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Dr. Bates explains the best way for a woman to prepare herself for a hip replacement.
Dr. Bates:
In preparation for hip replacement surgery, you want to go in with the maximal muscle mass and range of motion that is possible in that joint. Now that’s not to say that you should just begin a rehabilitation protocol prior to surgery, but you should try to condition yourself for the surgery in the expectation that afterwards you’ll be doing a significant amount of rehabilitation to get your body back into shape, to restore the muscle mass that may have occurred as a result of the downtime from the surgery, and to work on improving your range of motion after the surgery.
Basically that entails gentle exercise, non-weight-bearing exercise, or at least low-resistance exercises such as swimming, rowing, cycling, gentle stretching, gentle calisthenics. Good nutrition is also important and basically, a good psychological preparation as to what you expect during your hospital stay.
It’s very important to be prepared psychologically for a joint replacement, be it a hip replacement, knee replacement, shoulder replacement, because the less anxiety about the unknown makes you more prepared and then psychologically more comfortable proceeding with the procedure. Hence there’s, if you can alleviate the anxiety, then the rehabilitation tends to be much easier.
That’s why here at Alvarado, as well as other hospitals, you’ll have joint replacement preparatory programs where patients who are scheduled for surgery will come in and be taught some of the things about their rehabilitation; about what to expect during their hospital stay; about certain medications they may be prescribed during their hospitalization, and generally what to be on the look-out for as possible potential complications.
About Dr. Bates, M.D.:
Dr. James E. Bates, M.D., is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon specializing in joint replacement surgery and sports medicine at Alvarado Hospital. Dr. Bates places his focus in sports medicine and the reconstruction and replacement of damaged bones, joints, and cartilage resulting from sports injuries, traumatic injuries, and tumors of the extremities. He was trained at the Hospital for Special Surgery/Cornell University Medical Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. As an orthopedic surgeon, Navy Flight Surgeon, and Navy Diving Medical Officer, he serves as a consultant to the San Diego-based Navy SEAL Teams.
Visit Dr. Bates at the Alvarado Orthopaedic Medical Group