Tips For Better Sleep After Hip Replacement Surgery

Patients who have undergone hip replacement surgery Richmond VA often have a significant recovery period to go through before they are ready to adopt their usual everyday routines for just about everything. Simply moving is going to require you to be extremely delicate and careful for weeks or even months after your procedure.

That includes being cognizant about how you sleep. Something you do without thinking about it, sleeping can have a significant impact on your surgery recovery. You’ve made the decision to have this often life-changing improvement to your quality of life and it’s vital that you maintain proper post-op routines in order for the surgery to be a full and complete success.

That means no setbacks, but if you don’t practice plenty of care and caution with your hip once you return home, you could be doing damage you don’t intend to do. It might result in the need for corrective surgery and you don’t want to have to go through this sort of thing twice.

But that doesn’t mean you need to lose sleep over it either. Let’s take you through some of the most important things to remember so you can not only sleep well after hip surgery, but recuperate successfully.

Taking Precaution

First things first, take it easy. Once you return home after hip replacement surgery, do everything slow and easy. There’s no need to rush anything and the more delicate you are about protecting the hip, the better off you will be.

Your doctor will likely give you certain specific directions as to how you should move and manage around the house. Heed those instructions and be careful about each move you make. Your doctor will probably tell you not to bend down any further than ninety degrees and don’t cross your legs.

Good sleep is about not being in pain and these will both cause you discomfort.

How to Sleep after Hip Replacement Surgery

You must avoid beds and even chairs that are low to the ground. You must rest in furniture that is elevated higher than typical sofas, couches, or rocking chairs. As for your bed, many of them are a proper height for sleeping but avoid low to the ground futons or sleeper sofas that might be too low to get in and out of comfortably.

Firm beds and mattresses are also more beneficial than those that are softer and require more effort to get up off of when you wake up in the morning or middle of night due to pain.

The position in which you sleep is also going to be helpful. Sleep on your back, do not sleep on your stomach and do not sleep on your side where your hip was replaced either. Placing a pillow between your knees can also be helpful but to keep you from crossing the leg that was operated on while you sleep. But don’t place a pillow under your knees as that could cause discomfort and set your recovery back substantially.