Yoga guide
Yoga can sit well alongside the exercises your physiotherapist gives you after a hip replacement, once your surgical team agrees. Its chair, standing and lying poses can build the hip strength and balance that recovery needs, and in one small series, yoga teachers with new hips were back on the mat at about 2 months. But no trial has tested yoga after a hip replacement, and a few poses take the hip to the very positions your precautions are there to avoid.
What changes is which poses you do, and when. Depending on your operation, you may be asked not to bend your hip past a right angle, cross your legs or turn your leg in, or not to turn it out or take it behind you; some hospitals give few precautions or none. Your surgical team's advice comes first.
This guide covers when to start, how precautions translate into poses, what the trials of precautions found, the rare dislocations in yoga, balance, a free 25-minute class and the warning signs. Our hip replacement guide covers the rehabilitation stages.
NICE (the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) wants rehabilitation to start on the day of surgery if possible, with a home exercise programme, and the NHS says doing the exercises early helps the hip's long-term strength and movement. Two years after surgery, the operated hip's muscles were still about 6% weaker than the other side's in one small study, so strength work matters long after the wound heals.
No guideline or study sets a timing for yoga after a hip replacement. Our synthesis of NHS, hospital and surgeons' advice: breathing and seated poses once you're home; standing poses at a counter and lying poses within your precautions when your team agrees; a gentle class from about 6 to 12 weeks; fuller classes from about 3 months. Your team's timings come first.
The NHS lists no crossed legs, no bending your hip past a right angle and no bending down to your feet; one NHS trust asks only that you don't cross your legs for 6 weeks, and a specialist NHS hospital keeps precautions for higher-risk hips. Trials of dropping routine precautions found no clear difference in dislocations, at low certainty, while two large observational studies leaned slightly the other way. Follow the precautions your own team gave you.
In healthy practitioners, forward folds, downward dog, seated twists and pigeon bent the hip deeply, lunges and warriors took it back, and eagle and seated twists crossed it. Three replaced hips have dislocated during yoga, at 16 months, 9 years and 17 years after surgery: in warrior I, in a standing forward fold and rolling into a shoulder stand. Only three are reported, but keep extreme positions moderate for good.
Fourteen yoga teachers with front-approach replacements went back to yoga at about 2 months and could all do 14 classic poses, with no complications over about 5 years, and Dutch surgeons rate yoga "allowed with experience". No trial of yoga after a hip replacement exists, so this guide builds on rehabilitation advice and these reports.
Pain and swelling in your hip or leg with breathlessness or chest pain is a 999 call. A sudden clunk, or a leg that suddenly looks shorter or turned, needs A&E. A throbbing calf, a high temperature, or a red, oozing wound needs an urgent GP appointment or NHS 111. The full list is below.
Source 16
The ball at the top of the thigh bone and the socket in the pelvis are replaced with metal, ceramic or plastic parts; a partial replacement replaces only the ball, and resurfacing puts a metal cover on it. The NHS says modern replacement hips are designed to last at least 15 years. Surgeons reach the hip from the back (posterior), the side (lateral) or the front (anterior), and the approach shapes your early precautions. In large registers, front-approach hips dislocated less often than back-approach hips.
NICE asks for rehabilitation on the day of surgery if possible and no more than 24 hours after, with a home exercise programme, clear goals and a point of contact, and supervised sessions for people who struggle. The NHS says most people go home 1 to 3 days after the operation, are checked around 6 to 12 weeks after it, and may take several months to recover. One NHS trust expects full activity apart from high-impact sport by about 6 months.
In 20 people followed for 2 years, the operated side's hip muscles were 18% weaker before surgery and still 6% weaker at 2 years, with lasting muscle loss on scans; the authors suggest training should target the muscles at the side of the hip. Falls are common: 42% of 167 people aged 60 and over fell in the year after a planned hip replacement, and in another study 30% of women fell in the first year, against 13.5% of women of the same age without one.
Rehabilitation exercises stay in the middle of the hip's range; many yoga poses go to its edges. In 20 regular practitioners, downward dog, forward fold, seated twist and pigeon bent the hip deeply; warrior I and II, crescent lunge, pigeon and triangle took it back behind the body; eagle and seated twist crossed it; and half moon, eagle and triangle turned it in. Those are the directions precautions limit, and some poses combine them.
Source 11
Breathing, chair, standing and lying poses can do some of the work your programme asks for (strength around the hip, balance and walking confidence), and relaxation suits a long recovery. Yoga sits beside the programme your team gives you, within your precautions, never in place of it.
Follow your surgical team's advice: their timings come first. No guideline or study sets a timing for yoga after a hip replacement, so these steps are our editorial synthesis of NHS, hospital and surgeons' advice and one series of yoga teachers. No study has tested them.
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) says to keep doing the exercises your physical therapist prescribed for at least 2 months, and that most people can do most of the movements on their list of "don'ts" after 6 to 8 weeks. One NHS trust lifts its only precaution, no crossed legs, at 6 to 8 weeks; a specialist NHS hospital keeps precautions for higher-risk hips, usually for 6 to 12 weeks. In one series, yoga teachers were told to wait 12 weeks and went back at about 2 months. Across 37 studies, people got back to their usual sport level at 16 to 28 weeks on average.
Dutch surgeons rated yoga and tai chi "allowed with experience" after a hip replacement, without a timing, and in a survey of 139 US surgeons, none claimed strong evidence for their activity advice. If you're new to yoga, start with a beginners' class once your team agrees (our suggestion).
While the tissues heal, some movements can lever the new ball out of its socket. The NHS lists: "do not sit with your legs crossed", "do not bend your hip more than 90 degrees (a right angle)", "do not bend down to touch your feet or ankles" and "do not sit down in a low chair or toilet seat, or a chair without arms". In 2,734 Danish fast-track replacements, 2.4% dislocated within 90 days, mostly while lying or sitting in the first month and from squatting or bending in the second and third.
One NHS trust asks only that you "do not cross your legs in sitting for 6 weeks". A specialist NHS orthopaedic hospital lets most people with a normally shaped hip be guided by pain and discomfort, and keeps precautions, usually for 6 to 12 weeks, for higher-risk hips: hip dysplasia, weak muscles, hypermobility, revision surgery or a past dislocation. In a UK survey, 97% of 170 therapists routinely gave precautions, for anything from 6 weeks to life, while 19% to 50% of hospitals in the Nordic countries gave none.
Precautions usually rule out bending the hip past a right angle, crossing the leg over the middle of your body and turning it in, as our hip replacement guide explains. In yoga, that means deep forward folds, downward dog, boat pose and child's pose with the knees together; eagle, cow face and figure-four poses; and hero pose and seated twists that turn the knee in. The swaps are below.
Precautions, where you have them, usually limit turning the leg out and taking it behind you. In yoga, that means deep lunges with the back leg far behind (warrior I, crescent lunge), backbends such as camel and wheel, and poses that turn the hip out, such as pigeon, lotus and bound angle. One front-approach hip dislocated in warrior I at 16 months, and its surgeons advise caution with warrior I and II, crescent lunge and pigeon.
After a back approach, 4 randomised trials of 1,616 people had early dislocations in 1.2% with precautions and 0.6% without, a difference that could easily be chance (low certainty), and a 2026 trial of 1,133 people had 6 dislocations with restrictions and 4 without. People without routine precautions often got back to side-sleeping, driving and daily life sooner. But two large observational studies, in Denmark and the Netherlands, leaned slightly the other way, without a clear difference. That's why practice varies: follow the precautions your team gave you.
Our searches of PubMed and Europe PMC found 19 records on yoga after a joint replacement, none of them a trial after a hip replacement. The only comparative yoga study after any joint replacement is in knees, which our yoga after a knee replacement guide covers.
Source 15
NICE's guideline wants rehabilitation from the day of surgery, a home exercise programme, a point of contact, and referral back for new or worsening pain, a limp or loss of function. It covers information on returning to sport, but it doesn't name yoga or set out precautions.
Physiotherapist-directed exercise improved strength at the side of the hip, walking speed and step rate across 5 studies of 234 people, similarly at home or in a clinic. Supervised exercise wasn't clearly better than home exercise for function across 7 trials of 389 people (moderate quality).
In one study of 20 people, the operated side was still 6% weaker at 2 years, with lasting muscle loss on scans. That supports carrying on with strength work, which yoga's standing and lying poses can add to.
A motion study of 20 healthy regular practitioners found that "Many yoga poses put the hip in extremes of motion". Nobody in it had a hip replacement, so it shows which poses reach the limits, not how risky they are.
Source 11
A woman of 43, 17 years after a back-approach replacement in a hip shaped abnormally since birth, rolling through the plough into a shoulder stand; a woman of 90, 9 years after front-approach replacements, in a standing forward fold; and a woman of 40, 16 months after a front-approach replacement, in warrior I. The surgeons note that nobody knows how many people with a replaced hip do yoga, or the true rate of dislocation in yoga.
Fourteen yoga teachers with 19 front-approach replacements and no precautions went back at a mean of 2 months and could all do 14 classic poses; 5 found seated twist, pigeon, half moon or warrior I harder, and none had complications at a mean of 5 years. It's one surgeon's series of experienced practitioners, with no comparison group.
Source 6
42% of people aged 60 and over fell in the year after a planned hip replacement, and falls caused about a quarter of dislocations in one review. Practise balance poses holding a counter.
In a meta-analysis of 8 trials, balance training helped after knee replacements, but training before a hip replacement didn't improve outcomes after it, and no trial shows balance training cuts falls after one. Balance poses at a counter are reasonable training, not proven fall prevention.
Source 34
Across 37 studies, people returned on average to their pre-surgery sport level at 16 to 28 weeks. In a survey of people with hip or knee replacements, walking, cycling, swimming and golf were the commonest activities.
The NHS says dislocation is not common but can happen many years after surgery. With older implants, the risk was about 1% in the first month and 1.9% at a year, then rose by about 1% every 5 years.
Our advice, from the case reports and the motion study, once your precautions have ended:
Their advice included "Let pain be your guide", "Go slowly. Use props", "Focus on alignment and stability more than depth" and "Adopt a beginner's mind. Start back in a Level I class". Tell your teacher which approach you had and which precautions apply.
You can say no to any hands-on adjustment, and a teacher registered with Yoga Alliance must get your explicit consent each time.
Source 6
In a review of observational studies, people with lupus had more dislocations (about 2.4 times the risk) and more wound infections after a hip replacement than people without lupus, and inflammatory arthritis carried more long-term dislocation risk than osteoarthritis with older implants. Ask your team before deep positions; our yoga for lupus guide covers the rest.
These are your rehabilitation exercises, not yoga: keep doing the ones your physiotherapist gave you, every day. Doses from our hip replacement guide: pump your feet every 5 to 10 minutes while resting, and circle each ankle 5 times each way, 3 to 4 times a day; quad sets held 5 to 10 seconds, and heel slides that stop well short of any bending limit, 5 times, building to 10; seated knee extensions held for a slow count of 5 to 10, 5 to 10 times. Holding a worktop: standing marches held 2 to 3 seconds, 10 times each side, with your knee no higher than your hip; side leg lifts, 10 each side; from about 2 to 3 weeks, calf raises, 5 to 10 times. On a firm, high chair with arms: slow breathing for 2 minutes and breath reach for 5 breaths (our chair yoga class), and the seated upper-back lift, 3 to 5 repetitions, each held 3 to 5 seconds, at least twice a week (the move's page). The belt press: 3 to 5 holds of 5 to 10 seconds, twice a day, at a light effort (the move's page).
3D demoAnkle circlesBeginner · No equipment
3D demoQuad set (static quads)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoSupine heel slideBeginner · No equipment
3D demoSeated knee extension (chair)Beginner · A bench or box + Something with weight
3D demoStanding marchBeginner · No equipment
3D demoWall side leg lift (standing side kick at the wall)Beginner · A wall
3D demoSlow calf raiseBeginner · A wall
3D demoSlow breathing (6 breaths a minute)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoBreath reachBeginner · No equipment
3D demoSeated upper-back lift (sit tall, shoulders back)Beginner · A bench or box
3D demoSupine isometric hip abduction (belt press)Beginner · A bandMountain pose: 5 to 10 slow breaths, 2 or 3 times (the move's page). Chair pose holding a counter, hips staying higher than your knees: 3 holds of 10 to 15 seconds (our chair yoga class). Sit to stand from a firm, high chair with arms: 2 sets of 8 (our editorial starting point). One-leg stand with fingertips on a counter: 2 holds of 20 to 30 seconds each side, turning round with small steps, not a pivot; standing wall press: 3 holds of 10 seconds each side (our Pilates after a hip replacement class). Side stepping: 10 steps each way, next to a counter (the move's page). Bridge, and side-lying leg raises once your team says you can lie on your side, with a pillow between your knees: held for a slow count of 5 to 10, 5 to 10 times (our hip replacement guide). Corpse pose: 3 minutes on your back with your legs hip-width apart, or on your side with a pillow between your knees (our editorial starting point).
3D demoMountain pose (Tadasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoChair pose (Utkatasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoSit to stand from a chairBeginner · A bench or box
3D demoSingle-leg standBeginner · A wall
3D demoStanding wall-press hip abductionBeginner · A wall
3D demoSide-stepping (sideways walking)Beginner · A wall
3D demoGlute bridgeBeginner · No equipment
3D demoSide-lying leg raiseBeginner · No equipment
3D demoCorpse pose (Savasana)Beginner · No equipmentAdd one pose at a time. Warrior II with a short stance, side-on to a counter, and tree pose with your heel at your ankle and fingertips on a counter: 3 breaths each side (our chair yoga class); after a front approach, wait for both until turning the hip out is allowed. Warrior III with your hands on a chair, chest higher than your hips while a bending limit applies: 3 breaths each side, twice (our yoga for balance class). Bird dog with your knees padded, reaching the leg only to straight: 5 each side with a 3-second hold (our Pilates after a hip replacement class); the AAOS says you can kneel on the operated side. Cat-cow on all fours, hips over knees: 8 slow waves (our yoga for footballers class). Strap hamstring stretch, below any bending limit: 2 holds of 30 seconds each leg (our yoga after a knee replacement class). Small locust: 2 holds of 5 breaths (our yoga for tennis players class), and supported reclining bound angle: 2 minutes (our yoga for arthritis class); after a front approach, wait for both until your team allows taking the leg behind you and turning it out.
3D demoWarrior II (Virabhadrasana II)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoTree pose (Vrksasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoWarrior III (Virabhadrasana III)Advanced · No equipment
3D demoBird dogBeginner · No equipment
3D demoCat-cowBeginner · No equipment
3D demoSupine hamstring stretch with a strapBeginner · No equipment
3D demoLocust pose (Salabhasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoReclining bound angle pose (Supta Baddha Konasana)Beginner · Firm cushionWhile a bending limit applies, leave out seated and standing forward folds, head-to-knee pose, downward dog, a deep squat, happy baby, hugging your knees to your chest, boat pose and child's pose with the knees together. A standing forward fold dislocated one replaced hip 9 years after surgery. Swaps: a half fold with your hands on a chair seat, sitting on a chair or a high stack of blocks with your knees below your hips, and, once bending is allowed, child's pose with the knees wide and a bolster under your chest (our suggestions).
Eagle, cow face, seated twists, lying twists with the knee pulled across, figure-four stretches, revolved triangle, revolved chair, hero and reclining hero. The figure-four stretches' own cautions say to clear deep hip crossing with your surgeon after a hip replacement. Swaps: twist sitting on a chair with your knees apart and hips facing forward, eagle arms only, and a cushion between your knees in lying twists.
Source 11
Warrior I, high and low lunges, lizard, pigeon, goddess, bound angle, fire log, lotus, camel, wheel, bow and dancer. Swaps: short stances with the back leg no further behind than a walking stride, and bridges instead of backbends (our suggestions).
Plough and shoulder stand, with any approach: one replaced hip dislocated rolling through the plough into a shoulder stand 17 years after surgery. Swap: a supported bridge, or, once deep bending is allowed, legs up the wall entered by walking your feet up (our suggestion).
Source 12
The NHS says no jumping, sudden turns or exercises with a high risk of falling while your hip recovers: step back instead of jumping in sun salutations, and turn with small steps rather than pivoting on the operated leg. Get down to and up from the floor only once your team says so, the way your physiotherapist showed you, or do the lying poses on a bed.
Source 2
From about 6 to 12 weeks, when your team agrees, use our 25-minute yoga after a hip replacement class 2 or 3 times a week: a high chair, a counter and a bed, with no deep bends, crossing or twisting. Before that, the seated chair yoga class (keep its seated forward bend small, and don't sweep the leg across the middle); our chair yoga for seniors class already says to use a chair with arms after a hip replacement. The Pilates return class suits the same stage. From about 3 months, the arthritis and balance classes, checking their twists, lunges and reclining bound angle against your precautions.
A 25-minute yoga class for after a hip replacement: seated on a high chair, standing at a counter and strength lying down, with no deep bends, crossing or twisting.
25 minBeginner17 movesA bench or box, Something with weightA 15-minute chair yoga routine done entirely sitting: slow breathing, neck, shoulder and wrist stretches, seated twists and side bends, and a calm finish.
15 minBeginner16 movesA bench or boxA free 20-minute chair yoga class for older adults: slow breathing, gentle seated stretches and twists, standing poses holding the chair, and a calm finish.
20 minBeginner18 movesA bench or box, Something with weightA 25-minute Pilates class for after a hip replacement: hip, trunk and balance work that keeps your hip bend at a right angle and your knees apart.
25 minBeginner18 movesA band, A wallA 30-minute joint-friendly yoga class for arthritis: seated breathing and joint warm-ups, standing poses with a chair, gentle lying poses and a long relaxation.
30 minBeginner17 movesA bench or box, A wallThirty minutes of standing yoga for balance: strong standing poses, one-leg poses at the wall, and side steps, backward steps, reaches and sit-to-stands.
30 minBeginner16 movesA wall, A bench or boxThese are the warning signs from our hip replacement and Pilates after a hip replacement guides, word for word. This is general information, not a diagnosis. A&E means accident and emergency; in the US, call 911 for 999.
Pain and swelling in your hip or leg with breathlessness or chest pain: call 999 or go to A&E, and do not drive yourself. It can be a blood clot that has reached the lungs.
Call 999 or go to A&E if breathing suddenly becomes difficult, if pain in your chest or upper back comes on suddenly with breathlessness or a very fast heartbeat, or if someone passes out. Do not drive yourself. It can be a blood clot that has reached the lungs.
Signs of a dislocated hip: severe hip pain, a leg that looks shorter or is turned unusually far in or out, a new bulge at the side of the hip, unusual hip movement or a change in its shape, or walking that is suddenly difficult or painful. Don't walk on it; go to A&E straight away.
Some people also hear clicking or popping. If it happens during exercise or after a fall and you can't get to A&E safely, call 999 (our addition). Severe hip pain after a fall or injury, or not being able to stand, walk or put weight on the leg, also needs A&E.
A sudden clunk or pop with pain, or a leg that suddenly looks shorter or turned, is the dislocation picture in the case reports: don't walk on it, and go to A&E (our wording, from the case reports).
Throbbing or cramping pain in your hip or leg: ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111. It could be a blood clot.
A high temperature, or feeling hot, cold or shivery; oozing or pus from the wound; or redness, tenderness, swelling or pain in your hip or leg that is not getting better or is getting worse: ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111. These can be signs of an infection. If you feel unwell or feverish and the wound looks infected, go to A&E.
Same day (urgent GP appointment or NHS 111): throbbing pain in one leg (rarely both), usually the calf or thigh; swelling in one leg (rarely both); red, blue or darkened skin around the painful area, which may be harder to see on brown or black skin; or swollen veins. This can be a deep vein thrombosis (DVT). It is more likely after surgery, a hospital stay, 3 or more days in bed, a journey of over 4 hours, pregnancy or a recent birth, cancer, a previous clot, or contraception or hormone replacement therapy (HRT) that contains oestrogen.
Source 39
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 if you have severe hip pain that started suddenly but you've not had a fall or injured your hip, your hip is swollen and feels hot, the skin around your hip has changed colour, or you have hip pain, feel generally unwell and have a high temperature (or feel hot, cold or shivery). A hot, swollen hip with a high temperature can be a joint infection.
Source 40
Cold, pale or blue toes, or new pins and needles, numbness or weakness in the leg or foot: get medical help straight away.
Source 16
Stop the move for a sharp pain in the groin or hip, a clunk, or a feeling that the hip is giving way. One NHS trust: "If you experience a sharp pain, stop activity immediately. If symptoms persist, contact your GP for advice."
"A moderate ache that settles quickly is acceptable, severe pain that takes hours to settle is not", says one NHS trust.
Ease off a deep fold, lunge or twist that brings a sharp pinch deep in the groin. Get a catching, locking or giving-way feeling in the hip checked.
Never push into a position your precautions rule out, however comfortable it feels; turn with small steps rather than pivoting on the operated leg; and tell your teacher which approach you had and which precautions apply (our suggestion).
You can say no to any hands-on adjustment, and a teacher registered with Yoga Alliance must get your explicit consent each time.
Call 999 if:
The NHS advises getting advice from a healthcare professional first if you have a health problem, an injury or symptoms, or have recently had a heart attack or an operation.
Precautions usually last about 6 weeks, and up to 12 for higher-risk hips; American surgeons say most people can do most of the "don'ts" after 6 to 8 weeks, and one NHS trust lifts its leg-crossing rule at 6 to 8 weeks. What lasts is caution with extreme combined positions, which have dislocated hips years later.
They depend on the approach, how stable the hip was in the operation and your own risk. 97% of UK therapists gave them, for anything from 6 weeks to life, while some Nordic hospitals gave none. Follow your own team's.
The trials found no clear difference, at low certainty, and recruited lower-risk patients; two large observational studies leaned slightly the other way, without a clear difference. It's your team's call for your hip.
Replaced hips have dislocated during yoga at 16 months, 9 years and 17 years after surgery, and many poses take even healthy hips to their limits. Most poses come back; extreme combined positions stay moderate.
Fourteen yoga teachers returned to teaching and to 14 classic poses with no complications at a mean of 5 years, surgeons rate yoga "allowed with experience", and most people get back to sport. The risk sits in a few extreme positions, not in yoga as a whole.
No trial has tested yoga after a hip replacement, and NICE wants a home exercise programme from the day of surgery with a point of contact. Yoga is extra.
Usually, yes, once your surgical team agrees and within the precautions you've been given. No trial has tested yoga after a hip replacement, but in one series, yoga teachers got back to practising and teaching at about 2 months with no complications over about 5 years. Your physiotherapy exercises come first.
Follow your surgical team's advice: no study has set a timing for yoga. Our synthesis of NHS, AAOS and hospital advice: breathing and seated poses once you're home; standing poses at a counter and lying poses within your precautions when your team agrees; a gentle class from about 6 to 12 weeks; fuller classes from about 3 months.
It depends on your operation and your team's precautions. After a back (posterior) approach, they usually rule out deep folds past a right angle, crossing the legs (eagle, cow face, figure four) and turning the leg in (hero, seated twists); after a front (anterior) approach, deep lunges with the back leg far behind (warrior I, crescent lunge) and turning the hip out (pigeon, lotus). For good, ask your surgeon before plough and shoulder stand.
Not while your precautions apply: pigeon bends the front hip deeply, turns it out and takes the back leg behind you, and surgeons advise caution with it after a front approach. Some yoga teachers with new hips found it one of the hardest poses to get back. Once you're cleared, use a supported version and never force it.
Mostly: front-approach replacements dislocate less often, and yoga teachers with them returned to full practice. But one dislocated in warrior I at 16 months, so keep the back leg's stride short in lunges and warriors, and don't force poses that turn the hip out.
You're more likely to be given precautions against deep bending, crossing and turning the leg in, usually for about 6 weeks and up to 12. Trials suggest routine precautions may not change dislocation rates, but the certainty is low, so follow yours. Years later, leave out legs-overhead poses unless your surgeon agrees.
Yes, especially early. Use a firm, high chair with arms so your knees stay below your hips, as the NHS advises, and skip deep seated forward bends and crossed legs. Our seated chair yoga class and our 25-minute class for after a hip replacement both start seated.
It hasn't been tested. Rehabilitation exercise improves hip strength and walking speed, and hip muscles stay weaker for at least 2 years, so yoga's standing and lying strength poses are a sensible addition to your programme, not a substitute for it.
By about 6 months most people are back to most activities apart from high-impact sport, and most yoga is possible with your team's agreement. Keep extreme combined positions moderate for good: dislocations in yoga have happened years after surgery.
Yes: the same precautions apply to both, and both can strengthen the hip with little impact. Our Pilates after a hip replacement guide covers Pilates and its return class.
NICE says people should get advice on exercises to do before and after surgery, and gentle yoga that spares a painful hip can be part of that. Practising the chair and standing poses beforehand also makes them familiar afterwards (our suggestion). Our yoga for hip pain guide has a routine.
Call 999 for pain and swelling in your hip or leg with breathlessness or chest pain. Go to A&E for signs of a dislocation: severe hip pain, a leg that looks shorter or turned, or walking that is suddenly difficult. Get an urgent GP appointment or NHS 111 for throbbing or cramping leg pain, a high temperature, or a red, swollen or oozing wound.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. If you are pregnant, have a health condition such as glaucoma, high blood pressure or osteoporosis, or have had recent surgery, check with a doctor, midwife or physiotherapist before starting, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
