How to prepare your home before hip and knee surgery?

1. How to prepare your home before hip and knee surgery? When you go into hospital to have knee or hip surgery, you would expect afterwards not to be limping anymore or feeling pain. Most of the 150,000 knee or hip replacement surgeries that take place in Australia are performed successfully. Advances in research and technology are resulting in very positive outcomes for many patients. This article will describe the causes of pain, the reasons for surgery, and which tools will prepare you at home before and after your surgery. Reasons for surgery Knee surgery or total knee replacement is one of the most successful procedures in medicine. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, more than 50,000 knee replacements are performed each year in Australia. This surgery is a safe and effective operation to relieve pain while walking or climbing up the stairs. It will assist you to resume normal day-to-day activities. There are a number of reasons people need to have knee surgery. The most common is osteoarthritis, a degenerative disease categorised by the receding cartilage resulting in great discomfort and pain, usually in people 50 years and older. The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare has shown that pain or mobility problems caused by osteoarthritis are the reason for 98% of knee replacements in Australia. Another cause can be rheumatoid arthritis - where the membrane that surrounds the knee joint is inflamed - causing damage to the joint and loss of cartilage. A third reason is a severe knee injury or fracture. Hip replacement surgery is usually necessary when the joint becomes worn or damaged and affects your mobility resulting in pain. The most common reason

2. for joint replacement surgery is osteoarthritis but a joint may be damaged by other conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis or severe injury. Osteoarthritis occurs in people over 50 and is a ‘wear and tear’ form of arthritis where the cushioning wears away. The rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which chronic inflammation can damage the cartilage causing pain and stiffness. The post-traumatic arthritis is caused by a serious hip fracture or injury which damages the cartilage. In all these cases a total hip replacement surgery is an effective procedure that can relieve your pain, increase your motion and help you back to enjoy everyday activities Preparing for hip & knee surgery Doctors recommend cutting back on unhealthy lifestyle choices prior to hip replacement surgery, like smoking and alcohol consumption. Getting enough sleep can also recharge your body and help with the long hip replacement surgery or knee surgery recovery road that lies ahead. This is especially important when you consider this direct quote from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare: “1 in 10 people with osteoarthritis 45 & over self-reported poor health”. Several adjustments can make your home easier to navigate during your recovery. The following preparations will help you with your daily activities: ●In the house - Prepare your home for your arrival following surgery. This means keeping all of your essential items within reach. It might be worth installing new shelves to hold TV remotes, laptops, charging ports etc in one location. Remove any tripping hazards from the floor, including electrical cords, rugs, decorative items, and general clutter. Arrange for a temporary living space on the same floor to avoid walking up or down the stairs (this might be difficult during early recovery). Keep one chair to be your primary chair. It needs to facilitate sitting and standing with minimal effort from you. ●In the bedroom - It might help you tremendously to keep a portable commode in the bedroom for the first few days of recovery. A walker or a zimmer frame will make walking around much easier. ●In the bathroom - The bathroom is always a high-risk area, in fact, many hip injuries occur in the bathroom. Reduce the risk by getting a shower chair for stability. A raised toilet seat will simplify the sitting and standing associated with this bathroom task. A grab rail can also improve safety in the bathroom.

3. ●Getting help –arrange for a friend or a family member to help you at home with everyday tasks like cooking, laundry or shopping for the first 14 days of hip or knee surgery recovery. Gentle and safe exercises can also help to encourage healing faster. Ensure that the exercise you choose to do is approved by your doctor before you start. Which essential hip & knee recovery aids can help you? Hip & Knee surgery tools for dressing and mobility promote independence without compromising recovery. In other words, someone who is recovering from surgery will find themselves capable of putting on their own shoes, reaching for items, and even applying lotion to their own skin thanks to a few handy implements. ●Sock aid - this useful recovery aid prevents the need to bend to put on socks. It’s designed for people with limited mobility. It’s not only for socks, but it also works for stockings, too. It is compact and easy to transport, meaning it will fit comfortably into any bag. Store this item nearby to prevent extra standing, bending, walking, and sitting. ●Dressing stick - Persons with limited mobility can use this assistive device to dress, whether they need to put on a jacket, pants, a shirt, or to pull up socks. It’s lightweight and easy to transport, durable and offers excellent grip to prevent accidental slips. It is an ideal piece of equipment to use after hip and knee surgery. ●Reacher - also sometimes called a grabber, this assistive device makes it easy to reach for things that are just too far away, to high up, or too far down. It’s designed to facilitate the basic action of reaching for something without affecting a person’s lack of mobility during hip or knee surgery rehabilitation. It adds a tremendous amount of independence to someone’s life during this frustrating period of time. ●Lotion applicator with a replaceable sponge - We all have those difficult- to-reach spots on our back that also require lotion. This particular lotion applicator helps you apply lotion on those hard to reach places. It comes with a replaceable sponge making hygiene so much simpler. It eliminates the need for painful stretching making it ideal for those who are still in recovery following hip or knee surgery. This device will remain useful even after recovery. ●Leg lifter from Homecraft -The leg lifter’s webbing strap with a semi-rigid insert simplifies lifting a leg which is semi-mobile, immobile, or weak. Whether

4. you need to get both feet into bed easily or back to the floor in order to stand, a leg lifter can facilitate the process in a safer and more steady motion. It enables the arms to do the heavy lifting, keeping strain off the hips and the legs. ●This is the ideal assistive device for those who battle to bend down when recovering from hip or knee surgery. It is designed to enable you to slip shoes over the feet without having to bend over. This reduces the risk of straining and further damaging the injured areas that are in recovery. These products are available on our website. They are the most highly recommended products in each product category. While many of these products are designed to assist during the healing process, their use will continue for long after. By reducing the need to overreach and bend frequently, seniors can actually minimise the risk of injury. The same is true for bathroom safety and assistive products. They are tremendously useful for the entire family. Products like rails and safety structures are hailed as lifesavers by expectant mothers. Why do you need essential hip and knee surgery recovery tools? Bettercaremarket has compiled a hip & knee surgery bundle, containing 4 must-have tools after your hip or knee replacement surgery. Our unique bundle includes; Essential post-operative hip & knee recovery aids Reduces overreaching, bending & straining The Hip & Knee Recovery Bundle is designed specifically with the needs of those who are recovering from hip or knee surgery, in mind. It contains the most popular items as per data collected through ordering systems. This collection of items is designed to help those recovering and their carers, rehabilitation can be very challenging and we understand that. We have bundled 4 tools in our Hip & Knee Recovery Bundle: the reacher, the long handle shoehorn, the sock aid and the long-handled bath sponge; all from Homecraft so that those in recovery don’t need to resort to overreaching, bending & straining. This kit is the perfect combination for those who need

5. some help after their hip or knee surgery at home. This package is on special for $ 59.95. High-quality items When it comes to rehabilitation, you need the highest quality products. The healing process is delicate and requires you to slow down. As frustrating as this may be, it is a necessary part of the process. Would it make it easier if you had the same tools and infrastructure the hospital has? Of course. You can enjoy the help you had from the assistive devices in the hospital, at home. Bettercaremarket brings hospital-grade equipment to consumers. That means individuals can enjoy the same exceptional quality and the same products used by hospitals, and nursing homes. Our ordering system is designed to be a convenient one-stop-shop solution for assistive living aids. These items are perfect as gifts, demonstrating genuine care for the well-being of an elderly person while gifting them with a greater level of self-sufficiency. Multifunctional Over Toilet Frame Bettercaremarket has one more helpful product designed to ease the stress on the joints in the hip and the back following surgery. Their multifunctional over toilet frame offers a raised solution to toileting. It eliminates the intensity of the bend to sit on a standard-sized toilet. It is particularly handy because it doubles as a commode (perfect during those first two weeks), an over toilet frame and a walking frame. The device also doubles as a lifting aid and as a shower chair. Grab rail You may need to adjust your bathroom to make it safer and easier to use. Reduce the risk of slipping in the bathroom by attaching a grab rail on the wall of your bathtub or shower. This tool will support you when getting in and out of the bath or shower. Grab bars are available in two types: the fixed grab bars or removable ones with suction cups. The fixed rails are anchored to the wall with screws while the suction grab bars are attached to the wall with powerful suction cups. Their main advantage is the fact that they are strong and you can attach and remove them from different locations without requiring tools or damaging the wall.

6. Look at our range of grab rails that can suit your needs. A cane A cane provides tremendous support in the early days when you’re on your feet. It can take the strain off of your hips, helping you to balance a little easier. It takes the stress out of moving around thanks to the extra support. The Comfort - Plus Quad Cane from Airgo is suitable for the indoors and the outdoors. This particular walking cane offers K-shaped rotating base swivels and locks into position, which improves your stability on your feet tremendously. The cane can also stand independently, which makes it the perfect companion, ready at the waiting when you need to get up. The Preparation and Recovery Time The better prepared your body is prior to surgery, the lower your chance of complications during the recovery period. This means adequate rest, preparing your house for when you return, and ensuring you have the necessary tools, assistive devices, and support from family members and friends. Visit: https://www.bettercaremarket.com.au/