My first hip replacement was SuperPath…easy peasy…easier than the anterior approach. Right back to activities with no restrictions and no residual pain…anywhere. I was on the horse unassisted at 4 1/2 weeks. The torn tendons (glut min and glut med) put that approach (and posterior approach) out this time.
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In general, anterior is just a faster recover, all else equal. Barring patient-specific criteria, there aren’t any position requirements like posterior has. There is a newer “minimally invasive posterior” which is superior to old school posterior in terms of recovery, though I don’t recall how to compares to anterior
SuperPath - https://www.rycorthopaedics.com/superpath-hip-replacement-orthopaedic-treatments-new-york
But not a lot of surgeons do it yet, it’s relatively new, so not everyone has had a chance to learn it, let alone perfect it. It is a more minimally invasive approach, but as you’ll see in the link above, it’s a lateral approach, so not the same as a “minimally invasive posterior” approach 
From what I’ve read, if I ever have to have my other one done, I’m going to try to see if there’s any surgeon in a reasonable distance who has enough of the SuperPath under their belt, and go to them.
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I had my left hip replaced in October and am LOVING being pain free. My doctor was very conversative about my return to riding and I didnt get the go ahead until 12 weeks. It is very interesting at how different my new normal is and has taken some getting used to. I am a very balanced rider so any change is very impactful.
Do your PT but make sure to get your rest in these first few weeks!
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Well, my update is that the PRP was not successful; I think just too late. Met with my sports med dr. on Tuesday and making the call today to meet with a surgeon. There are 6 at the practice, all who do anterior (some who also do posterior), and my dr. gave me his top 2 which has more to do with availability and time to answer questions than skill - he considers them all highly competent. Soonest I could have it done would be the end of August because of the PRP, but I’m just starting a kitchen renovation so that’s not going to work for me anyway. Maybe end of Sept…?
Excited but terrified. I wish I didn’t have to have it done, but at this point there is no other choice. It’s gotten so bad in the last 6 weeks I can’t really do anything anymore without pain. Dr. said it will be a breeze and I’ll be amazed. Fingers crossed!
More to come…
I’ve joined a couple FB groups but definitely interested in any tips from others. I’m going to keep working with my strength trainer and my bike (indoors) as I definitely want to be in as good shape as possible.
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I wish Drs didn’t leave it at this. Yes, your OA pain will be gone, but it’s major, invasive surgery which causes a lot of damage and for the vast majority of people - that whole bell curve thing - it’s not an easy time in the first few weeks. My post-surgery pain was worse than my OA pain, but at least I knew it was going to improve, where the OA was on a straight line to hell.
I don’t say that to scare you, but to start getting you mentally prepared. I wasn’t prepared, and had a pity party meltdown on Day 5 from the pain, lack of sleep, sudden lack of movement, etc, because I really didn’t expect any of that to that degree.
100% keep doing as much strength training as you can, and don’t forget your upper body. Most people need to sleep on their back because it’s just not comfortable, or even possible, to lie on either side, so if you’re not a back sleeper, it’s a good idea to start training for that.
Day 1 after surgery will probably feel pretty ok - still got surgical drugs on board, but then they wear off and the next several days can feel awful. Stay on top of pain meds as best you can. Obviously if they make you feel horrible and you don’t want to get up and move, talk to your Dr about alternatives. Stay on a pain med schedule, don’t just wait for it to get bad enough because that takes so long to get under control, usually, with the at-home meds (don’t we wish we could get a morphine drip at home 
)
I’m sorry PRP didn’t work, though not surprised with what you described 
You WILL be amazed, eventually, at getting your life back 
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Yes, I agree; I think he’s saying this because he knows the pain I’m dealing with now, and have been for the last 5 years. But yes I understand that many people are not back on a horse or running at 6 weeks-2 months.
I think the pain management is definitely a unique thing for everyone. I know someone who just had the surgery (well, my SO is friends with her DH, so it’s like a telephone game) but she was off the pain meds after a day or so because she was already nauseated. The pain wasn’t the worst issue for her - it was just not feeling well; GI upset, etc.
ETA it takes weeks to get into my Sports Med dr. so I assumed the same for the referral appointment, but I have one scheduled for Tuesday. 
Good lord.
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Yes, definitely, pain management is different for everyone in terms of what, if anything, needs to be done. Some don’t need anything. Some only need ibuprofen or even just acetaminophen. Maybe tramadol over a -codone. The idea is still the same - keep it as low as you can without the side effects making you worse. And unfortunately, there’s no way to know what your routine will be, until you get there
I don’t remember if you’ve said you live alone or with someone, but if alone, can someone come stay with you for a few days? A few days is usually all it takes to figure out how to maneuver, get past the first few days of (usually) the worst pain, and see how any drugs, especially opioids, affect you
Food - regardless of who’s there, make sure you have easy access to simple foods you LOVE. You might not feel like eating much in the first 1-2 weeks, from pain to sedation effects to drugs. But eating is really important, things that don’t make you feel like a slug, and which support healing.
Water - LOTS of water. Your body will have to deal with a ton of inflammation, and water is required for that. Between water and eliminating inflammation and fluid retention, you’ll probably have to pee a lot, so I learned quickly to pee every hour when I got up to walk. Otherwise, it just took so long to get up, work through the initial pain and stiffness of standing, a few very slow steps, that getting to the bathroom in a hurry wasn’t happening LOL I didn’t do this, but I know some people wore Depends for the first week or so for this very reason.
Clothes - not sure which approach you’ll have, but lots of undies cross right where an anterior incision is, so choose underwear wisely 
I worse loose fitting sweat pants because it was still pretty cool, others lived in nightgowns or dresses which also have the benefit of making it easier to sit on the toilet, not having to deal with pants down and up
Toilet seat - if there’s nothing close enough to hold onto to sit and get up, consider a raised seat with grab bars
Fingers crossed!
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That above ^ and don’t forget, after any serious surgery, to request some kind of laxative, so you don’t have to strain.
After knee replacement they gave me Senokot tablets until we were sure all was working smoothly, there are all kinds out there.
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Any opioids should come with a laxative and stool softener for sure. If you’re not on an opioid, you can get OTC Colace/Senna/etc, that’s what they’d “prescribe” anyway. They were Rx’d for me, but the pharmacist just pulled them off the OTC shelf. And TAKE THEM LOL Don’t wait to feel the effects of the drugs, start taking them. They’re gentle, they’re not going to make you run and “explode”, so they do need some time to start working. Keep the fiber in your diet high, lots of water, not a lot of processed foods, etc
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My daughter lives with me by my SO lives nearby, so that is definitely we need to think through. I have 3 dogs, as well. I might consider staying at his house for the first few days so that I have supervision, but not the dogs. And then decide from there what will work based on how I feel. The dog thing is concerning; he has one small dog but my youngest Brittany is pretty active and jumps, so I definitely don’t want to have to deal with him immediately after surgery.
I have heard that the fluid retention and then excreting is a big deal so either way I will be within easy access to a bathroom - we both have good options. LOL he might die if I peed on his floor though haha.
I have also heard that it’s good to practice the single leg squat to toilet so that you know you can do it (of course raised seat and grab bars, etc are still recommended but practicing some things that you normally do with that leg and/or both legs is useful. Helps you think through where you need modifications.)
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Staying with supervision and no dogs sounds like a great way to start out. We have cats who love to get on the bed, and I slept for many weeks with a pillow on top of my Op hip for self-preservation. Even lying in the recliner while icing usually had a pillow across my lap
Definitely don’t pee on his floor! 
Practicing pistol squats is good, period. It’s great for knee health, and happens to be useful for this as well.
Surgeons vary on their requirement and type of compression. Mine wanted full length stockings on both legs for 2 weeks, full time. My dad’s only wanted knee highs, and he could take them off at night jealous I couldn’t put them on by myself as I couldn’t flex at the hip nearly enough, though I could take them off. So, you’ll need help, and I don’t know how much sock grabbers will help, don’t know if they can grip enough for that sort of tension to get them on enough for your hands to reach.
Even with prescription laxatives it still took me a week to poop after surgery. Everything seems to be going okay for me. Pain is gone unless pressure is applied to the scar area. Dr. cleared me to start riding again! Yay!
Expect the swelling to stay around for a while. I still have a bunch of swelling across my thigh and the Dr. did say that would be the last to go away as the nerves regenerate. She cautioned me that in some cases there is some permanent numbness but that is not the norm.
I couldn’t believe how weak I was afterwards so that’s what I’m doing now, trying to regain my strength and going to PT twice a week. But my knee pain is gone and it will be so nice to live pain free for the first time is about 4 years.
I live alone and my sister stayed with me one night and my BF came over the day after she left and helped me out. If you have a cat, get yourself one of those long handled littler scoopers, that is the bees knees. I also have a large dog and I would pour her food from waist height into her dish, same with water, used a pitcher to fill her bowl and poured it in.
I took 4 weeks of LOA to recover and it went way too fast LOL.
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4 days. Not fun.
Oh - if you’re on an opioid and they give you an anti-nausea Rx, take it from the start. I made the mistake of thinking I’d be fine, and after my 3rd dose I thought I was going to hurl, so I took it as directed from then on, and for a day or 2 after stopping the opioid.
Same - I’m 17 months PO and still have some swelling and some numbness, and know some may remain permanently, but it’s all still slowly, oh so slowly, improving
I’ve always done a lot of hip hinges/RDLs so didn’t have any trouble reaching floor things by sliding my Op leg back and hinging. I did always hold onto something for support because a loss of balance and fall would be a bad thing!
I only took the opioid for a few days and mostly to get to sleep at night. Never made me nauseated so I guess I dodged that bullet.
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Were you doing strength work prior to surgery? I do, but want to make sure I up my game a little before hand. Of course I expect to be weaker post surgery but just curious if the weakness is because of the surgery?
My strength trainer is getting ready to be my pre-hab trainer. He seems to suddenly have a whole bunch of mid-50s women who have various injuries so he’s becoming quite an expert in modifications and retraining.
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oh yeah, the first 1-2 weeks PO are just energy-sucking! I had never had any surgery other than to repair a broken hand, and even though I didn’t get general anesthesia, I was SO FREAKING TIRED, and not nearly as strong anywhere as just the morning before surgery.
Start upping your game now, as much as you can, as best you can. You won’t regret it for a second.
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Sorry to hear the PRP didn’t work.
I have 3 sisters, 3 of the 4 of us have had THRs. I think our recoveries pretty much covered the spread.
You’ll be on your own path and sooner or later, I hope it’s sooner, you’ll be very happy you had it done.
My doctor actually gave me a list of recommended exercises to do before surgery. I’ll look around for them but it’s been almost 5 years so you might want to explicitly ask for such a thing.
Good Luck!
I am beginning to think I may be one of those. I have not noticed much improvement in the numbness in my thigh. It has been 6 months. I realize nerves are very slow to regenerate but I would think I would notice improvement by now. No biggie. The leg works fine and I seem to be improving in strength so I am not going to worry about it.
I managed a 5 plus mile hike in the Idaho back country last week 
. I did take my Nordic poles and my triceps said I was assisting with my arms quite a bit but this was a goal I had. I have longstanding tendinopathy in the glut medius and glut minimus tendons so wasn’t sure how it would go but they held up and it was fantastic. The replaced hip gave me no problem whatsoever.
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I’m definitely going to ask; I already asked my sports med doctor and he gave me some tips but thought I was probably hitting most of the important muscles. But he said posterior chain and hip thrusting exercises for sure. I’ve been a little lax on training since I sold my farm and moved last fall, though, so definitely need to step it up.
My co-worker is having a partial knee replacement in August. I asked him how long he was going to be out of work afterwards and he said “I took the next day off.” I was like - dude, I think you need to ask around - that doesn’t seem right. I mean, come on - you’re having major surgery and an implant and reconstructed ligament!
I walked by his office later and he called out - “I think you might be right. I just did some reading and I think I’ll need more time off than a day. And probably can’t coach my son’s football team this fall.”
Men. Or is it just him? Seriously, I’ve been researching for months. He already has a surgery date! 
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I’ve told my story of both hip replacements on here, but I can attest: do anterior, not posterior. My first hip, done at age 60, was pretty easy. The first few days were the worst and improved a little each day.
I can’t add a lot, but keep it iced and do PT. 2nd one was harder, but I’m older. I went back to riding 6 weeks post surgery both times. I had nerve numbness from the first one for a very long time.
You will not be sorry!! Do.it. 
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