How to manage pain after total hip arthroplasty

Patients who have decided to undergo total hip arthroplasty must be having many questions about the surgery of which pain management is the most common one. Majority of patients want to know how to get rid of the excessive pain during the recovery period. This article will take you through the ways to manage pain after hip replacement.

 Different patients have different tolerance levels and therefore this topic is very subjective. Pain management generally requires some level of expectations on patient's part. Total hip arthroplasty will surely result in considerable inconvenience due to prolonged immobility and bed rest in order to ensure that muscles and tissues get completely healed.

During the initial phases of post surgery, doctors advise only little movement. Generally by the tenth day, the pain becomes tolerable and will not need oral medications. Patients will be asked to move with the help of walking aids such as walkers and crutches. They will be asked to apply ice to help relieve the swelling and pain. With new technologies coming up, gels are available that stays cold for a longer period.

Pain relief medicines are very necessary. However, they should be used along with ice packs in order to bring down the dependency on medicines.

Keep your legs elevating from time to time as that will also reduce the swelling. Physiotherapy plays a very important role in restoring the normal movement and should be practiced regularly atleast for a year. Your surgeon will prescribe you some exercise at the time of discharge which should be done regularly. Physiotherapy helps in restoring movement, building up muscles and strengthening the wounded area to avoid re-injury.

Getting relief from pain post total hip arthroplasty is quite straight forward. Patients need to take lot of rest, pain killers, apply ice pack, elevation of legs and physiotherapy. Initially they may feels it difficult but with perseverance, outcome will be positive.

About Fortis Healthcare

Fortis Healthcare offers state-of-art infrastructure and qualified cardiac surgeons for  total hip arthroplasty. Fortis healthcare is a leading group of hospitals in India offering world class medical facilities backed by experienced doctors and cutting edge technology. Fortis offers centers of excellence for cardiac sciences, bone and joint, neuro sciences, renal sciences, gastro sciences, organ transplants and critical care.   

Laproscopic Gastric Bypass Surgery May Ease Urinary Incontinence

 A new Australian study has shown that laproscopic gastric bypass surgery can be helpful in easing urinary incontinence in many morbidly obese women. After undergoing the procedure they can gain control over urination.

In laproscopic gastric bypass surgery, a band is placed around the upper part of the stomach to create a small pouch which restricts the amount of food that people can eat.

Obesity has become a big health problem worldwide, increasing the risk of diabetes, heart disease,  high blood pressure and cancer. The eating habit and lifestyle of people has resulted in such a growing number of obese across the world. Also, approximately one in every four obese people report to suffer from urinary incontinence.

A study published in the British Journal of Urology International, the researchers studies surveys performed on 142 women of average age 48 years and 34 men of an average age of 53 years who had undergone laproscopic gastric bypass surgery  over a decade in Australia. The candidates were told to share their urinary and erectile dysfuntion symptoms before and post surgery.

About 65% of the women reported that they were suffering from urinary incontinence prior to the surgery and the same was reported by about ¼ of the men.

The big numbers indicated but did not prove that this could be due to obesity. It was said that in females, the excess weight near the abdominal region puts more pressure on the bladder leading to urinary incontinence particularly while laughing, coughing or sneezing. However, in males it is a complex procedure and lacks proper understanding.

The researchers found that on an average women and men lost around 50 pounds after the surgery. There was an overall improvement in incontinence after surgery in women but they experienced more “urge incontinence” -urination that is generally felt after a sudden urge to urinate. There would have been an overall improvement as weight loss decreases pressure on the urinary tract.

The study revealed that there was no improvement in the symptoms of incontinence in men after surgery. However 83% men who reported the problem of erectile dysfunction before the surgery complained of increase in sexual problems.

However the results of the research for both men and women are in accordance with other studies.

About Fortis Healthcare

Fortis Healthcare offers state-of-art infrastructure and qualified surgeons for performing laproscopic gastric bypass surgery. Fortis healthcare is a leading group of hospitals in India offering world class medical facilities backed by experienced doctors and cutting edge technology. Fortis offers centers of excellence for cardiac sciences, bone and joint, neuro sciences, renal sciences, gastro sciences, organ transplants and critical care.   

Recovery Period After Knee Surgery

After having undergone a knee surgery recovery plays a very important role in deciding the success of the surgery. Your surgeon prescribes various activities along with medication to help you recover faster. Patients need to follow those instructions properly in order to achieve quick healing and recovery.

What patients should do at home post knee surgery

Patients need to remain active despite of being in severe pain after the surgery. It is important that they walk with the help of walking aids in order to avoid stiffness of knees which will be even more severe. It also helps in restoring movement of the knees. Let us know what people need to do to regain their normal life after knee surgery:

Movement of knee is necessary – Patients should not keep sitting for too long as it can lead to more than just pain. If the knee is not kept active then it will become stiff and stiffness will create problems with healing. Though taking rest is must, moving around in every one hour will ensure that the muscles around the knee are kept warm and nice which will help in healing faster.

Walk with the help of walking aids – During the initial phases post surgery, your surgeon will ask you to move with the help of walking aids such as walker, cane or crutches. This is done to avoid putting too much weight or strain on the knee as it will disrupt healing process.

Take medicines for pain relief regularly – At the time of discharge, patient will be instructed about what to do and given medicines for relieving the pain. Patients will have to take these medicines regularly till it is prescribed. Once the pain subsides, pain killers can be stopped.

Physiotherapy – Physiotherapy is one of the most important part of the recovery period. Your surgeon will appoint you a physiotherapist when in hospital who will prescribe you some exercises. You will have to do these exercises regularly even after going home. These exercises will bring down the swelling in the knee and make it flexible for easy movement.

People suffering from various knee conditions are recommended knee surgery. Some of those conditions could be arthritis, fracture, inflammation, infection, etc.   Dignosis and treatment at the right time can cure your knees.

About Fortis Healthcare

Fortis Healthcare offers state-of-art infrastructure and qualified doctors and surgeons for   knee surgery . Fortis healthcare is a leading group of hospitals in India offering world class medical facilities backed by experienced doctors and cutting edge technology. Fortis offers centers of excellence for cardiac sciences, bone and joint, neuro sciences, renal sciences, gastro sciences, organ transplants and critical care.

Common Causes of Hip Pain

The hip is a closely knit area where everything has to be very precise to function properly. Even if one small thing fails to work correctly, serious problems can occur to the hip.

The hip comprises of joints, bones, tendons, bursas and nerves and there are numerous ways in which these can get hurt. There are several reasons which can cause hip pain. Let us know few of them:

Fractures


Fracture is a very common thing which most of the people suffer at some point of their life. However, a hip fracture is a major one than in any other location. A hip fracture genrally occurs on the top of the thigh bone or femur and mostly requires surgery to get fixed. Other regions could also be damaged that remains overlooked due to the fracture and continue to cause hip pain even after the bone has healed. The chances of hip fracture is high in older people as their bones become thin due to the age factor.

Contusions

Contusions also known as bruises occur as a result of brunt trauma generally experienced when playing a contact sport. The pain usually occurs due to inflammation while the damaged structures in the surrounding muscles causes the actual injury.

Inflammation

Inflammation is mostly found in tendons though it can occur in many different parts of the body. Tendons serve to join the muscles in the body to other structures, typically bones. If the inflammation in tendons is severe it can cause tendonitis of the affected muscle which leads to sustained pain in future.
One of the common instances of inflammation in hip joint is to the bursa located along the femur. The bursa – a fluid filled sac acts as a cushion for the hip bone against other tissues in the body. When inflammation occurs in bursa it is known as bursitis and is a common injury causing hip pain during movement.
There are many other conditions that causes hip pain. These generally occur slowly over a period of time. Hip arthritis is one of the most common reasons where the protective cartilage on the joint wears down and causes severe pain in the bone.

Hip is an important central part of the body and many times pain in some other region could also be the cause of hip pain. The only way is to be able to understand the injuries, quick diagnosis so that they can be treated better and recovery is faster.

About Fortis Healthcare

Fortis Healthcare offers state-of-art infrastructure and qualified doctors and surgeons for hip pain management. Fortis healthcare is a leading group of hospitals in India offering world class medical facilities backed by experienced doctors and cutting edge technology. Fortis offers centers of excellence for cardiac sciences, bone and joint, neuro sciences, renal sciences, gastro sciences, organ transplants and critical care.