week 2 · last reviewed 2026-06-08
Hip replacement recovery: week 2
Clinical procedure: Total hip replacement.
Typical, evidence-anchored estimate only. It is not medical advice, not a prediction for your body, and not a substitute for your surgeon or clinician.
what's typical at week 2
typical pain · week 2
Around week 2, the typical pain band sits at 2/10 (range 0–4). This is a soft, interpolated read: this exact week wasn't measured, so the band is bridged between the nearest measured points. Treat it as a rough guide, not a target to hit.
weeks 0–2
Weeks 0-2 · standing on day one
Most patients are standing and taking a few steps with a walker on the day of surgery, per the ERAS Society consensus. Hospital discharge is typically one to three days, with some centers offering same-day discharge for selected patients. The PROMIS cohort reported day-one median NRS of 3/10 — low for a major joint operation, reflecting both modern multimodal analgesia and the fact that hip replacement immediately removes the pre-operative pain source.
Pain typically settles into 1-2/10 by the end of week one. The fast-track diary cohort measured median NRS of 2/10 at week one, dropping further over weeks 2-6.
Two posterior-approach precautions dominate the first six weeks: no bending past 90 degrees at the hip, and no crossing the operated leg over the other. Anterior approaches usually have no such restrictions.
documented at this week
This week
Up and walking on day one
Modern (ERAS) care has you standing and walking with an aid on day 0-1, and home in 1-3 days — some centers discharge the same day.
Good to know
Strength drops first, even as things start to feel better
In a study of 30 fast-track hip replacement patients, hip muscle strength and leg-press power fell by 41 to 58 percent two days after surgery compared with before the operation, and were still 23 to 31 percent below the pre-surgery level at eight days. Over that same stretch the patients' own ratings of pain, symptoms and daily function improved, so the muscles measurably dipping before climbing back is a documented part of the early picture even when the experience is already getting better.
What's typical
Reoperation for infection is uncommon in the first year
Across 35,056 planned hip replacements in two linked Swedish registries, 460 hips, about 1.3 percent, needed a reoperation for a deep infection within the first year. For roughly 99 in 100 people, that early-infection path did not happen.
Where it shows up
Where the hip hurt, and where it stops
Before a hip replacement, people most often marked pain in the groin, the front of the thigh, the buttock, the side over the bony hip point, and the front of the knee. In this study of 113 hips, 97.3 percent (110 of 113) reported complete pain relief within 12 weeks after surgery, across all of those areas.
Where it shows up
Pain in places that are not the hip
Hip pain does not always sit at the hip. In the same group of 113 people, pain over the lower back was present in 21.2 percent before surgery, with shin pain in 7.1 percent and calf pain in 2.7 percent. The study reported that the hip replacement resolved pain in these distant areas too, not just around the joint itself.
Where it shows up
A leg that feels longer often settles
Feeling that the operated leg is a different length is a common early sensation. In a review of 130 hip replacements, 22 people reported a perceived leg-length difference after surgery, and within about a year 45 percent had it resolve completely while another 18 percent reported clear improvement.
The bigger picture
Anterior approach leads early, then the gap closes by three months
In a randomized study of 130 people, the direct anterior group reported higher hip function and lower pain at 1, 3 and 6 weeks. By 3 months and 6 months the two approaches scored the same, with no significant difference. An early lead and a later tie are both common parts of this picture.
Coming up
Dislocation within the first two years is uncommon
In a nationwide Danish study of 31,105 hip replacements, the true cumulative rate of the hip dislocating within two years was 3.5 percent, counting every event. For about 96 in 100 people, the hip did not dislocate in that window.
milestones around now
- wk 4 ·Return to driving (Left hip ~3-4 weeks, right hip ~4-6 weeks; off narcotics)
- wk 6 ·Off assistive devices / walking unaided (About 3-6 weeks, once gait is normal)
sources
What this page is built from
- National PROM registry after primary hip replacement (AOANJRR/ACORN) registry · reliability 9.5/10
- Postoperative pain trajectories in THA (PROMIS, n=1,249) prospective cohort · reliability 8.5/10
- Return to work following primary THA: systematic review and meta-analysis meta-analysis · reliability 8.5/10
Track your own week-by-week so a flare doesn't erase the months behind it.
Start a recovery logThis is a typical, evidence-anchored reading of hip replacement recovery at week 2 — not medical advice, not a prediction for your body, and not a substitute for your surgeon or clinician.