Weeks 1–2
Pain
Calm the swelling and protect the joint.
Gentle hands-on work and guided movement manage post-surgical swelling and pain, safely within your precautions, from your very first visit.
What We Treat
Hip replacement surgery treatment in Temple.
The surgery fixed the joint. Getting back to walking, stairs, and the life you had before is the part that still takes work. It starts with a cause-first evaluation, not a generic handout of exercises.
Sound Familiar?
Does this sound like you?
- Still leaning on the walker weeks after your surgeon said you could put it away
- A hitch in your step that shows up the moment you get tired
- Taking stairs one at a time, good leg first, every single time
- Tightness deep in the new joint that makes you second-guess how far to push it
- Skipping the walk around the block because you’re not sure your hip will hold up
- Wondering if this stiffness is normal or if something about the recovery is off track
Two or more? Keep reading.
Why It Happens
Slow recovery is a symptom. Something causes it.
Surgery replaces the joint. It doesn’t automatically retrain the muscles and movement patterns around it. Most stalled hip recoveries come down to some mix of a few things: hip and core muscles that went quiet before surgery and haven’t woken back up. Scar tissue and swelling limiting how far the joint wants to move. A walking pattern that’s still guarding the hip out of habit, long after the precautions have lifted. And a nervous system that’s still cautious about trusting the new joint under full weight.
None of that sorts itself out on a walking-only home exercise sheet. It takes a real, cause-first evaluation, one that looks at your range, your strength, and your actual walking mechanics, to know exactly where your recovery is stuck and how to move it forward.
The Honest Truth
Waiting on hip recovery doesn’t make it wait on you.
If you keep waiting
- Your walking pattern sets, and you carry the limp long after the joint is ready to move normally
- Your other hip, your knees, and your low back start compensating for the one that’s still hesitant
- The window for the easiest gains in motion and strength narrows the longer the joint sits undertrained
If you start this week
- You get a clear picture of exactly where your recovery stands by the end of visit one
- Guided range of motion and strength work starts safely within your surgeon’s precautions
- You get a plan with an endpoint: a real one, not an open tab of visits
Nobody regrets starting too early. Every week, someone in our clinic says they regret waiting.
How We Fix It
The same four phases. Built for your new hip.
Every plan has an endpoint. Here’s what the four phases look like after hip replacement surgery.
Weeks 2–6
Prime
Get your range of motion back.
Targeted mobility work restores the hip motion you need to sit, bend, and step normally again.
Weeks 6–10
Perform
Rebuild the strength to walk without a hitch.
Progressive hip and core strengthening retrains your walking pattern so the limp disappears, not just the pain.
Weeks 10+
Prevent
Return to the life your new hip earned you.
Stairs, longer walks, and the activities you had circled on the calendar get tested under real conditions before you’re cleared to go all-in: that’s the endpoint, not just another appointment.
Dr. Gardner is amazing! He uses evidence based practice and develops a plan of care that was right for me. He is approachable and makes therapy engaging.
Henry N. · Post-surgical rehab
Week 2: still needed the walker for a trip to the mailbox
Week 12: walking the golf course again, no cane in sight
Hip replacement surgery
12 weeks
Questions, Answered
What people ask before booking for hip replacement recovery.
Usually within the first couple weeks, as soon as your surgeon clears you. Starting early, while swelling and stiffness are still fresh, tends to make the whole recovery faster. We start with a cause-first evaluation to see exactly where your range, strength, and walking pattern stand, then build from there. You don’t need to wait until you’re “further along” to get help.
No, never. Every exercise stays inside your surgeon’s precautions, especially early on. A Doctor of Physical Therapy works with you one-on-one, every visit, and progresses your range and strength only as fast as your specific hip and timeline allow. Safety inside the guidelines is the whole point, not an obstacle to work around.
Most patients notice real progress in walking and range within 4–6 visits. A full recovery plan runs through all four phases, Pain, Prime, Perform, and Prevent, typically over 10–12 weeks, depending on your starting point and your goals. Either way, you get a plan with an endpoint: you’ll always know which phase you’re in and what’s left, not an open-ended string of appointments.
Book Your Visit
Ready when you are.
Request a time and a real person calls you back, usually within two business hours. No phone tree. No ‘someone will reach out.’ Just a plan.
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Hours
Mon 10 AM–12 PM, 1–7 PM
Tue 8 AM–12 PM, 1–7 PM
Wed 8 AM–12 PM, 4–7 PM
Thu 8 AM–12 PM, 1–7 PM
Fri, Sat, Sun: Closed - 512-763-0526 Prefer to talk now? Call us.
- Same-week appointments available
5.0 · 195+ Google reviews
Typical response: under 2 business hours
Step 1 of 5
Request sent.
That’s the hard part done. We’ll call during business hours to lock in your time. Most people are on the schedule same week.
Visit Us
Care this good, this close.
Gardner Sports Physical Therapy
- 2329 S 57th St, Temple, TX 76504 (opens in a new tab)
- 512-763-0526
- Fax: 737-237-0793
- bret@gardnersportspt.com
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Mon 10 AM–12 PM, 1–7 PM
Tue 8 AM–12 PM, 1–7 PM
Wed 8 AM–12 PM, 4–7 PM
Thu 8 AM–12 PM, 1–7 PM
Fri, Sat, Sun: Closed