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When you are disabled, exercise is harder than it would be for able-bodied people because you have more physical restrictions and fitness is not as accessible for disabled people but if it wasn’t hard enough; hip replacement makes it even harder. Hip replacement surgery recovery is difficult for anyone because everyone has hip precautions for a certain period of time that limits your ability to get in certain positions but when you have a disability such as Spina Bifida, it’s different. Hip replacement recovery is longer when you haves Spina Bifida than it would be for an able-bodied person because you can’t immediately start walking after hip replacement surgery like able-bodied people can due to the limited sensation in your low legs. My disability has always made exercise hard because a vast majority of exercises that an able-bodied person would do are very difficult for me if not impossible but I have found ways to make it work. When I had a hip replacement, it was even harder because some of the nerves in my leg were affected when they did the surgery which caused me to lose a significant amount of mobility in one of my legs.. Exercise is recommended for everyone after hip replacement because if you don’t move, you can never expect your strength to return but it’s a lot easier to tell people that they should be move than to be the one who has to do it. How can you exercise after hip replacement? In this post I am going to give you some things you can do safely after hip replacement surgery to regain strength.
Go for a swim – Disabled people with physical disabilities are limited in the types of exercises they can do because our disabilities limit our ability to go for a run or jump on a treadmill like able-bodied people can. In the summer time, swimming is a great activity for disabled people in general or anyone recovering from hip replacement surgery because it’s low impact and the resistance of the water can help strengthen your hips. Swimming can be a great activity for disabled people because you can still swim even if you can’t move your arms. I can’t kick my legs very well because my disability limits my ability to do it, but I can swim because I was taught how to it without using my legs. I recently went to see my orthopedist to have my hip checked any suggested I swim for hip strengthening. I only wish I liked swimming because it’s great exercise but there is no chance I will do it because I personally don’t enjoy it and the only way you will get me to do any type of exercise is if it’s fun.
Walk as much as you can – After you have been cleared to start walking, it can be tempting to want to sit on your couch and do nothing because walking is hard at first and no one is going to jump out of bed if moving is three times harder than it has to be. When I had hip replacement surgery that was not able to walk for the first three months after hip replacement surgery because I have limited sensation, and you can’t teach me to walk with a minimal amount of pressure like you would with an able-bodied person. I was non-weight bearing for three months because I had to let my body heal some before I was allowed to put weight on my leg and no choice but to let my body get weak. When I started walking it was harder than it would be for able-bodied person because most people can start walking the next day, but I couldn’t. I was very shaky when I first started walking because not only were my legs weak, but my arms were as well and it looked like I was going to fall, but that was mostly because I was weak and needed to regain strength. When I first started walking, I did a couple of laps around my house to regain strength because I had been sitting in bed for months and wanted to move but after a while you do become less motivated. It can be tempting to want to sit and do nothing because going a short distance requires a lot of effort but if you want to continue improve your strength movement is so important. Walking is one of the best exercises you can do after hip replacement surgery, and you don’t need to do horrible, weighted routines to improve your strength because it can be as simple as walking more.
Get a physical therapist – If you have had a hip replacement before, you might know what exercises you need to do but if you have never had one, and don’t know what to do you might need some guidance. Physical therapy is usually recommended after a hip replacement because a professionals can teach you ways to safely exercise that you wouldn’t thought of yourself. When I had the original hip replacement, I did physical therapy because everything was new to me, and I would not have known what types of exercises to do without a therapist because I can’t do a lot of the standard hip exercises but when I had my revision I did not since I knew all the exercises I might have done physical therapy a second time if I knew a therapist with knowledge in Spina Bifida but since I did not know anyone I didn’t bother with it because I don’t think I would have learned anything new. If you know all the exercises you need to do and will commit to doing them, physical therapy might not be necessary but if you don’t, it might be a good idea to ask your doctor to write you a prescription for physical therapy because it can really help.
Do some light stretches – After hip replacement surgery, there will be some swelling and you will be tight, and doing a little bit of stretching can help relieve some of that tension. I am not suggesting that you start doing advanced Yoga stretches that put your body in weird positions because some of those kinds of stretches would not be safe for someone recovering from hip replacement surgery. I am talking about doing light stretches like downward dog that don’t force your body into positions that could cause damage. Exercise is important for regaining movement, but stretching is equally important because if you are too tight your exercises will be a little harder.
Try strength training – Strength training can help strengthen your upper body, but it’s not only for arms because if you do it right strength training can be cardio and a full body workout. When I strength train, I like to lift a little bit heavier than most people would because my arms a little bit stronger and it makes me feel powerful but if you don’t prefer to train that way its totally okay to lift light dumbbells and you just might of have to do more reps. I wouldn’t recommend picking up dumbbells, even if they weigh only two pounds, until your doctor tells you it’s safe because adding too much resistance when you are still healing can cause damage. When I was non-weight bearing, I didn’t lift weights, but I did a lot of body-weight exercises that didn’t violate hip precautions and I think it helped me not lose a ton of strength. Strength training can be a little higher impact than swimming but it can be great for regaining hip strength because anything that adds extra resistance will strengthen you provided you are doing exercises correctly and not lifting too heavy.
Exercise is difficult after hip replacement surgery because, depending on your restrictions, a lot of the time you have to do different types of exercises than you did before surgery. After hip replacement, I struggled with finding exercises to do because most physical therapists do not understand the limitation of Spina Bifida and do not always give you exercises that challenge you. There are tons of ways you can move your body after hip replacement that have great health benefits, but not everyone will enjoy doing the same types of activities and that is okay. If your doctor tells you to take up swimming but you don’t enjoy that type of exercise and would prefer strength do that. because fitness is not about doing the exercise that burns the calories but it’s about doing the thing that lights you up that you can stick to. When you are disabled, sometimes you have to get creative with your fitness because not all exercise will be accessible for disabled people, but it is still important. Exercising after hip replacement surgery is frustrating, but it doesn’t have to consist of doing a bunch of exercises that you hate, and you can make fitness fun. How do you exercise after hip replacement surgery?
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