sleep after bilateral hip

[mountain rose]

I'm getting bilateral hip replacements (resurfacing) in a week.
Can anyone tell me how they managed an OK nights sleep once they got home?
Should I get a reclining chair or a rental hospital bed or just lots of pillows?
I can not sleep on my back no matter how tired I am.

 

[Josephine]

You'll find you have little option, Rose. With incisions on either side, you'll not easily lay on them!

As far as comfort stuff for home, I would suggest a recliner chair as you can use it during the day as well as to sleep in. And it will assist you in the sleeping on the back. In time, you will adjust as you will have other things to occupy your mind!

 

[ripanco]

I had simultaneous bilateral THR (full replacement) almost 3 yrs ago. I do think sleeping was one of the harder parts of my recovery. We did go out and buy a recliner which I found was the best investment for my surgery we made. We raised it up on 4 bed raisers and made sure that I could reach the control lever easily. I spent a lot of my days in that recliner, whenever I started to tire, and took many hours of napping in it. It was wonderful. This helped me to get the needed sleep so that I was not in bed for so many hours at a time. When a good friend had 1 hip replaced, he was telling me sleeping was the hardest for him too, but no one had told him to get a recliner, so we took our recliner right down to him and the very next day he called almost in tears he was so grateful for a good sleep. He ended up actually sleeping in the reclliner full time for a few weeks. On a good note, it is only a short time that you have to stay on your back. I know it seems forever at the time, but it will pass quickly.

As far as sleeping in bed, it was real rough at first since you just can't move around. After experimenting a bit, I found that lots of pillows was the only way I could stay comfortable for any period of time. I used one under my ankles, two inder my knees, and several behind my back. I would think a hospital bed could do the same. You just don't want to be flat on your back at all!

Good luck!

Andrea

 

[Ginny]

Hi, you're not alone with regards to sleeping. It was uncomfortable for me too. I used the pillows under my ankle...(i had a pressure sore on my surgical leg ankle)..and pillows propped up my back. Like a recline position..that combination along with a muslce relaxer or pain pill helped. The first 2-3 weeks were the hardest for sleeping. It will get better.

All the best!
Ginny

 

[deniseh]

I had a THP 5 weeks ago and it is my second one. My first was 5 years ago. I am not a back sleeper at all. The only thing that has worked for me is to take 2 tylenol pm at night and the use of a lumbar support pillow. I am hoping that the doctor will allow me to sleep more "normally" in a week.

 

[kheiden]

Why is it that at some sites and pamphlets regarding THR, they strongly urge you not to sit in a recliner after having a hip replacement?

 

[Josephine]

There are two positions that place you in high risk of dislocation - sitting with the hips flexed at 45-75 degrees and externally rotating the leg. In a recliner you do both. Until the incisions in the muscles and ligaments are healed up and have regained their tone, it is best to avoid anything that will put you in that position. Another reason why they also restrict going in a car (driver or passenger) or a bath. It is best to either sit with hips at 90 degrees flexion or stand or lie down.

 

[newwheels08]

This is my fisrt post on this forum...but I have been using the site for some time as a resource. The thread about recliners is a bit confusing (and concerning) . I am 4 weeks into bilateral THR recovery and have been using a recliner throughout. I start by backing into it with my torso in line and knees bent and using my arms behind me to insure no breech of positioning. Once in the chair and reclined it seems no different than being in bed..so I am concerned about the cited dangers. The surgeon and P/T have put the fear of God in me regarding dislocation...but both said that recliners were ok and great for elevating the feet as well as sleeping. So far my recovery is going well and I have my first check up tomorrow. I still have more weakness in one leg (the one that was the worse prior to surgery)...but the main symptom is tightness and soreness around the surgery site (no real pain so far). I tried driving yesterday against doctors orders and that was scary...Even though I feel great..there was still a lot of weakness with certain driving movements and I stopped after a block because things did not feel right with either leg. Went back to walking.

 

[Josephine]

Well, the hazard is in the first 2-4 weeks before the muscles have regained their tone. After that, they get stronger and firmer so the risk subsides.

But remember this, NW, it is a risk not an inevitability!! There are literally thousands of hips done in this country and who knows how many in the US, but the number of dislocations is minuscule. It's likely the 'not feeling right' feeling you had was more from anxiety than anything truly wrong with your legs. Anxiety can make you feel week at the knees and wobbly and your mind can quickly misinterpret that as 'something' being wrong. Truth of the matter was that you knew you were stepping outside the parameters set by your surgeon and you felt guilty and insecure because if it.

So - don't let the posts against recliners worry you. You did it and it worked fine so you know better, ok? I mean that! You have proved that it can be fine. That's cool. So now you thought you'd try have a bit of freedom and drive around the block - but all the time the surgeon's words are echoing in the back of your mind and you convince yourself that it was possible for something awful to happen. So ask yourself - did it? No! you got a block and it was fine. No worries. Next time (when the surgeon says you can!) drive two blocks and then three. You will be fine.

It has never ceased to amaze me (and I am speaking of personal experience here) how we can all but paralyze ourselves with those two little words "What if?". I can ask you this - you have a mobile phone? So what if something 'bad' did happen? You can dial 911 and get help, that's what! Big deal, that's what the emergency services are for. But it won't happen. You will be fine. Just don't push yourself, take things easy and before you know it, you will be back to your normal life-style without even thinking about it!