Killing my sense of taste?
should be able to do short walks within a couple of weeks.
Once the skin has fully healed you should also be able to go swimming, which is excellent exercise if you have other joints affected by arthritis, as the water takes your body weight. However, it is better to do the crawl or even doggy paddle, rather than breaststroke which involves twisting your hip.
You also need to adjust your food intake and at your age, if you are leading a sedentary life, you probably only need about 1,700 calories a day, which isn’t very much.
Eat more than this and you will put on weight. Switching to smaller plates can help and if you feel hungry, fill up on vegetables such as carrots, which can also be eaten raw as a snack in between meals.
You can get more advice on exercising after hip replacement surgery from Arthritis Research UK by calling 0800 5200 520 or visiting arthritisresearchuk.org
If you have a health question for Dr Rosemary please write to her in confidence at The Northern & Shell Building, 10 Lower Thames Street, London EC3R 6EN or email health@express.co.uk
Dr Rosemary’s reply will appear in this column. She regrets that she cannot enter into personal correspondence and that, due to the volume of letters, she cannot reply to everyone.
To find out more about Dr Rosemary at drrosemaryleonard. co.uk