Blog Written by Richard Osei
My blog today is on post-operative hip replacement and the progressive rehab exercises that will help you focus on rebuilding strength and regaining a good range of movement in the joint.
Once the pain and swelling has decreased around the hip, and movement is relatively pain-free, the best exercises to start off with after such an operation, are body weight exercises such as partial squats, heel raisers, one-legged standing balance supported ( holding a stable chair), sit to stands ( sitting on the edge of a chair at good height and standing up) and standing hip abductions -supported holding onto a chair.
These exercises are helpful because they are low load exercises. After post operative hip replacement, you wouldn’t want to do anything too intense, and these exercises help strengthen the muscles not just around the hip, but also the knees and ankles. It is also important to strengthen the gluteus medius muscle, as this muscle acts as a stability muscle, which is important to help stabilise the trunk and pelvis. This is important during exercises like a one-legged stance during the gait cycle (when one leg is in contact with the ground when walking). Hydrotherapy would be a good form of rehab because this does not put any stress on the ankle, hip and knee joints, as it is a low weight bearing exercise.
Walking is a good way to begin with in the pool, progressing onto marching on the spot, then onto marching with breast strokes. Static hip abductor exercises (supported) in the pool would be a good form of strength work in the pool, as this is strengthening the muscles around the hip and you can progress this on by adding light weights to the ankles to make the exercise harder.
