Hip replacement recovery / Top clinic in Germany, Friedrichshafen
Contents
To reduce pain considerably and increase activity on a daily basis – these are the most important aims of orthopaedic rehabilitation and hip replacement recovery at Friedrichshafen Clinic in Germany
After hip replacement surgery, a three week period of rehabilitation and recovery is highly recommended. Depending on each patient’s individual needs, this can be done either on an out-patient or an in-patient basis.
In the recovery room, a well-trained nursing team monitors your general well-being. You will usually start doing your first exercises in your hospital bed as soon as one or two days after the procedure. Each step affords you more mobility and quality of life.
Mobilization commences with you lying down and consists of flexions and extension exercises. A physiotherapist will help you with exercises. In addition, passive mobilization of the joint using an electrical passive motion machine is started. The aim of the exercises is to quickly restore the normal level of your mobility and strengthen the muscles.
You will usually start your first walking exercises using two crutches, as early as on the first oe second day after operation. The crutches will provide the needed stability for your progress in the first six weeks. Depending on your endoprosthesis and surgical procedure, you will use both crutches to walk one leg first (three-point support) and on both legs later (four-point support). Please continue to use the crutches when you climb stairs until you feel absolutely sure that you can do without. Avoid rotating your upper body while standing on your leg, and do not bend at the hip by more than 90 degrees. Do not cross your legs in a seated position.
Rehabilitation measures used at Friedrichshafen Clinic in Germany include gait training, strengthening of the muscles and improvement of mobility and coordination. At the time of your discharge from the clinic, you will receive some advises for the doctor continuing with your treatment. The subsequent treatment can be performed either on an outpatient basis or as an inpatient in a rehabilitation clinic. After the operation, you should regularly undergo follow-up examinations even if you do not have any symptoms. These examinations are a mean of documenting your progress and allow any complications to be detected and treated early.
Duration of the healing period: The wound has usually healed 2 weeks after surgery. Once the sutures have been removed, and provided that the wound is no longer seeping, exercises can also be done in water, e.g. in the hydrotherapy bath. This is a great help towards quick recovery after hip replacement surgery.
The joint can bear your full weight 4-6 weeks after hip replacement surgery and after approximately 8 weeks, walks are possible. Constant participation in activities such as sports that cause jarring or compression of the joint, and those that require abrupt changes in the direction of movement, must be avoided during the recovery period after hip replacement surgery. Sports such as cross-country skiing, hiking, cycling, Nordic walking, rowing and swimming are highly recommended. Activities such as sailing, track and field athletics, jogging, golf, Alpine skiing and bowling should only be undertaken with the explicit permission of your physician during the hip replacement recovery period.
Under no circumstances should you participate in contact sports, horse-riding, tennis and other ball-games during the recovery period after hip replacement surgery. It is advisable only to participate in those sports that you did before surgery.
The main goal of post-operative treatment of patients after hip replacement surgery is the physical recovery of the patient. He must regain his stable gait, be able to climb the stairs safely and develop sufficient endurance when walking, both indoors and outdoors. This is our aim for your recovery at our clinic in Germany.
We strive to assist your recovery after hip replacement surgery and to restore the highest possible degree of mobility of the replaced joint whilst simultaneously stabilising the musculature of the buttocks and the affected leg.
At our center for joint replacement, patients have individual physiotherapy sessions daily, which involve special exercise treatment.
Taking the surgeon’s instructions into consideration in terms of the amount of weight the joint can bear, the physiotherapist at our clinic in Germany will take the patient through a range of walking exercises with underarm support. Posture and body perception are given special emphasis.
If the patient has more stable, fitter pelvic and leg musculature, exercises to improve balance, coordination and stabilisation are done on the balance board.
Patients who are relatively fit can also participate in medical exercise therapy that is designed to improve the general fitness and the muscular status of the body. Instruction in this respect is always done in private sessions with a qualified sports instructor at the Friedrichshafen Clinic in Germany. This form of exercise has great value in recovery after hip replacement surgery.
Ergotherapy is an essential component of post-operative rehabilitation therapy for orthopaedic patients at the Friedrichshafen Clinic in Germany.
The job of the ergotherapist is to go through each and every normal daily activity of the patient and instruct him with regard to the correct patterns of movement.
Despite receiving clear instructions in the orthopaedic clinic in Friedrichshafen, Germany, many patients are still unsure of how much weight they can put on the joint and which activities are permitted/not permitted during the recovery period after hip replacement surgery.
For this reason, the patient receives both written and verbal information from the ergotherapist regarding the dos and don’ts after surgery. This is essential in order to prevent complications (e.g. dislocation of the joint).
Daily activities such as
are discussed and practised.
All the special orthopaedic technological equipment required by the patient is determined during the rehabilitation period and made/prepared by the orthopaedic technician at the Friedrichshafen Clinic.
These include:
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.
Comments and questions
Prof MD Eugene Winter
Head of the Orthopedic Department of Clinical center of Friedrichshafen
MD Norbert Heuer
Head physician assistant
MD Christoph Kaiser
Senior physician
MD Rainer Schnell
Senior physician
Ingrid Glauss
Medical secretary
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