Sports activities after a hip replacement
Can I train after hip surgery? The short answer is yes. Exercise is an essential component of a healthy and rewarding life, but with the onset of degenerative hip disease, such as osteoarthritis, many patients worry that they will have to compromise their future activities. The surgeons at Clinique Duval aim to give patients back the pleasure of a “forgotten joint”. For this reason, our surgeons use specific and unique hip replacement prostheses with large diameter heads. For younger (under 65) and active patients, we prefer ceramic-on-ceramic, and for other patients, we use a dual mobility prosthesis. Because of their technical requirements, these two types of hip prostheses are not widely used by Canadian orthopedic surgeons, but Clinique Duval surgeons are experienced users.
With our optimized recovery protocol, many patients leave the clinic using only a cane as a walking aid. You’ll continue to perform exercises at home – slowly but surely, you’ll move from strengthening your ability to walk, to resuming daily activities and sports.
Three weeks after surgery, a stationary bike will be incorporated into your routine. The duration and intensity of exercise will increase slowly but steadily. Assuming the wound is properly closed, patients are encouraged to try gentle swimming and water walking.
For the first 6 weeks after your surgery, you should not perform
– stretching exercises
– activities such as running, jumping or lifting more than 10 kg.
For most patients, the physiotherapy recovery process is complete after two months. From that point on, we encourage our clients to continue an active lifestyle and participate in exercises of their choice. Although there are no activity restrictions when using a large diameter hip prosthesis, we suggest avoiding extreme exercise (yoga with intense postures, activities that put you at risk for falls or injury, contact sports and long distance running). These extreme activities or positions should be avoided:
Low-impact activities are especially encouraged, such as walking, social dancing, cycling, doubles tennis, gardening, bowling, cross-country skiing, easy downhill skiing, and golf. When training indoors, focus on lifting loads that you can do more than 20 repetitions. These activities should be resumed gradually, respecting your healing rhythm. A joint replacement requires 6-12 months to mature and consolidate. Patience and moderation are required to ensure that your new joint will provide you with a quality of life that will last for several decades.
The Duval Clinic team wishes you an active health.