Mr Richard Westerman 2020-07-15 Person 5 5 0

Total Hip Replacement From the very first meeting I just knew Richard Westerman was the right consultant surgeon for me - he knew his stuff, was open and clear about what the procedure involved, how I should prepare for it and what to expect post-operatively. Key was the preparation before surgery - physio to strengthen and give my muscle memory time to establish - this, combined with plenty of post-operative exercises, really helped me recover extremely well. The surgery itself was pretty straightforward - spinal block so no nasty anaesthetic after-effects, and standing with the aid of a frame just a few hours later! The whole hospital stay was fine, just three days, and the physio give me confidence to go home knowing what to do to protect my new hip. One slight criticism would be that I was pumped full of opiates as I came round from surgery which made me really sick. Once these were stopped and all I had was intravenous paracetamol I was fine - which was all the pain relief I needed. It would have been better to start with just the paracetamol to see if it was enough... otherwise the my whole hospital experience was as it should be. For anyone considering hip replacement I cannot stress enough the importance of physio both before and after surgery. I had 14 post-operative physio sessions and religiously did exactly as I was told - not doing too much too soon was key. But after just three weeks I was walking unaided and now, one year later, am fully recovered.