My husband has had Left THR on the 24 July and is finding it it very difficult to adhere to the rules of lying on his back , not crossing legs , ankles etc. he has ver bad ecemza , hence feels itchy and jives about a lot
I am surprised that his hip has not popped put so far
has anyone got any suggestions as to how I can support him
Hi Helen,
Sorry not much help here....I've had 2 THR's and I have spinal problems and found it very difficult to lie on my back for 6 weeks.
I was just told....you have to do it.....It does go over
I hope you get some more helpful information
Love
Eileen
Hi helen,
welcome to our site,
sorry to hear about your husbands itch lol, it os really the worst thing being itchy and confined to cerain movements, I myself have severe allergies which include contact dermatitius, as for the sleeping on th back, well I'have had 2 thr's one last nov. and the 2nd 2 weeks ago toady, like your jusband and many others on here I hate sleeping on my back, so for the first recovery I stuck to the rules and just made it to 5 weeks and then gently turned over to my non operated side, at first I was terriefied it would pop out, but it didn't so this time, i have to admit the last 2 nights I have turned to my left side ( first opp side) and with a very large U shaped pregnancy pillow which goes right down my leg to the ankle, I very carefully rolled over rather like a giant catterpillar lolmaking sure to keep my pelvis inline, as long as you don't twist you lower body it should be fine, this is just my personal opinion based on a lot of research on US websites, tthis rule is not cast in stone, it's a matter of common sense, also how are we supposed to recover if we cannot get quality of sleep, so good luck, listen to your body, also I recomend satin sheets as they make it easier to slide over whilst holding the body line.
Lynne.
Hi Helen
Sorry to hear about your husband's discomfort. It is not great on your back - I hated it at first - but somehow my mind and circumstances took over....
I found the greatest help was not to simply be in bed as I had been before the op. Instead, (for the first fortnight!) my wife left me in our bed on my own... which somehow made things easier..... and I made vast use of practically all the pillows in the house, so that I was not lying down as such, but nestled in a rather propped-up way, and also with a pillow under my knees and a rolled-up towel under my ankles (as my heels were incredibly sore if they touched the bed all night long).I also had a light covering on - a fleece blanket - which seemed to make the whole thing more bearable. I slept quite fitfully, but got through the first couple of weeks like this. Since then (no @ 6 weeks) I've been gradually getting rid of the pillow stack and am on non-operated side much/most of the night (the pillow between my knees seems to go off in a different direction at some point in the night and migrates out of the bed!)
I think there's no perfect solution to getting comfortable but just trying to get as much rest and shuteye as you can, when you can.
I don't think you should over-fret re dislocation - unless your husband decides to do squat jumps or try the lotus position, he shouldn't come to terrible harm from a bit of jiggling about. My consultant is adamant that, except in extreme cases, the great majority of dislocations (when the few that do occur, occur) are the result of the surgeon having put in the wrong sized head on the wrong sized cup.
Best wishes to your husband for his recovery.
Neil
Hi Neil
thank you very reassuring , and congrats on perserving
well done , my husband is quite good at ' staying in bed' although jiggles a lot . Will see his consultant on the 24 July , so hoping that he gets the go ahead to do more!
Best wishes, Helen
Hi Lynne
thank you for reassurance , you appear to be coping very well , and as said everyone's recovery is different
will continue to support him as best as I can
good luck , you are doing well
Hi Eileen
thank you, yes indeed have to do what is required to get better
men not always as compliant as girls , will plod on with him ....nag nag 
Hi helen
I had my hip op on 3 august and cannot sleep on my back. Phoned the physio this morning and she said no problem to sleep on either side but must have a pillow between legs. She said if it doesn't hurt it will be ok.
Might be worth a phonecall to your physio but I was given this info by the nhs in sheffield
I think hips don't tend to pop out that easily. My consultant said in 24 yearss he had not had any popping out
Hope you get round this. Sleep is so important
Take care
Kate x
Thank you Lynne for the first laugh I've had since I was told I needed a RTHR ( no surgery yet). I'm making a list of things to get to make it easier and giant caterpillar making love pillow has been added! Thanks for that!
Hi Kate
Thank you, the physios just visited and reinforced sleeping on back for at least the next 4 weeks
The hospital said he could lie on his operated side with a pillow between legs, so mixed messages!
Also good to hear that the hip replacement may be unlikely to dislodge easily
Suppose guidelines need to be in
Place as safety precautions
You appear to be doing well and very best wishes
Nice and supportive to be able to 'talk' to other patients
Best wishes
Helen
Very sorry to hear about your husband's eczema. I absolutely HATED sleeping on my back, but being female I just stuck with it.... it was really challenging to say the least! I had to have snoozes during the day to compensate. I'm now well over 2 months post op after left THR and although I can sleep on both sides (often without a pillow), I am a restless sleeper and must feel extremely comfy before I can fall asleep so each night I am like a spinner, getting bedclothes get into double knots and supporting pillows disappear so I spend a lot of time awake undoing knots and looking for pillows lol!!
Itchiness does not help matters, I have all my sympathy for your husband. Does he have medication for this or is it causing more problems with the medication he was given from the hospital?
Best wishes and try to reassure your hubby thatvit's not forever.
Alison
I really have no suggestions as sleeping on the back is the hardest thing for me about this whole THR. Much synpathy for your husband with his problems. wish I had a solution for him but sympathy is all I have to offer.
Yeah I wasn't able to stick to it either.
i rolled over on my non operated side kind of half side and half stomach.
But like Lynn, I elevated the leg from the hip to the ankle. In other words no part of my leg went down lower than the height of the hip. Rolling over onto my hip/stomach, my hip was about 4" up from the mattress, I simply used folded up thick bed comforters to keep the rest of my leg 4" up from the mattress also.
The tricky part is the actual rolling over dragging your operated leg up and over, but like Lynn I developed a technique. I stuffed a pillow between my knees, kept my legs tight together, pushed my butt up off the bed using my arms, used my ankle as a pivot point, and then turned.
dear helen -
so sweet and considerate of you to come here and ask for suggestions ... seriously ... I echo the others - confusing and mixed instructions regarding the laying on back for 6 weeks ... I was shown in the hospital how to use the pillow between legs, turn over on side, so no problem there -
did he always had excema?
Take care of your self too, okay ...
warm hug
renee
Confusing guidelines Ís an understatement
but they are guidelines, we will get there soon as he us very determined to get back to his independence
useful forum , but must draw own conclusions
I thought about you and your husband last night. Is there any way you can speak to the surgeon and try and work out a more doable sleeping position for him? IT is bad enough sleepin gon one's back but with excema it must be torture. I was able to roll to my uncut side with a pillow between my legs and for a short time that gave some relief. I did not get much sleep at all at first and this is not good for recovery. All the best to you.
Hi
thank you for your kind thoughts, last night was not too bad , with the help of a strong anti- histamine , he slept like a baby , albeit sometimes on the wrong side , but he us doing the stairs etc
his physio comes tomorrow , so will gave some work to do which also is tiring and wil promote Some sleep
good point about talking to the surgeon , will call him in the morning
have a a restful night , Helen
That is wonderful news, so happy for both of you.
Sleep well.