Had a total hip replacement in March of 99 after a motor vehicle accident. Due to other broken bones am not able to walk yet but in doing daily exercises I find the range of motion on the artificial hip is a alot less than normal. Is this normal? Could the hip be dislocated? Will I just have to live with it? Any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

-- Alan Handwerger (olives2033@aol.com), May 22, 1999

Answers

Alan, I am not a medical professional, but am a patient whose hip was replaced 14 months ago (7/6/98). Your new hip is only 6 months old and while each of us heals at a different rate, I can tell you that my own hip felt pretty much the same way after about 4 to 6 months. It's a whole different story now, a year later! I had intensive physical therapy directly following my THR operation and have never regretted it. In fact, I went for PT for a total of nearly 8 months afterwards and today, my hip feels very strong and has very good ROM. Give yourself a little more time and don't forget you have other problems that need your body's attention right now, too. Did you ask your doctor about this? If not, maybe you should. Good luck to you and may better days be ahead for you! Marie

-- C.R.Shanahan (MarieS1520@aol.com), September 17, 1999.

You should visit this website: http://www.niams.nih.gov/hi/topics/hip/hiprepqa.htm

-- Robert Toussie (RobertToussie@aol.com), March 15, 2004.