How long?

[Darwin]

The first hip replacement is now behind me. The operation was last Wednesday morning, and they had me up and walking that evening. Friday I came back home. Now, I'm wondering, how long should I expect it to be until I turn the corner and start feeling a bit better each day instead of worse? Between the leg muscle cramps and exhaustion, I'm turning into a complete whiney little bitch....here's hoping there is some kind of corner to be turning shortly or my wife may be taking matters into her own hands.

[Vermin_King]

Have they told you to avoid Single-Malt Scotch?

[Darwin]

In fact, the barbarians have. However, they haven't said anything about Cutty.

[Rubenandres77]

Great to hear the news!
Wishing for a fast recovery.

[missileer]

Darwin,

Did your doctor set you up with a physical therapist schedule? Or give you a folder/book telling you what exercises to accomplish in what fashion? My wife had both knees replaced over a spread of 3 years and the surgeon had her in therapy, 3 times a week, for about 8 weeks each time. After that, she had a list of things to accomplish until he gave her a clean bill of health, a couple of months later. She was on heavy pain killers for about a week and then switched to Aspirin and Tylenol. But the critical part of the speedy recovery, was the physical therapy. If he does not have you on such a program, I would ask the hospital for a list of therapists (she used Nova Care) that you can contact. Check with your insurance provider on coverage. My wife was covered by Medicare and Tricare and they covered just about everything. Give me a PM, if you want more info.

John

[Gil]

Darwin,

How to avoid having a next time; Don't get any older
Muscle Cramps; Pickle Juice and/or Tonic Water provide unbelievable relief
Pain: Ibuprofen
Whining: 4-6 Oz. Jack Daniels
Permanent Fix: Physical Therapy - No Pain, No Gain
Pumphead: Look it up. Effect depends on how long you were under and what was used to put you under.

You should begin to feel better in the second week. The first week is the hardest. Some people just walk away on the day after surgery...,

Just Zen out and relax into a good read in between recovery exercises...,

-Gil

[Kevin WS]

Follow the instruction on what to do, not to do and exercise to the tee.....

[shipbuild]

A friend told me that Nyquil helped him sleep at night. His Doc said there will be some pain for about a year.

[ennder]

The cramps are most likely due to the cutting into them that had to be done. This should go away as they heal.

Or it could be due to the new length of your leg now. Some times they
can't match the leg length perfectly, and the mussel have to stretch to match.
This happened to me when I lost my right leg. My left leg was damaged and the
bone was fragmented, so they installed a Stainless steel rod from my hip to my
knee, and got it about 2" to long. My leg cramped and ached for weeks.

[ContourCraig]

As a rule of thumb, The normal time scale for any physical healing from tissue injury is 6 weeks, 10 weeks in difficulty cases. So it will probably take one or two weeks before you to "start to feel" a daily improvement from the physical bashing your body has taken during surgery.

Hip replacements typically have a good long-term outcomes (in the 90%+ range . It is however a long process.

Best wishes !