Best preparation for THR

Hi John

I was quite strong when I went into surgery. Aquafit and riding stationary. I feel it would be helpful to concentrate on core muscles as well as upper thigh. If you can get out of a chair easily by using thigh muscles only you'd do well. And exercise that lower back.

According to the stats I read, the dislocation rate is around 3%. You are doing the right thing in preparing physically

John, just do all the exercises as said above and keep weight down if you can. The fear of discocation is a biggie but as long as you follow the precutions for the first few months you will be fine. My surgeon lifted some at 7 weeks and the only thing he said i will not be able to do is to cross my leg right across at the knee. I can however cross it over the leg below knee to cut toenails. 

i still tend t0 put my leg out behind me when I am picking something up off the floor and thas nearly 22 months ago. I dont think about doing it, brain automatically kicks in. I am just very aware of making sure if i have surgery elsewhere in the body that eveyone dealing with me in the hospital knows about my replacement.

I was mid 50.5 when I had mine done, never reegretted it. 

Hello John

Seems you are doing the right thing. I worked through the pain of lifting heavy things and generally keeping my muscle mass up pre surgery. It worked for me as I was back to normal (completely) in 6 months post op. I will admit I didn't do physio except for the 2 days at hospital (so I could keep staff happy and be released). Basically I decided to walk as upright and without a limp from day one, at first using a walking stick. At first it was only a few steps but quickly my muscle memory (thanks to the hard work) kicked in and all went to plan. The major danger post op is lying or sitting around doing a few physio exercises thinking that will get you back walking. It's a trap that many seem to fall into on this site. Only walking and hard work will get you back to normal... Oh and I was 59 when I had the surgery so youth wasn't on my side, just determination.

Hi John:  I had  resection done on my left hip in December. I was without weight bearing for 8 weeks and as soon as I started physio, I also started aqua rehab 3 times /week.   I was back to work within 3 months.  My right hip was also in really bad shape so I ontinued with the same regimen of exercise.  Biking on stationar bike for 15 min 3x/week, leg extensions  15x3 sets with increasing weight, stretching and  resistance training to strngthen the glutes , core and abductors.  I also did aquafit 2x/week.   I was able to stand for a good 30 min before my bad hip(the right one) would start hurting and the pain forced me to sit or lay down.   The inflammation seemed to radiate dowsn form the hip to the knee as I was shifting my weight.  I had my right hip done 9 days ago and I am not allowed to weight bear as my pelvis had to be fractured to remove all the osteocytes that had seized the joint.  I am hopping on one foot but getting better every day.  The ligaments leading to the knee are tight so I started stretching the calves as much as possible.  The stronger you go into your surgery, the faster you will recover so talk to your physiotherapist on strengthening all the muscles as much as possible. I also tried to keep myweight under check because the more weight one carries, the more stress on the joints. I don't like taking strong sedating painkillers but it is a compromise.  Cannot exercise without dealing with the pain.    Also my second surgery was under local anesthetics and I was walking  that same day.  Goodluck and I hope this was helpful.