Welcome back to The Hip Replacement Podcast. I'm glad you're here. Glad to be back. It seems that there's been a long time since our last episode. I feel like I'm getting this out a little later than I wanted to, but it's summertime here and my kids are out of school and it's been go time.
We've been traveling a lot. For some reason, we have a whole bunch of trips stacked in this summer and we don't normally do that, but for some reason this year, here they are. It's like we're home for a week, I'm working for a week, and then gone for two weeks and all summer long.
But anyway, this, um, the most recent trip was for a family reunion in the Midwest. I live in Florida and we had to go to the Midwest for the family reunion, the first ever one we've had, and it was a flight, then a long drive and a lot of walking.
Again, all great activities for a hip, I guess, if you like a little stiffness and pain. But we talked about ways to overcome all of those things in previous episodes, but it just seems like that kind of pattern just repeats. The hip gets stiff because of my activity, maybe yours, and then you reverse that with different activities or exercises or stretches.
Okay, but anyway, lots of activity recently, but one of the things I did get to do, and this has been a bucket list item of mine for a long time, was going to Niagara Falls.
So, from the Midwest, we took a nine-hour car drive to Niagara Falls, and it was absolutely amazing. We got on a boat to go at the bottom of the falls—not in the top, that would be crazy—but at the bottom of the falls, you can get on a boat.
And the boat will take you pretty much to the base of the falls, where you are just surrounded in this horseshoe type of waterfall that the water is crashing over. You're getting absolutely soaking wet from all the mist and the splashing, and it's just this thunderous roar, and we're on a boat with several hundred other people.
They gave us these little poncho things to help us sort of stay dry. Maybe a part of me did stay dry, but most of me was soaking wet. But it was incredible. It was an incredible experience. An absolute bucket list item.
So, if you have that chance to get to Niagara Falls and take that boat tour, I'd highly recommend it. One of the best experiences I've had in my life.
So anyway, that's where I've been for the last few weeks, but I'm back now. And today's episode, I want to get into the worst hip replacement recovery advice ever.
Before I get there, I want to thank all of the listeners on the podcast platforms. There's a bunch of them, whether that's Apple or Amazon or iHeart Radio, Spotify. Thanks for tuning in.
And if you're watching on YouTube, thank you so much for being here. And what I find amazing is that I look at the analytics and I see people from all over the world. I don't see specific people, but I can tell that there are people from all over the world tuning in, whether that's the United States, Canada, Mexico, all over Europe, Australia, New Zealand and many other places.
So, some people, they listen or watch every episode, and some people just recently found the podcast. Maybe you're one of those folks who just showed up recently and somebody shared this with you.
And they shared it with you because they knew you were going through a hip replacement and they wanted it to help you in recovery and get you on the path to living your best life after hip replacement surgery.
So, thank you if you're new. Thank you if you've been here for the long haul. And welcome to all the new listeners, and shout out to all the long-term listeners or watchers.
Okay, now for today's episode: worst advice ever for a hip replacement patient.
I've heard this 50, 100 times. I don't know, maybe more. I see it plastered all over social media. It's been thrown around like it's really helpful and accurate.
And frankly, I find it a little dangerous. All right. I find it dangerous and vague and maybe a little misleading. Maybe it puts you in the wrong mindset of what's happening to you as you recover from a hip replacement surgery.
And you've probably heard this from a lot of people, maybe from other patients, maybe from social media, maybe even from your treatment team. And here it is. Here's the piece of advice that I think is the worst advice for hip replacement patients.
Are you ready for it?
Listen to your body.
Listen to your body.
What does that really even mean? It's so vague. I don't think it's helpful guidance at all. And frankly, I just think it's a little bit of a cliché and it's misleading.
It's sort of like, “It is what it is,” or, “Only time will tell.” Clichés like that.
When I hear somebody say that [snorts], when I hear somebody say, “Listen to your body,” it reminds me of something that is also generally vague but is at least more interesting. Things like, “Life is like a box of chocolates,” or, “May the Force be with you.” I would rather hear those things than, “Listen to your body.”
And here's why the advice of “listen to your body” simply does not make sense and it's misleading.
Number one, because your body lies to you.
It tells you things are good when they're not. It doesn't give you an accurate picture of your status.
After surgery and the following days or weeks, you're likely loaded up on drugs and painkillers. Your body may be telling you that it feels fine and you can go farther and you can do more and you could walk without assistance devices, but it's not giving you an accurate picture.
Maybe it's not the drugs. Maybe it's not the painkillers that are giving your body that message. Maybe it's that you have a boost of adrenaline. Maybe it's that you don't have that other pain that you've had for a long time.
So, your body thinks it feels good, but it's masking some other issue, the pain, the new pain from the hip, or it's masking how fragile that hip currently is. And it's not so much the hip, it's the muscles and the femur bone that hasn't healed yet.
So, your body may not be giving you an accurate picture of the way it really is because it's being masked.
Okay. Second reason, because your body is sending you messages too late.
It's too late in giving you information or feedback that you may need to make good decisions. And your body may be a few hours late. It may be a few days late. It may be a few weeks late.
Let me give you an example of how your body is simply late in giving you feedback and which may cause you to do things that are against your best interest because you're not getting the warning signs from your body.
Think about dehydration.
If you're doing a lot of activity, if you're doing endurance events, or even if you're just walking around every day, you may be dehydrated, and your body's not going to tell you until later.
So, you may not take in more water. You may not take in more hydration, more of the minerals that you need, electrolytes that you need, because your body hasn't sent you the message yet.
But by the time your body gets around to actually telling you, by the time you feel tired, by the time you get a headache, by the time you feel sluggish, you're already dehydrated. It's already too late. Your body told you it was getting dehydrated too late.
What about alcohol?
Your body at the time you're drinking the alcohol may say, “Sure, go ahead. Have another one.” Or maybe it's eating a donut or a sugary treat or a piece of cake.
In the moment or soon thereafter, your body may feel great. It may be inviting you to take more alcohol, to have another piece of cake, have more sugar, do more this, do more that.
And it's only until later, maybe the next day, maybe next week, next year even, when the problems actually surface. So, your body is telling you too late.
Number three, because the message of “listen to your body” is not consistent with what the recovery process or protocol actually is.
So, when someone says, “Listen to your body,” that suggests that when you're tired, you rest. When you have energy, you go. When you feel good, you go, you do things.
But you know what? When I was laying in my hospital bed after surgery, I was listening to my body. I was having as good of a meal as I could in the hospital. I was watching TV. I was trying to relax. I was listening to my body.
But then what happens? The physical therapists come in. The doctors come in and say, “It's time to get up and go for a walk.”
And I want to say, “Hold on. I'm supposed to be listening to my body, but you're telling me I'm not supposed to listen to my body. I'm supposed to get out of bed and go for an uncomfortable walk, something that my body doesn't want me to do right now.”
So, if I'm supposed to listen to my body, leave me alone after surgery. Don't get me out of bed to go for a walk.
But that's not actually what you need. You need to go for the walk. You need to not listen to your body at that time.
What about when you're pushing? You're getting pushed a little bit by the physical therapist. Your body probably doesn't want to do more. Your body may be uncomfortable. Your body may be unstable.
But the physical therapist probably has seen this a lot and knows that you can go a little bit more and it would help you in your recovery.
So, if you're listening to your body, you're not doing the things that the physical therapist suggests or knows that you should be doing. It's almost like you should be doing the exact opposite of what your body tells you to do. You should be doing the exact opposite of listening to what your body is telling you.
So, don't make the mistake of how you feel in the moment for the whole truth or the right actions to help you in your recovery.
There's a lot of times when your body is not giving you accurate information, or it's giving you information too late, or that advice is in direct conflict with what the process really is.
So, the next time someone tells you to listen to your body, take it with a grain of salt. They mean the best. They want to be helpful. But know that that's not the entire truth on how to get the best recovery possible.
In the next episode, I'll talk about some better options regarding meaningful and helpful advice as you recover from hip replacement and start living your best life ever.
Don't let a little piece of advice guide you in your recovery. Take a bigger picture and think about real advice that will help you.
Thanks so much for tuning into The Hip Replacement Podcast, and until next time, I wish you the best recovery possible.
Take care.
