A replaced hip usually walks out of the hospital within two days; the strength takes months.

The first days: a short stay, decided by goals

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons describes a hospital stay that typically lasts one to two days after a hip replacement, or a same-day discharge when the operation is done as an outpatient ¹. Discharge waits on a set of goals: getting in and out of bed alone, acceptable pain control, eating, drinking and using the bathroom, walking with a cane, walker or crutches on a level surface and managing two or three stairs, performing the home exercises, and understanding any hip precautions ¹. A person who cannot meet them yet, or who has nobody at home to help, may go to a rehabilitation or skilled nursing facility for a short time instead ¹.

Two instructions set in these days shape the first weeks. One is weightbearing: full weight on the leg may be allowed immediately or delayed by several weeks, depending on the type of hip replacement and the surgeon's instructions ¹. The other is the dressing: the most common dressings today are applied sterilely in the operating room and are not removed for seven to ten days, and most are waterproof, though how soon to shower is the surgeon's call ¹.

Weeks one and two: swelling, precautions, and short walks

The guidance describes moderate to severe swelling in the first weeks after surgery, easing to mild or moderate swelling that may last three to six months, and recommends slight elevation, ice, and compression stockings, with any new or severe swelling reported to the doctor ¹.

Whether the hip has precautions, and which, depends on the surgical approach. Some surgeons still restrict bending past 90 degrees, crossing the legs, or turning the foot inward after a posterior approach; others have dropped them, and trials have tested what happens when they are. That evidence is on our page about hip precautions, and your surgeon's instructions come first.

Walking is the therapy in these weeks, with the aid the surgeon prescribed and the weightbearing they allowed ¹. Help at home is expected for anywhere from several days to several weeks, and the guidance says to arrange it before surgery rather than after ¹.

Weeks two to twelve: where most of the improvement happens

A prospective cohort of 80 hip replacement patients measured pain and function before surgery and at three and twelve months. Most of the improvement occurred within the first three months, and the change between three and twelve months was not statistically significant ². Patients with worse pre-operative scores had larger changes, and by one year their outcomes were similar to those of patients who had started with milder symptoms ².

Driving returns inside this window for most people: the guidance ties it to being off opioid pain medication and having strength and reflexes back to near normal, with the doctor deciding when ¹. The studies behind that are on our page about driving after hip or knee replacement.

Three to eight months: work, sport, and how far function comes back

A systematic review and meta-analysis of 31 before-and-after studies measured three aspects of physical functioning after hip replacement against healthy controls. Perceived physical functioning recovered from less than 50 percent of controls before surgery to about 80 percent at six to eight months ³. Functional capacity recovered from 70 to about 80 percent, and actual daily activity in the home from 80 to 84 percent of controls at six months ³. The authors note that few studies followed patients beyond eight months ³.

Work and sport come back on different clocks. A systematic review of 37 studies reported a mean return to work of 69 percent, with the time to return ranging from 1 to 17 weeks across studies; return to sport took 16 to 28 weeks, and patients returned to 104 percent of their pre-surgery sports level but 82 percent of their level before symptoms began ⁴. An earlier review that pooled 3,872 hip replacement patients found the proportion returning to work ranged from 25 to 95 percent at 1 to 12 months, with the average time ranging from 1.1 to 13.9 weeks, and rated the study quality moderate to low ⁵.

• Days 1 to 2: discharge when the goals are met; weightbearing and precautions set by the surgeon ¹.
• Weeks 1 to 2: swelling at its heaviest; short, frequent walks with the prescribed aid ¹.
• Weeks 2 to 12: most of the gain in pain and function ².
• Months 3 to 6: work back for most who worked before, between 1 and 17 weeks in the studies ⁴⁵.
• Months 4 to 7: sport back, at 16 to 28 weeks ⁴.
• Months 6 to 8: function at about 80 percent of healthy controls in the pooled studies ³.

What does not follow the calendar

The patient guidance lists the warning signs of infection: persistent fever above 100 degrees, shaking chills, increasing redness, tenderness or swelling of the wound, drainage from the wound, and increasing pain with both activity and rest ¹. It lists the warning signs of a blood clot: pain in the leg or calf unrelated to the incision, tenderness or redness above or below the knee, and severe swelling of the thigh, calf, ankle or foot that does not go away with the leg elevated ¹. And it lists the signs that a clot has reached the lungs: shortness of breath, chest pain that comes on suddenly, or chest pain in one area with coughing, which need emergency care ¹.

A trend going the wrong way is a reason to call the surgical team, whatever week it is. Our page on when to call after joint replacement sets out the three lists together.

What to ask your surgeon

• Which approach did you use, and does my hip have precautions? For how long?
• How much weight may I put on the leg, and when does that change?
• When will the dressing come off, and may I shower before then?
• What should I be able to do by three months, and what would tell you I am off course?
• When would you expect me to drive, work, and return to the activities I care about?

Every range here describes groups of patients. Your surgeon and therapist decide from your hip.