Return to work: post-hip surgery
Three and a half months post my hip revision surgery was time to return to work. I’m very fortunate that I can do my job remotely, but it does involve a lot of sitting. With my hip dysplasia, and especially post-surgery, this is of course better than a job standing on my feet all day. But as anyone with joint issues will tell you, being too sedentary can also cause problems and become painful.
The company that I work for is understanding and I’m also able to phase my return to work, to minimise prolonged sitting. I’m working four hours per day to start with, and after some trial and error in week 1, I’ve learned it’s better to split those hours rather than try and work just mornings. Two hours at either end of the day allows me to balance moving and resting between working, which helps stop my hip seizing up, and gives my arms and neck a rest as they get used to life with a screen, keyboard and mouse again (think about how you have to adjust back to that posture after a two week holiday!). My home office is also next to the bedroom, so I’ve found it helpful to be able to have some video calls sitting on the bed, with my legs out in front of me. This distributes the load on my hips differently and the variety of positions between chair and bed, makes it easier for me to focus on my work, not my body.
It’s been good to get back into the rhythm of working. There are only so many eps of Love it or List it that I can watch, and it’s good to apply my brain to something other than my own rehab. The best part has been meeting colleagues again, and especially my own amazing team of marketers; their passion, drive and humour has been energising. And I have a purpose each day. Plus the weekends are actually different from the weekdays.
So now, it’s about settling down into this new rhythm, whilst making sure that I use my ‘off’ hours, to keep up my exercises to improve my physical capabilities. The first week I worked on 3 days, which was enough! I slept a lot that weekend. By day three, my hands had started tingling, two fingers a little numb. We think this is a combination of thoracic outlet symptoms and the carpel tunnel being aggravated by my crutches. And so I’ve got some different crutches to distribute the weight across my whole hand, which is way better.
Last week I worked on 4 days, with Wednesday off to rest and do physio. Splitting the hours definitely helped with the tingling. And…drumroll…I finally made it back to the swimming pool – yippee!!
Swimming has always helped my upper body, which I over-use to compensate for my weak hips, glutes and quads. So when my upper body symptoms started, I knew I had to try and get in the pool. The staff at the local health centre know me well, and were brilliant as ever. As was my partner who came for moral support/backup the first time.
Amazingly I could get in and out of the pool via the ladder (relying on my right leg to take most of the weight). The only challenge is where to put the crutches, and more importantly, how to pick them up when I get to the the top of the ladder. The answer is to ask another swimmer or lifeguard.
Being in the pool made me smile from ear to ear – literally. And as I took those first few strokes (strictly front crawl) my neck, arms and lateral muscles were smiling too. Finally they get to move freely, not hold solid. I alternate between swimming, and doing hydrotherapy exercises. Which also means my partner no longer has to drive me to hydro sessions, which saves a couple of hours a week. I can walk to and from the pool and because my return to work is not yet full time, it doesn’t matter it takes me 25 minutes each way (ordinarily it’s about 7 minutes) in the middle of the day. I can also swim and navigate the changing rooms when it’s quieter, instead of early morning.
It’s still going to be some time before I see the full benefit of this surgery (a whole year according to my surgeon).
So what can I do? I can now sit on a normal height dining chair, as long as it has arms, for about 30 mins. I still can’t consider a sofa. I’m back to sleeping upstairs my own bed. And with the help of a bath board and an extra grab rail fitted above the bath, I can make it into the shower. I am not missing the daily flannel washes! I can walk around the ground floor of the house with one crutch, so I can carry a cuppa from the kitchen to my armchair (important for a tea addict). And when I’m out I am much more confident walking with reciprocal crutches, taking a bit more weight through each leg, and using a more ‘normal’ gait.
What can’t I do, yet? I still need a slightly higher loo seat with arm rests, so I can’t brave being away from home for long enough to need a pee. It’s definitely easier getting into the passenger seat of the mini, with only 2 cushions now needed not 4, and I can lift my own leg in and out rather than needing help. But I can’t close the door behind me as I have to have space to open the door really wide. And I can’t sit well enough to drive even the automatic car. A train or bus trip feels some way off. So no singing in carol concerts this Christmas, alas.
But still, I am making progress. I have come a long way since my hip revision surgery. And with the bilateral hip dysplasia and other odd joints, it was never going to be a speedy recovery. But returning to work, and to swimming, are both big steps on the hip revision rehab journey.
Thanks for being with me and sharing my progress.
Love, Jill x
Jill Pringle was born in 1971 with bilateral hip dysplasia and has had various orthopaedic surgeries as a child and adult. She writes this blog to share her experiences of living and walking with DDH to raise awareness of this common condition. Jill had a full revision in 2025 of her hip replacement from 2003.