Day 3 and about to be discharged. I have had two physios in the same hospital. I must say that neither was particularly helpful. Perhaps it is becasue I am an NHS patient in a Private Hospital - who knows.
But here is the thing. One said that the 90 degree rule is not something to worry about as the chance of a dislocation is so small. He was not saying I should constantly break it, but that I should not be paranoid about it. As a result he was not worried about the various chair heights at home - except the loo seat.
The lady physio emphasised the importance of it, but conceded that there is a lot of chat about this in the physio world as it does not appear to be such a big thing. The line between your legs (which must not be crossed) and planting you operated leg and twistng were much more important.
I shall err on the side of caution, but wanted to know if anyone else had heard of this.
Yes - My private specialist pinged me on the 90 degree rule nearly a year after hip replacment, he said if there any weakness in any of the muscles in your pelvis it puts you at risk.
Please be careful and find a good physio, through your GP if necessary. There are lots of videos on the internet for post THR exercises, try to choose one from a hospital site, treat all with caution.
I am having follow up physio, which I had to wait months for in public hospital as I am having problems, and physio found I have issues with some muscles, and has given me some exercises to start on.
The rest of my muscles she saud she was surprised just how strong I was, I can do sit ups with no problem without assisting with hands, not bad for a 64 yr old lady, she asked me to repeat them just to see I was that strong. No problems.
One thing she did tell me, physio is NOT AN EXERCISE in hurting yourself, but in feeling for those muscles twitching, she was able to show me where i should be feeling the muscle working with my hands, the strength comes with repeating the exercises, 10 times a day, she pointed out I must stop if I start hurting, and slow down, and just go at it more gently, or I am going to slow my recovery.
I had similar conflicting advice from my physios both times last year in an NHS hospital. They were saying to generally stick to the 90 degree rule but that they were not being so strict about about what what you can and cant do. This may be because of modern hip implants or they are just learning more each year. But my consultant said to keep to the 90 degree rule for at least six weeks and thats exactly what I did after both hip operations.
Once you start to feel stronger you may be able to do more a bit earlier than others especially being a fit postie. But caution is definitely best to begin with.
Hi you really must get the right advice, chair and bed heights are extremely important, if they haven't worked out your actually specific bed & chair height, just make sure when you sit on either your bed or a chair that your hips are not lower than your knees,
They measured mine and gave my partner the task of making sure our bed/chair heights were safe before I was allowed home. It's extremely important that for first six weeks that your careful, along with the excercises To strengthen the muscles, It's the best chance of having successful long lasting THR
After reading of someone on here who dislocated, I think I would err a long way on the side of cautious if I was you - I certainly am going to be very wary of the 90 degree rule.
There is an article in Bonesmart about dislocation risks - well worth a visit.
My Surgeon wasn't to worried either about most of the things that physios are paranoid about!! The two main ones were no twisting, pivoting and no legs crossed! All else he had no problem
I thinks it's as Rocketman said, depends on your op. There is probably only a very small risk in the time immediately after the op but if ther risk is there then it's wise to be cautious. I asked the same question and told for me the risk was high and has now reduced at 6 weeks. This is only because my socket consists of a bone graft.
It's certainly nothing to do with NHS/private. Each health care professional will be aware of research but interpret this and give advice slightly differently.
having now been through two hip replacements. The first one being pretty straight forward compared to the second one that has a higher chance of dislocation due to what my surgeon had to do and the fact that from some time this week I will have to be fitted with a brace for 6 weeks to help the hip stabilise and strengthen. I would say you are better being safe than sorry. Don't take the risk and find yourself in sever pain because that pain will be unbearable and you may have to get opened up again to have the joint replaced and until your muscles get strong again after that. You will have a weak point where it may happen again so I would say don't risk it.
I was told by my surgeon that the 90 degree rule was very important and not to break it. Physio was useless I think I got about 10 minutes in total from 3 different people in hospital. For the sake of only 6 weeks I would rather be cautious and take good care of that new hip. I keep reading about everyone breaking all the rules, not wearing the stockings, lying on low sofa's and I do wonder if I am being to careful, but I don't want to reproach myself if anything did go wrong, I keep saying 3 more weeks to go until these itchy stockings are off for good
listen to what the doctors tell you, i was in spire as a nhs patient and both doctor and nurses said you must not break the 90 degree rule, as there could be a chance you could dislocate, if you are not happy do double check with your surgeon
Thank you. I agree that 6 weeks is a very short period of time and certainly not worth risking the few days under my belt!! And I think my wife is taking to my stockings, but that is another story....
Physios are an odd bunch. I guess like any walk in life, there are good ones and bad ones.
Thank you Gabi. Cross legs, now there is another thing. I appreciate what they say, but it was mildly amusing that they say you can hook your "healthy" ankle under your operated ankle to help lift and lower when getting in and out of bed. A bit of a contradiction. But I do understand the point. I am easily amused
Thank you. I am amazed at how quickly the first 3 days have flown by. I imagine that has a lot to do with the meds. 6 weeks is not long and it will fly by (I hope).