Hip treatment
Total hip replacement has a reputation few operations earn: it works, and it works reliably. People who arrived unable to put on their own socks, sleep through the night or walk to the end of the street routinely get all three back. That reliability is precisely why the honest conversation is about everything around the operation — whether you have reached the point of needing it, which approach suits your hip, how the recovery really goes, and how long the implant should last. This page answers those in order.
The worn ball at the top of the thigh bone is removed and replaced with a smooth new head mounted on a stem set into the bone; the worn socket is resurfaced with a cup and a hard-wearing liner. Modern bearing surfaces are far more durable than those of a generation ago, which is why the operation is now offered to people in their fifties as readily as their seventies. Where suitable, our specialist uses the Direct Anterior Approach, reaching the joint from the front between muscles rather than cutting through them, Robotic hip replacement is available alongside it: the operation is planned on a three-dimensional model built from a scan of your own hip, and the system holds the surgeon to that plan when placing the components.
Out of 100 hip replacements, how many are still in place?
Survival figures come from national joint registries and describe large populations — your own timeline depends on your hip, your health and your activity, and our specialist will set it out for you.
Most people arrive with one question louder than the rest. Tap yours — the straight answer is one scroll away.
For arthritic hip pain, this is about as dependable as surgery gets. The great majority of people are substantially or completely free of their old groin pain, and the changes they notice first are rarely the ones they expected: sleeping through the night without the ache that used to wake them, putting on socks and shoes unaided, walking past the point where they used to turn back. Those are the outcomes worth measuring, and they are the ones people report.
Two honest qualifications. First, the operation replaces the joint, not everything near it — pain coming from the back, from the tendons on the outer hip, or from a nerve will still be there afterwards, which is why the diagnosis is checked carefully rather than assumed from an X-ray. Second, a hip that has been painful for years leaves muscles weak and a walking pattern that has adapted around it; the joint is fixed on the day, and the limp and stamina take months of work to follow. The implant restores the joint. The rehabilitation restores you.
On the robot, honestly. Robotic hip replacement plans the operation on a three-dimensional model of your own hip, then holds the surgeon to that plan while the socket is positioned and the leg length and offset are set. Those measurements matter: a cup placed outside its intended zone is linked to dislocation and to faster wear, and robotic assistance places components within tighter margins more consistently than the eye alone. What it does not do is operate. Our specialist performs every step; the system is an instrument for accuracy, not an autopilot. And the honest limit of the evidence is this — better component positioning is well demonstrated, while proof that it delivers better function or longer-lasting hips over decades is still being gathered. It is a refinement worth having, not a different operation.
Serious complications are uncommon, and you deserve the actual list rather than reassurance. Infection occurs in roughly one in a hundred and is the one we work hardest to prevent, with sterile technique, protective treatment at the time of surgery, and optimising things like blood sugar and skin condition beforehand. Clots in the leg or lung are guarded against with early walking and blood-thinning treatment. Dislocation — the ball coming out of the socket — has become less frequent with modern components and placement, and the anterior approach generally allows a shorter list of positions to avoid while healing.
Beyond those: a fracture in the bone around the implant during or after surgery, a small difference in leg length that is usually managed and occasionally noticeable, and nerve irritation — with the anterior approach, temporary numbness over the outer thigh is the commonest and typically settles over weeks to months. Late on, an implant can loosen or wear and require revision surgery. Your own risk depends on your age, weight, bone quality, diabetes control, smoking and previous surgery, and that is the conversation we have before you decide, not afterwards.
Sooner than most people imagine. Standing and walking with support begin on the day of surgery or the day after — not as a feat, but because early movement protects against clots and stiffness and speeds everything that follows. Home within one to three days, a walking aid for one to three weeks, driving at roughly three to six, desk work at two to six, and a hip that feels broadly like part of you by six to twelve weeks. Where are you in this?
The most useful thing you can do is describe your week honestly. How far you walk, what wakes you, what you have stopped doing. Those answers decide timing better than any X-ray does — and if you are not yet at the point of needing this, we will tell you so and treat the hip another way.
Arrive as strong as you can. Upper-body and good-leg strength make crutches easier; the fitter you go in, the faster you come out. Practical preparation matters too — a firm higher chair, clear walking routes at home, help arranged for the first week, and any dental or skin problems dealt with beforehand to lower infection risk.
Progress is measured in weeks, and the limp is usually the last thing to leave. Keep walking little and often rather than in long bursts, do the strengthening even on days it feels unnecessary, and expect stamina to keep improving for six months or more. Report fever, spreading redness, calf pain or a sudden change in leg position promptly.
The registry picture is reassuring: around 95 in 100 hip replacements are still in place at ten years, and roughly 85 to 90 in 100 at twenty. For someone having this done in their sixties or later, one hip replacement is likely to be all they will ever need. Younger and more active patients should expect a higher chance of eventually needing a revision — not a reason to suffer through a decade of pain first, but a reason to have the conversation openly and to choose components with that horizon in mind.
If a hip does need revising, it is a bigger operation than the first, and it is done by surgeons who do this work regularly. More on complex & revision hip reconstruction → What genuinely helps longevity is within reach: keeping weight sensible, staying strong, choosing lower-impact activity over repeated pounding, and reporting new pain rather than living with it — loosening and infection are both far easier to deal with early.
The X-ray does not decide this; your life does. Plenty of alarming films belong to people managing perfectly well, and plenty of moderate ones belong to people whose world has shrunk to one floor of the house. These are the signs that usually mean the time has come — check yours:
That is the picture of a hip that has taken over the running of your life. It is the point at which replacement usually offers more than it costs. The consultation confirms the diagnosis, checks the pain is coming from the joint itself, and sets out the approach and timeline for your hip specifically.
Good — it may well be too soon, and that is worth hearing. Hips that still allow sleep, distance and independence usually have useful non-surgical options left. An assessment builds that plan and tells you what to watch for, so the decision is made at the right moment rather than the frightened one.
And remember: the consultation’s job is the right answer for your hip — including “not yet.”
Tap each card to reveal the answer:
An operation that replaces both halves of a worn hip joint. The damaged ball at the top of the thigh bone is removed and replaced with a smooth new head on a stem set into the bone, and the worn socket is resurfaced with a cup and a hard-wearing liner. What you are left with is a joint that glides again instead of grinding, which is why the pain relief is usually so decisive.
It is a way of reaching the hip from the front, working between muscles rather than cutting through them. In the early weeks it tends to mean less pain, an easier time getting upright, and generally no list of movements you must avoid while things heal. By a year out, results from the different approaches converge. So it is a real advantage where it counts most — the first weeks — rather than a different quality of hip, and the experience of the surgeon matters more than the direction of the incision.
Most people stand and walk with support on the day of surgery or the day after, and go home within one to three days. A walking aid is usual for one to three weeks, driving returns at roughly three to six weeks, and desk work at two to six. Ordinary daily life feels largely normal by six to twelve weeks, with strength and stamina continuing to improve for six months to a year.
National joint registries following hundreds of thousands of hips give a clear picture: roughly 95 in 100 are still in place at ten years, and around 85 to 90 in 100 at twenty. Longevity depends on age, activity, bone quality and implant choice rather than on any single brand. For most people having this operation after sixty, one hip replacement is likely to be all they ever need.
The serious ones are uncommon but real: infection in roughly one in a hundred, clots in the leg or lung, dislocation, a fracture around the implant, a difference in leg length, and nerve irritation — with the anterior approach, temporary numbness over the outer thigh is the commonest and usually settles. Loosening or wear may eventually require revision surgery. Each is discussed against your own health before you decide.
It depends on the hospital and ward class, the implant used, whether robotic assistance is involved, the length of stay and any other medical conditions needing management. Insurance and MediSave typically cover a substantial share for eligible patients. Rather than quoting a figure that may not apply to you, we provide an itemised estimate before you commit to anything, and our team helps with the insurance paperwork.
The operation is planned in advance on a three-dimensional model built from a scan of your own hip, and carried out with robotic assistance that keeps the surgeon within very fine margins of that plan. It is used chiefly to control how the socket is angled and how leg length and offset are restored, since those measurements influence dislocation risk, wear and how even your legs feel afterwards. The surgeon performs the operation throughout. Robotic hip replacement can be combined with the Direct Anterior Approach, and whether it suits your hip is decided at consultation.
Related: hip osteoarthritis · avascular necrosis · hip arthroscopy · all hip surgery · physiotherapy
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