Supporting a loved one after their hip replacement surgery
If a loved one is heading in for hip replacement surgery, they will need some extra support afterward to make sure that they can fully recover. While hip replacement surgery results in a huge improvement in mobility and reduction in pain over the longer term, there is often a decrease in mobility and extra discomfort to deal with in the short term.
Preparing clothes
Getting dressed every day can be a painful exercise for someone who has just had a hip replacement. Before the surgery, have a discussion with your loved one about clothing choices and help them choose clothes that are loose and relatively easy to put on. After they have had the surgery, it can be very useful to help them out by washing and folding clothes or paying for a service that can do this, as well as helping them lay out the next day's clothing in an easy to access location.
Placing items on the ground floor
Heading up and down even single stairs can be very painful after a hip replacement so ensuring that everything is at on the same floor and in an easy to reach level is important. This can include getting items like toilet paper down from the top shelf so that they can be easily accessed. It's also a good idea to put a list on an easy to access surfaces of 'to-do' jobs for helpers, such as changing blown light bulbs, so that the patient is not tempted to tackle some of these jobs themselves.
Having multiple chargers
It can be quite lonely recovering from a hip replacement, especially if the patient is used to being quite active. It is a good idea to leave them with access to a mobile phone and/or laptop so that they can contact people and stay in the loop, as well as being to call for assistance if they fall. Unfortunately, it's all too easy to run out of charge on modern devices, especially if they are being used all day for reading, playing games and general communication. Extra chargers mean that your loved one will also be able to have a fully charged phone at the ready if they need.
If you have a loved one who is about to go into surgery some simple at-home care tips including helping with laundry, moving high items to easy reach level and installing extra phone chargers can help make at home recovery more convenient and comfortable.
