Surgical stockings

my husband helped me with stockings he used a plastic bag to make them slip on easier and then pulled the bag out. hospital gave me a grabber to pick things up. a thing to put my socks on which really worked great . a stick with a sponge on it for in the shower. good luck

My surgeon didnt believe in the value of stockings, so he doesnt give them out. ive had an injection every day post op of blood thinners and now aspirin for a month. you will have a physio assessment in hospital and you may be wise to say how much or how little help you need. my husband helped me to dress for a week. i now find i can do most with a "Grabber" and a sock aid. the stockings are entirely different. ive had them in the past but could bend to put them on myself. there is no way i could do this now on the post op regime of no bending the hip more than 90 degrees. would be best to tell the nurses and physio that you are going to need help. it does all get easier. hope this helps.

Hi Sarah,

I did not have the stockings and have a husband who helped me get dressed everyday.

I did find the grabber helped to pull up pants and jogging bottoms, which was the only thing I could wear. The grabber I had had a hook on one side and that helped with pulling them up so far until I could reach to pull the rest of the way. If it does not have a hook on I would find something that does as it will make things easier.

Good luck with your recovery.

Three hip operations on, I still have my sock aid (pictured) - but I was never able to find something that would put those surgical compression stockings on. They are tough, and even my wife could not master it, luckily my son was able to help me.

These socks are by far the hardest thing to put on / take off by yourself - I only did this three times to wash them. My biggest aid (don't laugh) is a pair of rubber kitchen gloves to GRAB the socks and to smooth them up my leg. I used a plastic baggy over my toes to help glide them on.

This time (2nd hip) I opted to wear comfy dresses until I could get my leg into sweat pants (about a week - week and a half).

The aid I used the most (both times) as a long belt / band that I put under my foot to lift it onto bed or couch. The belt is a 6 ft 'gait' belt which was perfect (for me). The doctor also suggested a 'exercise-type' band that could be cut into different lengths - nice but not as sturdy.

I agree: - socks on is very useful for normal socks, as is the grabber for other things like pulling up trousers a little etc. I couldn't get the stockings on without help. I didn't change them everyday. My husband and my mother devised a way to do them, which was to roll them up and just get the toe in. they could then manipulate them up over the heel. Those things are horrible. I did buy on line exact versions of the white stockings in black which greatly helped if I wanted to wear anything a bit smarter in the period I was wearing stockings for. Good luck!

Hi Sarah,

If you look on YouTube, there is an excellent video which shoes you how to put them on.

I didn't have to wear them, just had a blood thinner injection in the tummy daily for 10 days and am now on aspirin.