As I now consider myself a hip guru after two THR's I thought I would impart my most considerable knowledge about sleeping post op.
So as you gather in closer to the screen to read I am going to poke you in the eye and tell you the first first rule...
1) There are no rules of sleep club
In fact there are so many rules of sleep club world wide that it would be hard to confine them all but we are all victim to our country, our county and surgeons particular cruelty (I mean surgical style) when it come to how we are supposed to sleep. Anterior, posterior and lateral scars all bring their own particular delights when trying to stop doing the twist in the early hours.
So, you can arm yourself with the latest in latex support pillows, V pillows, small hand embroidered cushions that Aunty Edna gave you, mattress toppers, wedges, sleeping tablets, pain relief, whiskey cocktail or a complete hospital bed but one thing isn't going to change - your healing!
Our lives before were clock driven , getting a good night's sleep before getting up for work was imperative. Lack of sleep meant we couldn't function properly.
Now, the God of New and Shiny Hip Implants has thrown all that up in the air and we don't know where we are!
We toss and turn (very carefully) waiting for the elusive sleep that never comes or comes in annoying one hour servings. You think you have slept all night only to find that barely ten minutes has gone by since you last looked at the clock. You hobble out of bed with one eye shut, trying to fool yourself into staying asleep while you have a midnight wee and you just know that if you lie there a bit longer then YOU MUST fall asleep.
As we all know things at night are magnified to horror proportions and the sweating, the pain, the twitching, the discomfort have all become mountains we cannot climb.
So, you have read this far and you are waiting for me to give you the secret to sleeping all through the night after having part of your leg chopped off and in a position that you detest. Sorry, I don't have have those answers but what I have learned is....
This lack of sleep, is it so bad? Are you hoping to go to work in the morning? Are you leaping out of bed to go hiking, on holiday, ice sking? No.
The best cure I can find for lack of sleep is - chill out, go with it, let it happen.
Goodness knows what healing is going on inside but it doesn't confine itself to happening at night. It is imperative to rest in the first 6 weeks as it is to walk and that rest can be feet up on the sofa or a few catnaps throughout the day.
I have no problems with lack of sleep because I don't care about it.
A six weeks (today) after my 2nd THR I have learned that it is all transient. Regular sleep comes back in a position that we favour eventually and the trick is to stop worrying about it.
I sleep most of the night now, waking up between 5.30 and 6.30am. Once you find that it okay to find a sleeping place all over the house you will sleep much better as well.I was more comfortable on the sofa this time so that's where I went.
I watched all the films that no one else wanted to watch and knew that I was getting back to normal when it took me five nights to watch a film.
So, wave yourself a magic wand, stop fretting, this is temporary and I'll even go as far as to say enjoy it. For those going back to work that will come soon enough and your body regulates very quickly so in the meantime give yourself a night break, chill out - a bowl of ice cream at 3am is really rather nice!