Expert Sports Injury
Care in San Diego

If a hip surgery is on your calendar, you’re probably familiar with the anxiety over how to get ready and what to expect once you’re back home. How well will you be able to get around your home? How will you manage the post-op pain? How long will you need help around the house? These are just a few of the questions that go through someone’s mind when they’re facing a hip replacement or other major hip surgery. 

More than 450,000 total hip replacements are performed nationwide each year, and most of those patients head home the same day or within a day or two of surgery, which means the bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen need to be ready before surgery day. 

Read on to get a clearer understanding of what to expect during hip surgery recovery, and tips from the best hip surgeon in Southern California on how to prepare your body, home, and family for a smooth recovery.

Understanding the Typical Hip Surgery Recovery Timeline: What to Expect Week by Week

Modern hip surgery, especially hip replacement surgery, has changed a lot in the past decade. The biggest change is that most patients can start walking and go home on the same day as surgery. This is thanks to hip arthroscopy techniques that use small incisions that close with absorbable sutures and heal in about six weeks. 

Even with a minimally invasive technique, the first few days at home are the most demanding. Some things you can expect include: 

• Using a walker to get around and ice to control swelling
• Managing post-operative pain with prescribed medication 
• Starting gentle physical therapy exercises within the first couple of days after surgery 

Between weeks one and six, most patients graduate from a walker to a cane, attend outpatient physical therapy, and notice steady gains in range of motion. 

Around the three-month mark, many people return to driving and can start swimming, using a recumbent bike, or doing other low-impact activities. Full recovery takes six months to a year. 

Prehab Exercises: How Physical Conditioning Before Hip Surgery Speeds Recovery

Preparing your body for surgery leads to an easier, faster recovery. In fact, research shows that a home-based prehab program before joint replacement consistently improves patients' function before their procedures. This is because stronger muscles around the hip, thigh, and core mean less effort to stand up, walk, and follow physical therapy instructions after surgery. 

The best hip surgeon in San Diego recommends a mix of prehabilitation exercises, including: 

• Gentle hip and leg strengthening a few times a week
• Upper-body work
• Low-impact cardio that does not aggravate the joint, like stationary biking, pool walking, or swimming

Smoking and excess weight are among the factors that raise the risk of complications during and after hip surgery, so the weeks before surgery are also a good window to quit smoking, reach a healthier weight, and review every medication and supplement you take. 

How to Prepare Your Home for Hip Surgery Recovery 

The day you come home from the hospital is the wrong day to start rearranging furniture. Walk through your house a few weeks before surgery and look at it the way you'll experience it while using a walker. The best orthopedic surgeon in Southern California recommends setting up most of your recovery on one floor whenever possible to limit stair use, and moving daily items to surfaces between waist and shoulder height so you are not bending or reaching. Start by: 

• Clearing walking paths through the areas of your home that you’ll use the most
• Rolling up loose rugs that could slide under a walker
• Picking a single chair that allows your hips to sit level with or slightly higher than your knees
• Setting up a small command center next to that chair with your phone charger, water, remote, medications, tissues, and entertainment like small hobby items or books 

The bathroom is the highest-risk room after hip surgery because of slippery surfaces and the bending it normally takes to use a toilet or step into a shower. Tools that can help include: 

• Raised toilet seat
• Shower chair or bench
• Non-slip mats 
• Grab bars in the shower

In the bedroom, make sure the mattress height keeps your hips level with or above your knees when you sit on the edge, and place a lamp and a phone or phone charger within easy reach. In the kitchen, prepare and freeze a week or two of meals, move pots, plates, and pantry items off the bottom and top shelves, and consider a rolling cart so you are not carrying things while balancing on a walker.

Your Hip Surgery Recovery Checklist

Having the right tools on hand means you are not scrambling for them when you are dealing with post-operative pain and swelling. Most patients use three categories of equipment in the first weeks at home: 

• Mobility aids: This usually includes a front-wheeled walker, so you should measure your doorways before surgery to confirm the walker fits and ask whether a cane or wheelchair would help for longer outings. 
• Adaptive daily-living tools: These tools help you avoid straining after hip surgery while dressing and reaching. A reacher or grabber, a long-handled shoehorn, a sock aid, and a leg lifter all keep you from bending past 90 degrees at the hip. 
• Comfort and healing aids: This includes a wedge pillow that keeps your leg elevated to reduce swelling, a supportive seat cushion that makes hard chairs and car seats easier to tolerate, an ice therapy wrap to help manage pain in the first couple of weeks, and loose clothing with slip-on shoes lets you dress without help.
• Regenerative therapy: Many patients also benefit from regenerative treatments designed to support healing and recovery after surgery. Depending on your procedure and recovery goals, options like platelet-rich plasma (PRP) or other orthobiologics can help reduce inflammation, support tissue repair, and improve overall recovery. Orthobiologics are also considered the best hip pain treatment in Southern California for those who are awaiting surgery.

Movements to Avoid After Hip Injury Repair Surgery

After hip surgery, your hip joint and the surrounding muscles and tissues need time to heal and strengthen. Until that happens, certain movements raise the risk of reinjury or hip dislocation. Most orthopedic specialists recommend the following mobility restrictions for around six to 12 weeks: 

• Do not bend the hip past 90 degrees, which means no leaning forward to reach something on a low shelf or the floor
• Sitting in low chairs or using a standard-height toilet without a riser
• Crossing your legs or ankles, even while sleeping
• Rotating the hip inward or pivoting on the surgical leg

Movement restrictions can change, depending on what type of hip surgery you had, so you should always confirm your exact restrictions with the surgeon who performed your operation. 

Signs of Complications After Hip Surgery

While most hip surgery recoveries are uneventful, there are a few symptoms that warrant a call to your surgical team right away: 

• Sudden severe pain in the hip 
• Feeling that the joint has slipped out of place can signal a dislocation
• Calf swelling, redness, or warmth in either leg 
• Fever
• Increasing drainage from the incision
• A wound that looks redder and more swollen as the days pass

Finding the Best Hip Surgeon in Southern California

Choosing an orthopedic surgeon who offers the best hip arthroscopy in Southern California has a major influence on how fast and how well you recover. 

Dr. Sanjum Samagh completed his sports medicine and hip arthroscopy fellowship at Northwestern University, which included work with the Chicago Cubs, Chicago Blackhawks, Northwestern football, and the NBA. He has since cared for professional and Olympic athletes across the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, and PGA Tour, and currently leads our expert orthopedic team at San Diego Performance Orthopedics & Regenerative Therapy, using the newest hip surgery techniques so you can recover faster and protect the new joint over time. We are honored to care for patients across Encinitas, Leucadia, Del Mar, Solana Beach, Cardiff, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Torrey Pines, and North San Diego County. 

Ready to start your path toward painless movement and unlimited mobility with help from the best hip surgeon in Southern California?