How to Manage Your Pain After Hip Reconstruction

Hip reconstruction should mean a much more comfortable life moving forward — once you get past the initial pain of recovery. Here’s how to manage that period.

Surgical intervention can make a huge difference for your hip. Maybe you severely fractured the femoral neck, which connects the ball portion of your hip joint to the femur that runs down your thigh. Maybe you’re living with hip arthritis and need a way to get around more comfortably, delaying or even preventing hip replacement. Or maybe you had a hip replacement but the joint needs additional care now.

Whatever the case, hip reconstruction gives you a way to address what’s going on in your hip head-on. Once you heal from that procedure, you should be able to move throughout your day with more comfort and ease.

Karl Siebuhr, MD, specializes in this kind of procedure. He doesn’t just perform your surgery and leave you to navigate your recovery period, either. Our team at Reconstructive Orthopaedics of Central Florida in Ocala, Florida, develops a recovery plan for you, and then comes alongside you as you move through it.

A key part of that plan focuses on managing the pain that arises immediately after surgery.

What to expect during hip reconstruction recovery

The total recovery time after your hip reconstruction — and what those weeks look like — depend on what Dr. Siebuhr does during surgery. He tailors treatment to what your hip needs.

If, for example, you tore your labrum (the cartilage that stabilizes your hip joint), Dr. Siebuhr can use hip labral reconstruction surgery to correct it. That might mean taking a soft tissue graft from elsewhere in your body.

In that case, you’ll need to heal both the area from which the graft was taken and your hip. Our team gives you specialized instructions to care for both surgical sites.

It usually takes months to get fully healed after hip reconstruction. That said, Dr. Siebuhr lets you know what your recovery timeline will look like based on what he’ll do for your hip.

The good news is that you shouldn’t have discomfort throughout. You’ll usually only have notable pain the first days after surgery. You might have some soreness and discomfort for a few weeks, but it should dissipate with time.

More good news: you won’t be immobilized during your recovery. In fact, moving helps your recovery.

Tips to better manage any pain

We set you up to manage pain as you recover. That usually means prescribing medication to mitigate the pain for the first few days after surgery. It’s important to keep taking the medication on the schedule we prescribe, even if you feel good.

That might mean taking something during the night. It’s worth setting an alarm for it. This keeps a steady stream of pain relievers in your system so you don’t have excess discomfort.

Keep in contact with us about how you’re feeling. We can always adjust your medications as needed to keep you comfortable.

To further help with your pain, get up to move around on the schedule our team recommends. We might set you up with a walker or another assistive device to help you get around. Sitting for too long can encourage swelling, so staying mobile helps minimize pain.

We’re here to help you manage your pain throughout your recovery period. To talk with our team about what to expect and how to stay as comfortable as possible, call our office or request an appointment online.