6 Weeks After Your Total Hip Replacement

Where You Should Be at 6 Weeks

By six weeks, most anterior approach hip replacement patients are walking without a walking aid, or transitioning away from one. If you are still using a single stick for comfort or confidence, that is not a concern — recovery follows its own timeline. What matters most is that each week feels a little better than the last.

You should be managing basic daily tasks independently: dressing, showering, preparing simple meals, and moving around your home and immediate environment without significant difficulty. Stiffness after sitting for longer periods is still very common at this stage and is completely normal — you will notice the hip loosens up after a few steps, and this gradually improves over the coming months.

Some patients still experience aching in the hip or thigh after a more active day. This is also normal and does not indicate anything has gone wrong. It is simply the muscles, soft tissues, and bone remodelling continuing their recovery. These sensations typically resolve between three and six months post-operatively.

Walking and Daily Activity

Walking is your most important exercise at this stage. Aim to walk a little further each day, but do not push through significant pain — a mild ache afterwards is acceptable, sharp pain during activity is not.

You should be able to manage stairs comfortably, climb in and out of a standard car, walk on flat surfaces for progressively longer distances, and move through your daily environment with growing confidence. Shopping centres, short social outings, and gentle recreational walking are all appropriate.

Avoid prolonged standing in one position for the time being — walking is far better for recovery than standing still. If you are on your feet for long periods, take breaks and sit when you can.

One thing that catches some patients by surprise at six weeks is a sense of numbness or altered skin sensation on the outer thigh near the incision. This is caused by the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve, which runs very close to the surgical site with the anterior approach. This is common and almost always temporary — sensation gradually returns over several months.

Driving

By six weeks, you should already be driving. With the direct anterior approach, most patients are cleared to drive well before this point — typically two to three weeks for a left hip in an automatic vehicle, and around four weeks for a right hip once you can perform a confident emergency stop.

If you are not yet driving at six weeks, consider whether there is a specific reason — ongoing pain, difficulty operating the pedals, or reliance on strong pain medication. If none of those apply and you simply haven't tried yet, now is the time. Start with short familiar trips and build confidence gradually.

Your insurer should have been notified of your surgery. Most policies require you to be medically cleared before resuming driving following a procedure. If you need documentation, contact our rooms and we can provide it.

Return to Work

Return to work timing depends almost entirely on the nature of your job.

If your work is largely desk-based or sedentary, many patients return between two and four weeks post-operatively, once pain is manageable and they are not reliant on strong pain medication. At six weeks, you should comfortably be back in a desk role if you have not already.

If your work involves light physical activity — standing, walking, or light manual tasks — six weeks is a reasonable guideline, though this varies depending on how you are feeling.

For heavier manual work — trades, labouring, prolonged physical duties — a return to work timeline of three to four months is more appropriate, and this would be discussed specifically at your three-month review appointment.

If your workplace requires you to provide medical clearance, please contact our rooms and we can arrange a certificate confirming your return-to-work status.

Exercise and Getting Stronger

At six weeks, physiotherapy remains important. If you have been attending sessions, continue. If you have been doing home exercises independently, keep building on those. The emphasis at this stage shifts from early mobility and wound healing to strength building — particularly the gluteal muscles, hip flexors, and thigh.

Appropriate activities at six weeks and beyond include:

• Walking — your primary exercise, build distance gradually
• Stationary cycling — gentle resistance, excellent for range of motion and strengthening
• Swimming — once your wound is fully sealed (typically four weeks post-op), swimming is excellent low-impact exercise
• Hydrotherapy — pool-based physiotherapy is very well-tolerated and highly beneficial at this stage
• Light gym work — seated or lying exercises, avoiding anything that loads the hip heavily

Avoid high-impact activity — running, jumping, and anything that involves heavy loading through the hip. This is a long-term restriction to protect the implant bearing surfaces, not just a short-term caution.

What to Watch For

The vast majority of patients progress through six weeks without any concerns. However, knowing what to watch for gives you confidence and allows early action if something does arise.

Contact our rooms or present to hospital if you notice:

• Increasing redness, warmth, or swelling around the wound site
• Any discharge from the wound — clear, cloudy, or bloody
• Fever above 38°C
• Calf pain, tightness, or swelling in the lower leg — this requires urgent assessment to exclude deep vein thrombosis
• Sudden shortness of breath or chest pain — call emergency services immediately
• A sudden sharp increase in hip pain, particularly if accompanied by the leg appearing shortened or rotated outward — this is very rare with the anterior approach, but warrants urgent review

If you are ever uncertain whether something warrants a call, please call. That is what we are here for.

Frequently Asked Questions