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What is hip replacement surgery (THR)?
What do you really need to maintain the durability of the artificial hip joint and its life span away from complications, damage or dislocations?
Follow us to the end of the article…
What is total hip replacement surgery?
Hip arthroplasty which known as THR surgery is an operation in which the erosive parts of the hip joint which is the upper parts of the femur (the femoral neck and head), as well as the upper part of the pelvis (the acetabulum) in which the spherical upper part of the femur moves.
Hip replacement surgery is one of the most orthopedic surgeries and one of the most successful surgeries in medicine since 1960.
As many as 450,000 hip replacement surgeries are performed annually in the United States alone.
In THR surgery, the parts of the natural hip joint are changed, as in the following pictures, to artificial parts close to the design of the natural hip joint.
There are many reasons proposed for this operation, such as constant pain day or night, or an increase when making a certain effort, such as getting up from a chair, wearing socks or shoes, walking or bending.
Also, stiffness of the hip joint is one of the important symptoms that must be taken into account in addition to the pain that the patient complains of.
This type of surgery is often performed at a late age of 60-80 years. But this does not prevent it from being performed for younger ages, such as the age of the thirties, or even in the early twenties, if the conditions and circumstances are present to perform it.
What do you need to know before undergoing total hip replacement surgery?
What you need to know is that the artificial hip joint may differ from the natural joint in several aspects, including:
- The artificial hip joint has a certain life span, which may reach an approximate maximum of 25 years.
- Some movements or daily activities may be limited after the surgery, such as high-impact activities such as running, jogging, jumping or other high-impact sports.
But in return, you can enjoy some realistic daily activities like unlimited walking, swimming, golf, driving, hiking, biking, dancing, and other low impact sports. - After performing a total hip joint replacement surgery, you must adhere to several home, health, and physical instructions to protect the artificial joint from dislocation or wear, which will later reduce the life span of the joint in order to prevent another surgery in the event of poor performance or severe damage to the joint.
- After you know some details about the total hip replacement surgery, and that the hip joint needs some daily healthy routine from you, it is necessary to talk about a set of important medical supplies that you may need after you undergo the hip replacement surgery.
Among these supplies For THR Surgery Patients:
The walker
The walker is one of the safest and most widely used walking aids in the early stages of post-total hip replacement surgery.
As it gives the patient better balance than crutches or canes, and gives support to weak muscles and more stability while walking.
It also enables you to control the amount of weight bearing, especially on the leg that underwent the THR surgery according to the doctor’s instructions.
Some surgeons may prefer not to bear weight on the surgery side until a period of no less than 6-8 weeks, and some of them may prefer a shorter period.
That period is necessary to use a walker to give you more balance and safety during movement, and to give a chance for the required calcification to occur and more stability of the artificial hip joint.
There are many different types of walkers, and they depend on the patient’s needs and the ability to use limbs other than the surgery leg.
Some types of walker are designed without wheels (rubber legs), some with front wheels, and others with four wheels.
Also, some types of walkers may contain additional accessories such as baskets, pouches, and seats to suit your needs to carry out various daily activities, and ease of movement inside and outside the house.
Therefore, before buying the right walker for you, you need to consult your doctor or physical therapist to determine the right walker for you.
Crutches
There are 3 types of crutches and they are the most commonly used; they come in second place after the walker in terms of balance and safety, but what distinguishes crutches is that they are easier and more controlled while walking and moving.
Types of crutches in order of balance and safety:
- Axillary crutches
These crutches come in second place in terms of controlling balance and safety.
But they are suitable for every patient whose balance is fairly good and who can control them while walking.
So they are used when the total hip replacement patient recovers after several weeks of the surgery, where the physical therapist evaluates the patient’s functionality and his muscles power, the degree of balance control, and the extent to which he can tolerate walking more distances.
Therefore, in the qualifying stage, walking using a walker is moved to walking using axillary crutches.
- Elbow crutches or Canadian crutches
This type of crutches comes next after the walker and the axillary crutches, as it is often suitable for middle-aged young people and patients who have a fairly good balance as well as have the ability to move, walk and move more and faster.
This type of crutches can be used either immediately after the rehabilitation stage and walking by a walker or after the axillary crutches stage, and this depends on the evaluation of the doctor or the physical therapist for the patient and the possibility of progressing to a better stage by using these crutches.
- Gutter crutches or forearm support crutches
These crutches can be used in some specific cases as an alternative to elbow crutches or Canadian crutches, when the patient can partially bear weight on the affected leg in compliance with the doctor’s instructions.
Especially if this patient suffers from rheumatoid disease, a disease that may greatly affect the fingers of the palms and wrist and may lead to severe pain, swelling and stiffness, so this type of crutches is very suitable for this category of patients so that the load on the wrist and fingers is less.
Commode Toilet Chair
There are several types of Commode Toilet Chair; some of them are designed with four wheels equipped with a brake for installation when needed, and some of them have four anti-slip rubber legs.
There are also types that you can control their height to use in proportion to the height of the toilet seat at home, and some types are installed at a specific global standard height.
Also, some types of bathroom chairs are designed for people who weigh more than 300 pounds, as it is suitable for obese people, and others designed for people who weigh up to 200 pounds as a maximum.
Also, some commode toilet chair are designed with a specific size and width that may be suitable for small sizes of bodies, as well as some of them are designed to fit large and huge sizes of bodies, and some of them may have the feature of removing the side bars to be able to sit comfortably.
Also, some types of commode toilet chairs have an additional feature that can be used as a bathroom chair and a shower seat at the same time with an attached cover for this purpose.
Therefore, in order to choose the right commode toilet chair for you, you must determine several things that you have:
- Determining the size and width of your body waist – to choose a commode toilet chair with a suitable width.
- Determining the height of the toilet seat in the house or the place where the commode toilet chair is to be used – to choose the best option that you can adjust to that height to suit your needs.
- Determine your body weight – to choose a chair that can handle that weight.
- Determining your ability to transfer and move some patients may be suited to a toilet chair with fixed legs, but when mobility is limited, the best option is a four-wheeled commode chair where it is possible to ambulate between the bathroom and bed or vice versa or to transfer to a sitting chair more easily.
- Obtaining an additional advantage in the toilet chair – here you can choose between using a toilet chair designated for that only, and using a toilet commode chair that has an additional advantage, which is the possibility of using it as a shower chair as well.
Shower Chair
There are several types of shower chairs, and each type has features that suit a particular category of people.
There are types of shower chairs that you can install in the shower wall, with the possibility of bending them on the wall to reduce the space.
There are types of mobile chairs, whether with wheels or rubber feet.
Some chairs may not have back support, arm rests, or leg rests, while others have these features.
Some shower chairs can carry weights of more than 300 pounds, and others may not exceed 200 pounds.
Here, if you want to get a suitable shower chair, you must determine your needs first and the features that suit you before buying a shower chair, just as we talked above in the case of choosing the appropriate toilet commode chair.
Seating cushion
It is important to know that sitting on a low chair is prohibited after a total hip replacement surgery, as it is necessary to find a way to solve this dilemma, especially when moving abroad.
In the case of using a toilet chair, the toilet chair will be a solution to this problem in the bathroom.
But if you sit on any chair or sofa, whether indoors, in the office, or when hiking outside, you need a special sitting cushion for patients who have undergone THR surgery.
This type of pillow has a certain standard height to fit most different heights of people.
Long Leg Lifter
When transferring from a chair to a bed or vice versa, or when moving from a mobile chair to lying on the sofa, or even when riding in a car.
Of course, you need a long leg lifter to perform this task, which is to lift the affected leg with ease, as well as to prevent forward bending movement and to prevent affecting the artificial hip joint from dislocation or erosion.
Total Hip & Total Knee Replacement Accessory Kit
These accessories are important in performing different daily activities; these accessories very important especially for THR surgery patients or even TKR surgery patients.
Where the importance of these accessories shows that they facilitate the various daily routine activities and movements.
These accessories include:
- Reacher: To use it to pick up objects and prevent excessive forward bending.
- Dressing stick: to help with long dressing.
- Shoe horn: to help put the shoes on easily.
- A plastic sock assistant.
- Sponge with handle: to clean hard-to-reach areas of the body.
- Long leg lifter.
- Elastic shoelaces.
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REFERENCES:
- https://orthoinfo.aaos.org/en/treatment/total-hip-replacement/
- https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31665-9/fulltext
- https://ard.bmj.com/content/56/8/455
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/healthy-aging/multimedia/walker/sls-20076469
- https://together.stjude.org/en-us/care-support/rehabilitation/types-of-walkers.html
- https://www.physio-pedia.com/Crutches
- https://www.forbes.com/health/healthy-aging/best-shower-chair/
- https://www.incontinencesupermarket.co.uk/blog/product-guides/types-of-commode-chairs
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