What You Need at Home After Hip Replacement Surgery

The hospital discharge happens faster than you expect. One day the surgeon is happy with the X-ray, and the next you're in a car heading home, wondering whether the house is actually ready, whether the bathroom is safe, whether there's something to hold onto between the bedroom and the kitchen.

If you're reading this before the surgery, whether you're preparing yourself or getting Mum or Dad's place sorted, this is what you need. A clear list of what makes the difference in the first six weeks, and why each item matters. No jargon, no overwhelm.

Want everything sorted in one order?

If you are reading this in the days before discharge and want to stop making decisions, we have put the hip list together in one order.

Every item is also sold on its own in our Recovery at Home range. Had a knee replacement instead? Our guide to what you need at home after knee replacement covers what is different.

Why the first six weeks are the hardest

Hip replacement surgery has a high success rate. But the recovery at home involves restrictions most people aren't warned about clearly enough beforehand.

After most hip replacements, you'll be given something called hip precautions: specific movements to avoid while the new joint settles in:

• No bending the hip past 90 degrees: no leaning forward past a right angle when seated
• No crossing your legs or ankles
• No rotating the operated leg inward

These restrictions usually apply for six weeks or more, depending on the surgical approach. They exist because the new joint can dislocate before the surrounding muscles have fully strengthened, and a dislocation often means another procedure to correct.

The equipment below isn't optional. It's what makes those restrictions liveable day-to-day.

A four-wheel rollator

This is the most important piece of equipment for the first few weeks, and the one most worth getting right.

After hip surgery, most people are sent home with crutches. At home, crutches are harder to manage than they were in hospital, especially in smaller spaces, on carpet, or when carrying anything. A four-wheel rollator changes that. You push rather than lift, which is less effort and less strain on the upper body. The built-in seat means you can stop and rest in the hallway, the kitchen or at the back door, without making it all the way to a chair. A knee walker is a different aid for a different job. You kneel the injured leg on a padded platform, so it suits someone keeping weight off a foot or an ankle rather than a hip. If that is your situation instead, our guide on hiring or buying a knee walker works out which is cheaper.

Most people switch from crutches to a rollator within the first day or two at home. The confidence of having something solid to push against, and somewhere to sit when you need it, makes every movement feel more manageable.

See rollators in our Balance & Walking Support collection

If the physio has suggested a standard frame rather than wheels for the first weeks, our guide to the best walking frames for elderly Australians compares the options.

A raised toilet seat, and something to push up from

The toilet is one of the two highest-risk moments of the day in the first few weeks. Standard toilet seats sit at around 40 to 43cm from the floor, far enough down that lowering yourself onto it puts the hip into exactly the position hip precautions say to avoid.

A raised toilet seat adds height, 10cm or 15cm in our range, so there is less of a drop. On its own it gives you nothing to hold, so pair it with a toilet surround frame, or choose an over toilet frame, which gives you height and arms in one. The arms give you something to push up from, which makes the whole movement steadier and more controlled.

See raised toilet seats in the recovery range

For the options compared side by side, our guide to the best toilet aids for elderly Australians covers the five we recommend, with weight ratings and prices.

If you are setting the house up for a parent more generally, and not only for the six weeks after surgery, our guide to the best mobility aids for an ageing parent covers what helps in each room.

A shower chair with arms and back

Standing on a wet surface while your balance is still settling, while managing hip precautions, while still getting used to a new joint. It's the combination that creates risk, not any single factor alone.

A shower chair removes the standing requirement entirely. Look for one with arms and a back. The arms matter for sitting down and getting up, in exactly the same way as the toilet seat. A non-slip seat surface and adjustable legs are worth checking for too.

If the person will be showering without someone close by, a handheld shower head (often already in the bathroom) means no reaching or twisting to get under the water.

See shower chairs in the recovery range

A long-handled reacher

Hip precautions mean no bending past 90 degrees for up to 12 weeks. That makes picking anything up from below knee height (a dropped sock, keys on the floor, a towel) effectively impossible without the right tool.

A long-handled reacher (sometimes called a grabber) extends your reach to the floor without bending at all. It's one of the most-used items in the early weeks, because it applies to almost everything: getting partially dressed, retrieving anything that falls, reaching low drawers or shelves. Our guide to reacher grabbers explains which length to choose.

Most people end up wanting two: one in the bedroom, one in the kitchen. At the price they are, it's worth it.

See long-handled reachers in the recovery range

A sock aid and dressing stick

Getting dressed below the waist is genuinely difficult in the first few weeks, and this is the thing most people don't think about until the morning they come home from hospital.

A sock aid is a plastic or fabric frame with long handles. You place the sock over the frame, lower it to the floor using the handles, slide your foot in, and pull up. It takes one or two tries to get the hang of it, but once you do it, you won't need anyone else in the room every morning.

A dressing stick, a lightweight rod with a hook on one end, helps pull underwear and pants up and off without bending. These two items together mean dressing independently from day one, which matters more than it sounds.

See dressing aids in the recovery range

Our guide to the best dressing aids walks through how to use a sock aid step by step, with the exact items we recommend.

A bed safety rail

This one surprises people. Hospital beds are higher than most beds at home, so getting in and out is managed, assisted, and at the right height in hospital. At home, a lower bed means a harder and potentially risky movement, especially in the first two weeks when fatigue is highest.

A bed safety rail gives a fixed handhold attached to the bed frame: something to grip and control the lowering and rising movement, taking load off the operated hip. A leg lifter (a loop on a long strap) helps move the operated leg in and out of bed without straining through the hip or twisting at the joint.

See bed rails in the recovery range

Using NDIS funding?

If the person recovering has an NDIS plan, most of these items are eligible to be funded through it.

Lower-cost items such as reachers, sock aids, raised toilet seats and dressing sticks generally fall under Consumables (Category 03) and are the simplest to access. Self-managed participants can buy and submit the invoice themselves.

Higher-cost items like rollators and shower chairs may fall under Assistive Technology (Category 05), and may need an OT recommendation or quote depending on the cost and the plan.

All NDIS-eligible products at SteadWell are clearly labelled on the product page. If you're plan-managed, select that option at checkout and add your plan manager's email in the order notes, and the invoice goes to them directly. You don't need to chase anyone.

Getting the house ready before they come home

Equipment is one part. The other is making sure the house itself is set up to work with a rollator, and to reduce the chance of a trip while everything is still healing.

• Clear the walking paths. Bedroom to bathroom, kitchen to lounge: anywhere they'll walk regularly. Loose rugs don't roll well under a rollator and catch on feet. If you can't secure a rug properly, move it for the first few weeks.
• Move frequently used things up. Kettle, cups, medications: anything used daily should sit at bench height, not in low cupboards. Reaching down carries the same risk as bending when seated.
• Check which level they'll use most. If there's a bathroom on the main living level, that's the one to set up properly first. Stairs with a rollator are possible but take more planning, so raise this with the discharge team before they come home if it's a concern.
• Check the entrance. A single step at the front or back door is harder than it looks with a rollator. A small portable ramp or a temporary grab rail near the door makes the difference.

Common questions

What do you need at home after a hip replacement?

The short list is a walking aid, a shower chair with arms, a raised toilet seat or over-toilet frame, a long reach grabber, and a bed rail if getting in and out of bed is hard. Everything in this article's checklist is in our recovery at home range.

What is in a hip replacement recovery kit?

The usual list is a long reach grabber, a sock aid, a long shoe horn and a long handled bath sponge, so you can dress, wash and pick things up without bending. Our Hip Replacement Recovery Kit has all four in one order.

Do you need a raised toilet seat after hip replacement?

Most people do, at least for the first weeks, because a standard toilet sits low enough to bend the hip past the safe angle. Our guide to toilet aids compares the options and their heights.

How long do you need the equipment for?

Most people rely on it for six to twelve weeks, then keep the shower chair and toilet aid because they stay useful. Follow your own surgical team's advice on when to stop using each piece.

Is hip replacement recovery equipment covered by the NDIS or aged care funding?

Often, yes. These items are low cost assistive technology under $1,500 on the NDIS, so there is no quote to arrange, and under a Support at Home aged care plan they are funded through the AT-HM scheme.

Getting about while the weight is off that leg

The first weeks are mostly about keeping weight off one side without wearing out your arms and shoulders doing it.

• Knee Walker, $380. A knee walker takes the work off your hands and shoulders entirely. You rest the injured leg on a padded platform and steer. Far steadier than crutches on flat ground, though you will still want crutches for stairs.
• Underarm Crutches, Adult Pair, $110. Standard underarm crutches for a few weeks of recovery. Set them so there is a two finger gap under the armpit; the weight goes through your hands.
• Ergonomic Forearm Crutches, Adult Pair, $119. Forearm crutches, kinder to the shoulders if you will be on them for months rather than weeks.
• Leg and Knee Support Cushion, $100. Sits between the knees overnight to keep the hips in line and apart, which is what most surgeons ask for after a hip replacement.
• Coccyx Wedge Cushion, $98 to $110. If sitting is the sore part, a wedge with a cut out takes the pressure off the tailbone entirely. Our guide to cushions compares it with the other shapes.