Joanna Exercise as in walking, is very good to help the bowels get going. Plus it helps your hip. Just increase a bit each time. Make sure you get up several times a day and walk a little further each time. Drink lots of water and that will help all systems as well. I hope you feel better real soon.
Try to cut back if you are still using opiates. Make sure you are getting plenty of fluids and lots of fruits and veggies - prunes or prune juice is a good place to start (just think of them as medicine). Remember if you've added a fiber supplement like psyllium you MUST take it with lots of fluids or it can have the opposite effect. There are lots of OTC laxatives but Miralax is one that our doctors recommended post surgery, it's gentle and can be taken indefinitely if needed.
And do try to do your rehab exercises and walk as much as possible, you need to work that hip!
This is pretty common after surgery. You've gotten some good suggestions from this forum. Hopefully, you have spoken to your PCP (or better yet a nurse) about this as they may have helpful hints also. It is particularly important that you get that new hip moving. It's ok if you have to use your walker (did you use one before the surgery or is this a new issue) but it is vital that you walk. Much depends on the type of insurance you have (traditional Medicare is the most generous in this situation) but you should have qualified for acute (or inpatient) physical therapy immediately after the sx. You should also have had some therapy after you returned home; a lot of times it is outpatient but if you don't have transportation to their site, that is difficult and that's where you need some type of home physical therapy. If this was not mentioned or offered to you upon hospital discharge, call the hospital and ask to speak to the social worker who was assigned to you in the hospital (if you don't remember, don't stress - let them figure it out). I believe you have a grace period after discharge to schedule home therapy. Good luck in charging through the uncomfortable pain, the seemingly mindless and endless exercises. Push back the thought that it would be much easier to just sit in this chair and grab a pain killer. My friend put her head down and kept going with her exercises and minimized the pain killers. She's a bit younger than you at 82 but..... in four months she has amazed her doctor and is back to riding her horse!!
She was goal oriented and focused on that goal, it was get thru this so I can saddle up. Makes a huge difference. My mom had rotor cuff surgery at 89. Her goal was she wanted to be able to set & style her hair. House cleaning, laundry, visting family, going to church... could care less about. All about Those netted hair rollers that have twisted brush inserts & pink pins to affix them. She had a can of AquaNet rolled around a towel she used on her dining table to do her at home exercises. Come hell or humidity she was using those frickin’ rollers and using spray. Surgeon & PT, OT were amazed.
Please may sure to drink plenty of fluids, eat a lot of fruit and veggies, and consider taking fiber supplements. Be aware that narcotic pain medications can cause constipation but usually goes away once the medications are stopped. NSAIDs do not cause constipation.
I know you use a walker, but you need to get exercise as much as possible. I hope the doctor has prescribed in home physical therapy. You will definitely benefit from therapy and following their advice for activity.
PS I an an RN and this is a problem we address all the time.
You have a lot of good advice here. I agree that you MUST keep moving. That alone will help your bowel problem. Besides that, you must keep moving or you will be a cripple the rest of your life.
For myself, if I get constipated all I have to do is eat a large serving of greens, like spinach, turnip, and mustard, cooked with some bacon or salt pork. yummm. In my case I am sensitive or allergic to onions or garlic. If I don't mind the other reactions, all I have to do is go out for Mexican Food and no constipation.
Mainly, drink a lot of fluids and walk. I believe the old wives tale that walking pulls and moves your abdominal muscles and that moves the BM around. I wish I could be more delicate saying this.
Less than two hours ago I was sitting in front of a lady who not only uses a walker but has had a stroke, too, and she was showing me the exercises the Community Stroke Team has given her to do. I hadn't seen her for a while, about ten days since my last visit, and in that time she has gone from being afraid of her trolley running away from her to, right in front of me, pushing up on her toes to stand tall and strengthen her leg muscles evenly. Her lower legs are much less swollen, I have only this evening realised that she is actually taller than I am, and she is so proud! Clients can't see me grinning from ear to ear at the moment because of the surgical masks we all have to wear, but I promise you that's what I was doing.
So to hear you say that no exercise is possible because you use a walker, you're 84 and you're weak? Get stronger! Make a start!
Do you have support from physical therapists, or any care assistants visiting you at home?
The constipation meanwhile is enough to discourage anyone. If you're taking prescribed pain relief, you should also have been prescribed a laxative to counteract its effects on your gut. In any case, though, there are many gentle ways to relieve it, because with a sore hip you don't want to be coping with anything too violent and, er, sudden.
Lots of people find dried fruit (raisins, figs, apricots) helpful; there are products like Lactulose which draw water into the gut and soften the stool that way; and of course there are many over the counter remedies too. Have you already tried any of these?
I had my hip replaced 6 months ago and was asked to walk daily to decrease blood clots, give my leg exercise and to keep my bowels moving. I took stool softeners for few days and got off narcotics quickly which are really bad to constipate. Are you drinking enough water? All of these things will help. Are you having home health com several times a day to check on you or are you past that period? You don't say how far out you are from the hip replacement but usually HH is ordered for the first 6 weeks where a PT comes to encourage exercise and check vitals, changes, changes the dressing etc. It would help to know more. You may also be weak if one you aren't moving, two not eating enough protein. My doctor said I had to have at least 60 grams of protein a day for the bone to heal adequately. Healing takes a lot of calories and energy from the body. So I would eat a greek yogurt in the morning; have either cottage cheese or tuna for lunch (chicken would be good too) with veggies and or fruit, and a good helping of meat for dinner. I also had Ogain Protein drinks which have lots of proteins if I needed to supplement. Let me hear back from you and tell us if you do these things.
Constipation is very uncomfortable. I will not give you list of remedies, the internet is your friend here. I will tell you that it is more of art than a science, and you need to find what remedies work for you, each person is different. The only recommendation I have is to find a progressive approach to resolve the problem; meaning that you start with something less harsh and use something stronger if the first “something” does not work readily.
The only thing that worked for me after hip replacement was Phillips Milk of Magnesia. I tried everything else with no luck, but a dose of M of M did the trick brilliantly.
I used a walker for the first week after surgery.......I was told if I didn't walk I wouldn't heal or recuperate. Why can't you walk with YOUR walker? I graduated to a cane the following week, and then I was walking on my own after that. I think if you don't move your body, you're going to be in a world of hurt, my friend. Do a little bit each day to regain your strength.......it's THAT important!
Same issues after knee replacement. Pain meds plus iron supplements after surgery caused issues. PT will be getting you moving faster than you think. Drinking lots of water, add some of the fiber one products to your diet, raisin bran cereal. Add some fruit like apple slices. Don't know specifically about hip surgery, but my PT had some exercises that I could do in or around a chair or in bed. All movement helps.
Exercise as in walking, is very good to help the bowels get going. Plus it helps your hip.
Just increase a bit each time. Make sure you get up several times a day and walk a little further each time. Drink lots of water and that will help all systems as well.
I hope you feel better real soon.
And do try to do your rehab exercises and walk as much as possible, you need to work that hip!
It is particularly important that you get that new hip moving. It's ok if you have to use your walker (did you use one before the surgery or is this a new issue) but it is vital that you walk. Much depends on the type of insurance you have (traditional Medicare is the most generous in this situation) but you should have qualified for acute (or inpatient) physical therapy immediately after the sx. You should also have had some therapy after you returned home; a lot of times it is outpatient but if you don't have transportation to their site, that is difficult and that's where you need some type of home physical therapy. If this was not mentioned or offered to you upon hospital discharge, call the hospital and ask to speak to the social worker who was assigned to you in the hospital (if you don't remember, don't stress - let them figure it out). I believe you have a grace period after discharge to schedule home therapy.
Good luck in charging through the uncomfortable pain, the seemingly mindless and endless exercises. Push back the thought that it would be much easier to just sit in this chair and grab a pain killer. My friend put her head down and kept going with her exercises and minimized the pain killers. She's a bit younger than you at 82 but..... in four months she has amazed her doctor and is back to riding her horse!!
Makes a huge difference.
My mom had rotor cuff surgery at 89. Her goal was she wanted to be able to set & style her hair. House cleaning, laundry, visting family, going to church... could care less about. All about Those netted hair rollers that have twisted brush inserts & pink pins to affix them. She had a can of AquaNet rolled around a towel she used on her dining table to do her at home exercises. Come hell or humidity she was using those frickin’ rollers and using spray. Surgeon & PT, OT were amazed.
I know you use a walker, but you need to get exercise as much as possible. I hope the doctor has prescribed in home physical therapy. You will definitely benefit from therapy and following their advice for activity.
PS I an an RN and this is a problem we address all the time.
For myself, if I get constipated all I have to do is eat a large serving of greens, like spinach, turnip, and mustard, cooked with some bacon or salt pork. yummm. In my case I am sensitive or allergic to onions or garlic. If I don't mind the other reactions, all I have to do is go out for Mexican Food and no constipation.
Mainly, drink a lot of fluids and walk. I believe the old wives tale that walking pulls and moves your abdominal muscles and that moves the BM around. I wish I could be more delicate saying this.
Less than two hours ago I was sitting in front of a lady who not only uses a walker but has had a stroke, too, and she was showing me the exercises the Community Stroke Team has given her to do. I hadn't seen her for a while, about ten days since my last visit, and in that time she has gone from being afraid of her trolley running away from her to, right in front of me, pushing up on her toes to stand tall and strengthen her leg muscles evenly. Her lower legs are much less swollen, I have only this evening realised that she is actually taller than I am, and she is so proud! Clients can't see me grinning from ear to ear at the moment because of the surgical masks we all have to wear, but I promise you that's what I was doing.
So to hear you say that no exercise is possible because you use a walker, you're 84 and you're weak? Get stronger! Make a start!
Do you have support from physical therapists, or any care assistants visiting you at home?
The constipation meanwhile is enough to discourage anyone. If you're taking prescribed pain relief, you should also have been prescribed a laxative to counteract its effects on your gut. In any case, though, there are many gentle ways to relieve it, because with a sore hip you don't want to be coping with anything too violent and, er, sudden.
Lots of people find dried fruit (raisins, figs, apricots) helpful; there are products like Lactulose which draw water into the gut and soften the stool that way; and of course there are many over the counter remedies too. Have you already tried any of these?
You may also be weak if one you aren't moving, two not eating enough protein. My doctor said I had to have at least 60 grams of protein a day for the bone to heal adequately. Healing takes a lot of calories and energy from the body. So I would eat a greek yogurt in the morning; have either cottage cheese or tuna for lunch (chicken would be good too) with veggies and or fruit, and a good helping of meat for dinner. I also had Ogain Protein drinks which have lots of proteins if I needed to supplement. Let me hear back from you and tell us if you do these things.
I used a walker for the first week after surgery.......I was told if I didn't walk I wouldn't heal or recuperate. Why can't you walk with YOUR walker? I graduated to a cane the following week, and then I was walking on my own after that. I think if you don't move your body, you're going to be in a world of hurt, my friend. Do a little bit each day to regain your strength.......it's THAT important!
Wishing you the best of luck!
Drinking lots of water, add some of the fiber one products to your diet, raisin bran cereal. Add some fruit like apple slices.
Don't know specifically about hip surgery, but my PT had some exercises that I could do in or around a chair or in bed. All movement helps.
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