Hip Replacement Precautions: Movements to Avoid While You Heal

In the weeks after a hip replacement, you will be given a short list of movements to avoid. These are usually called hip precautions, and although they can feel limiting at first, they exist for one simple reason: to keep your new hip safely in its socket while the muscles and tissues around it heal and grow strong. Following them is one of the most important things you can do for a smooth recovery. This guide explains the standard precautions, why they matter, how long they tend to last, and how to manage everyday tasks comfortably while you stick to them.

The three standard precautions

While the exact wording varies between hospitals, most precautions come down to three movements to avoid.

Do not bend your hip past ninety degrees. That means not letting your knee come up higher than your hip when you sit, bend, or reach. Picture a right angle between your thigh and your body, and try not to fold tighter than that. This is why low chairs, sofas, and toilets are a problem in the early weeks.

Do not cross your legs or ankles. Keep your legs apart rather than crossing one over the other, whether you are sitting, lying, or standing. Many people are given a pillow or wedge to place between the knees in bed as a reminder.

Do not twist on the operated leg. Avoid turning your upper body or pivoting on the new hip while your foot stays planted. When you want to turn, take small steps to bring your whole body round together instead of swiveling.

A useful way to remember the spirit of all three is to keep the operated leg pointing forwards, not turned in or across the body, and to keep your hip from folding too tightly.

Why the precautions matter

A hip replacement sits in its socket much like a ball in a cup. Straight after surgery, the muscles, tendons, and the capsule of tissue around the joint are healing and have not yet regained their full strength. Certain extreme positions, particularly deep bending combined with twisting or crossing the legs, can lever the ball out of the socket. This is called a dislocation, and although it is uncommon, it is painful and sometimes needs another procedure to put right.

The precautions simply steer you away from the handful of positions that carry this risk. As the soft tissues heal and your muscles rebuild, the joint becomes far more stable, and the restrictions ease.

How long do they last

For many people the precautions are most important for the first six to twelve weeks, but this varies a great deal, and your own team will give you the timescale that fits your surgery. One of the biggest factors is the surgical approach used.

With a posterior approach, where the surgeon reaches the hip from the back, the standard precautions about bending, crossing, and twisting are usually emphasized and may be followed for a longer period. With an anterior approach, where the hip is reached from the front, some teams give fewer or different restrictions, because the muscles at the back are not disturbed in the same way. This is exactly why you should follow your own surgeon’s instructions rather than general advice or what a friend was told, as the right precautions depend on how your operation was done. Our hip replacement recovery timeline gives a sense of how the weeks tend to unfold.

Sitting and getting up

Choose a firm chair with a higher seat and armrests, so your hips stay above your knees and you have something to push up from. Low, soft sofas and armchairs are the main culprits for breaking the ninety-degree rule, so a firm cushion that raises the seat height can make an ordinary chair usable again.

When you sit down, back up until you feel the seat against your legs, slide the operated leg slightly forward, reach back for the armrests, and lower yourself gently. Reverse the steps to stand. Our guide on how to get up from a chair after surgery walks through this in more detail.

The toilet and bathroom

A standard toilet sits low, so lowering yourself onto it bends the hip too far. A raised toilet seat, ideally with a frame or handles, solves this neatly by reducing how far you have to descend. In the shower, a perching stool lets you sit safely rather than balancing on one leg, and a long-handled sponge means you can wash your lower legs and feet without bending down.

Getting dressed

Reaching your feet is the classic problem, because bending to pull on socks, shoes, or pants breaks the ninety-degree rule. A small kit of dressing aids restores your independence here. A long-handled reacher or grabber picks things up off the floor, a sock aid slides socks on without bending, a long shoe horn helps with shoes, and a dressing stick manages pants and underwear. Always dress the operated leg first and undress it last, so the new hip does the least amount of bending. We cover the full list in our best products for hip replacement recovery guide.

Sleeping safely

Most people are advised to sleep on their back in the early weeks, with a pillow or wedge between the knees to stop the legs drifting together or crossing. If your team allows you to lie on your side, it is usually the non-operated side, again with a firm pillow between the knees to keep the legs apart and the hip from rolling inwards. Avoid lying on the operated side until you are told it is safe. Our guide on how to sleep after a hip replacement covers comfortable positions that respect your precautions.

Getting in and out of a car

Cars are low and require a twisting movement, so they need a little planning. Push the front passenger seat back as far as it will go and recline it slightly to open up the angle and avoid bending the hip too far. Sit down backwards onto the seat first, keeping your legs out of the car, then swing both legs in together as one unit so you do not twist on the hip. A smooth plastic bag or a slide sheet on the seat helps you rotate without grinding. Reverse the process when you get out. A firm cushion that raises the seat is helpful here too.

Bending and reaching in daily life

Beyond these set tasks, the same principles apply all day. Keep frequently used items at waist height so you are not reaching to the floor or up to high shelves. Use your reacher for anything you drop. When you do need to pick something up and your team allows it, some people are taught the “golfer’s lift”, where you keep the operated leg straight out behind you as you bend, which keeps the hip from folding. Check with your physical therapist before relying on this.

Easing back to normal

The precautions are temporary. As your follow-up appointments confirm that the joint is healing well, your team will gradually lift the restrictions, and you will return to crossing your legs, bending, and moving freely. Doing the gentle strengthening work in our exercises after hip replacement guide helps the muscles around the joint regain stability, which is what ultimately makes the precautions unnecessary. For now, treat them as a short-term framework that protects all the good work your surgeon has done.

This guide is part of our hip replacement recovery series.