What Should I Be Doing 6 Weeks After Hip Replacement?
- Tom Morgan, Chartered Physiotherapist
- Aug 9
- 3 min read
Six weeks after hip replacement is often a turning point. Many patients are walking much more independently and have returned to a reasonable range of everyday activity, but strength can still be well below the non-operated side.
The aim now is to move from basic recovery towards genuine rehabilitation.
What does six-week recovery often look like?
Many patients are walking without an aid by this stage or are using a stick only for longer outdoor distances or uneven ground. Most household activities and short community outings are becoming more manageable.
Should you be walking without a limp?
Ideally the gait is becoming increasingly level and confident. Do not remove a walking aid just to meet a date if doing so causes a pronounced trunk lean or limp.
The hip abductor muscles remain particularly important for controlling the pelvis during walking.
What should strengthening look like?
From around six weeks, the programme can progress beyond basic activation towards more challenging exercises. These may include step-ups, squats, resisted hip work, wall sits, band walks, balance exercises and later gym-based loading.
Can you start the gym?
For many suitable patients, yes. The handbook introduces the leg press from around six to eight weeks with light resistance and a comfortable pain-free range.
Other gym exercises should also be introduced gradually and according to any remaining precautions.
Want the full hip replacement recovery plan?
What about cycling and swimming?
Stationary cycling is often suitable earlier, commonly from around two to four weeks. Swimming or pool exercise may be considered once the wound is completely healed and your team is satisfied it is safe.
A cross-trainer may be introduced around six to eight weeks once balance and single-leg control are reasonable.
Can you sleep on your side?
This depends on comfort, approach and your surgeon's instructions. Many people can begin experimenting with side-lying during the two-to-six-week period if permitted. By six to twelve weeks, most people can sleep in any comfortable position unless specifically advised otherwise.
Are precautions finished at six weeks?
Not automatically. Where precautions are given, they are often relaxed somewhere between six and twelve weeks, but this is individual. Confirm with your surgical team before assuming a restriction has ended.
Why is the operated leg still weak?
Pain can improve faster than strength. The handbook notes that meaningful strength deficits compared with the non-operated side can still be present through the six-to-twelve-week phase.
That is exactly why this stage should include progressive resistance rather than stopping exercise because daily life feels easier.
What should the next six weeks focus on?
Build single-leg control, increase walking endurance, progress resistance, improve balance and begin returning to normal social, work and recreational demands in a structured way.
When should you seek further advice?
Recovery is rarely a perfectly straight line, but new or rapidly worsening symptoms should not simply be pushed through. Contact your surgical team, GP or physiotherapist if pain, swelling, movement or function is moving in the wrong direction rather than gradually improving. Seek urgent medical attention for symptoms such as sudden breathlessness or chest pain, marked one-sided calf swelling, a hot increasingly red joint with fever, sudden loss of function, or other symptoms your surgical team has told you require urgent review.
Want the full hip replacement recovery plan?
This article provides general information and does not replace advice from your own surgeon, physiotherapist or medical team. Recovery varies between individuals and any specific restrictions or weight-bearing instructions from your surgical team should take priority.
Comments