I am scheduled for hip replacement surgery Jan 19th. I’m interested in hearing from anyone who has had the anterior approach surgery. I’m just interested in knowing what I can expect. Thanks for any insight you can provide me.
I can’t offer insight, but I do wish you luck. From what I’ve heard, the anterior approach offers a much easier recovery. After visiting 3 different surgeons 2 years ago, all agreed that in my case, the posterior approach was my better option. I was really bummed.
Best of luck to you. Please keep us updated on your progress.
I had one - I had a tougher recovery only because I was still on crutches from a failed hip scope.
The only movement restriction I had was ‘don’t put your leg back in a turned out position and stretch’…
My buddy at work had one from the same doc - he was walking w/o a cane at 3 weeks.
Still takes a while for swelling to go down, but there isn’t NEARLY as much swelling as with posterior. I had virtually no bruising.
NOTE - I was banned from the horse for 12 weeks…this is not due to pain, this is because it takes that long for the prosthesis to bind to the bone solidly. Listen to whatever restriction of this type you get!
You might want to go check out bonesmart.org to look for more info. It’s a board w/ just people doing hip and knee replacements.
No input on anterior approach but jingles for an uneventful and successful surgery.
I had a Superpath approach which is a modified posterior approach where they don’t cut any muscles…similar to an anterior approach. I was back to work in 3 1/2 weeks (MD said 2 weeks :eek: but I took a bit more), and on my horse (ala a pony ride) in 4 1/2 weeks.
I didn’t realize just how crippled I was until it didn’t hurt anymore. Now if I could get the tendonitis in my opposite foot to go away:mad:.
Susan
I had an anterior approach done last Sept. I was so scared of having the surgery done that I put it off for months until I could hardly walk. It was a piece of cake! Before the surgery during pre-op I could hardly lay flat on the bed and when I woke up I couldn’t feel any pain at all in my hip just pain at the incision site. Just be prepared to be put to work on rehabing within hours of your surgery. They’ll have you up and standing the same day. I was in the hospital for four days and 10 in rehab. The surgery site was quite painful but having the morphine drip helped alot. I had alot of swelling in my leg. At the rehab center they weighed me and I gained 12 pounds in the hospital but it was all fluid which I lost before I went home. Within 3 weeks I was back to walking the dog painfree. My left hip is on it’s way out and when it’s time I won’t hesitate to do it. The main restrictions you have to be aware of is not turning your hip out, crossing your ankles or lifting your leg behind you. Don’t worry yourself silly about it and you’ll be feeling like new within a couple of weeks. Good luck!
