How long after a hip replacement can I tie my shoe-laces

It would depend on the surgery being done on the hip. There are two types of approaches that can be used to do a hip replacement, and there are vast differences in the process and the rehabilitation of the two types of surgeries.

The first is the anterior approach hip replacement technique, which is a minimally invasive hip surgery. The advantage of this is that no muscles or tendons are cut like traditional hip replacements, meaning that patients are able to recover much quicker, and the rehabilitation process is much faster. In a traditional hip replacement, the surgeon would instruct the patient not to bend over to allow the muscles to heal, however this is not the case in this matter as the tendon do not need to heal. A small chore like tying your shoelaces can be done instantly. However this is not always guaranteed as there are associated risks with the surgery like numbness to the back which can make the bending motion difficult. Further if the patient has not been able to do something as simple as bending to tie their shoe laces for some time prior to the surgery, it can take time for the tissues to stretch around the hip to accommodate the movements of tying the shoelaces. This means that it could potentially take up to a few weeks.

The other type of approach is the traditional posterior or antero-lateral/Hardinge approach. As mentioned earlier, the rehabilitation process for this is longer as the surgeon would need to cut through the muscles and tendons and then the reattach the tendons at the end of the procedure. Because it can take up to 6-8 weeks for the tissues to heal, the surgeon would caution the patient not to bend during this healing process, meaning that it could take up to 8 weeks before you could tie your shoelaces.

Disclaimer – Individual results can vary – patients are asked to discuss their specific restrictions with their surgeon after surgery.