When can I start driving after Hip Replacement Surgery?

Most patients want to know how long they have to wait to drive after having a hip replacement. The truth – it depends on the patient. Fortunately, however, a recent study has revealed significant advances in healing time, thanks to less invasive surgical techniques.

Throughout the years, hip replacement techniques have advanced to cause far less damage to surrounding tissues. Anterior hip replacement, for example, has seen success not only in the operation itself, but in the time to leave the hospital and fully heal. But what about getting back to driving?

In the past, a typical wait time to start driving again would have been around six weeks. However, in Geoffrey Westrich, MD’s recent study, he found that within four weeks, patients not only regained their reaction time, but exceeded their pre-operation reaction speed.

So, after having a medical procedure, in which a major part of the body has been replaced, patients can get back to driving in only a month. You not only regain the ability to walk without pain, but you improve your ability to react as a driver. As medical practice continue to advance, we can only expect to see better results.