If your mom is suffering from hip pain due to arthritis, her doctor will have her try non-surgical treatments first. Exercises and weight loss are two she’ll try. If that doesn’t help, hip replacement surgery may be an effective route. If she has hip surgery, elder care services become an important part of her recovery.
What Happens in a Hip Surgery?
During hip surgery, the damaged areas of the hip joint are removed and replaced with an artificial joint that may be made from ceramics, metals, or plastics. The surgery takes a few hours.
After the surgery, she is moved to a recovery room where the anesthesia wears off and pain is monitored. The goal is to get her up as quickly as possible to prevent blood clots. After a day or two, she’ll head home with a walker or cane to help her move around. As time passes, she’ll stop using the walker or cane.
She’ll have a follow-up appointment with her surgeon for two or three months to see how things are going. Your family should expect the full recovery to take as much as 12 months.
How Can Elder Care Help?
In the first weeks, your mom will need help moving around her home. She needs to walk around, but she’ll benefit from having someone there to encourage her. She will want someone to help support her as she gets in and out of a shower.
She’s going to have a hard time standing for long periods of time at first. She may want an elderly care aide to cook her meals and help with the housework. Lifting a vacuum up and down the stairs isn’t going to be easy. A caregiver can do the vacuuming for her.
Your mom may find it hard to drive the car until she has full use of her hip again. A caregiver can drive her to her follow-up appointments with the surgeon and physical therapist. The caregiver can take your mom to stores, senior centers, and friends’ homes.
Arrange elder care services as soon as you can. If you’ve made the plans in advance, your mom can have a caregiver ready to help out when she returns home from the hospital. She’ll have help remembering to take prescription medications. She has a caregiver there to help her with ambulation. Call an elder care agency to arrange the services that will aid her recovery.
If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Homecare in San Marino, CA, please contact the caring staff at Home Care Help. Serving All of Los Angeles County. Call Us Today (888) 989-7388
Comments