helps. My outcome could not be better and I am in my mid 70s, generally fit and take no pills for anything.

Does that help?

Dod

[jackdaww]

dod

yes thats great , thank you.

jd

[midnightcatprowl]

Friends (and ex-customers) have had hip replacements, a close friend has had both hips replaced. It is very much as Dod says. Most people I know have had excellent outcomes but they were willing to follow the advice about walking etc afterwards and they had at least reasonably healthy lifestyles.

Just a tip if the op will be in an NHS hospital. The NHS suffers greatly from people who cancel their ops often at very short notice. Sometimes this is unavoidable, for example the person falls ill and is not fit to have the op on the date planned. Many such cancellations are for silly trivial reasons. Hospitals ring round the waiting list frantically trying to get someone to take up that place in the list only to be fobbed off by people who think the theatre ticket they've booked is more important than being able to walk and be out of pain. Two friends of mine made it clear right from the start that they would come into hospital at short notice if a cancellation became available, they also made it clear they would accept going into any hospital within reasonable travelling distance even if that meant that their third cousins twice removed would not be able to visit. Both drastically cut their time waiting for their ops by accepting a cancellation. Good for the patient, good for the NHS.

[Dod1010]

I have not had the benefit of being offered a cancellation, and those who turn down the opportunity must have very little need for the op. An option is of course to go privately but I long ago gave up private health insurance and furthermore it does not seem right to me that the self same surgeon, employed by the NHS, will most likely be the one carrying out the op in a private clinic. It does though almost certainly shorten the waiting time.

I may say that the so called guaranteed waiting time in Scotland is supposed to be a maximum although it has in my experience become a minimum.

Dod