A Hip Kit is usually provided after hip arthroplasty (hip replacement surgery) and consists of 5 tools to help maintain specific surgery precautions such as limiting bending and twisting for proper recovery. Doctors typically provide a set of post-surgery precautions such as no external or internal rotation of the legs, no bending at the waist beyond 90 degrees, and standing weight-bearing statuses as one heals. Occupational therapists in settings such as acute, inpatient, and outpatient therapy typically educate their patients on how to properly use each tool following hip surgery. These tools assist with performing daily activities such as dressing, bathing, and reaching for objects that are positioned below the waist.
Sock Aid
A sock aid is a tool that does exactly as named. It helps you put your socks on! However, this simple tool allows you to put socks on without crossing your legs or bending too much at the hips while in a sitting position. You can use a sock aide to position your sock onto a prefabricated mold where you can insert your foot and pull up by the strings to slide your socks onto your foot.
Dressing Stick
A dressing stick is useful for things like adjusting your sock, positioning pants, pulling pants up, and even putting on a jacket. We often don’t think about the movements we make during dressing, but for an individual who just underwent hip surgery, most dressing tasks will take place sitting down with strict movement precautions. In order to limit the amount of hip flexion or bending, a dressing stick helps to reach for and adjust clothing below the waist or below sitting height.
Shoe Horn
For safety purposes, slip-on shoes with enough grip at the bottom are the best type of shoes to wear following hip surgery. Slip-on shoes are easy to put on, limit bending at the hip to tie shoes, and are easiest to adjust using a shoehorn. A shoe horn helps adjust the width or heel of the shoe when a shoe fits snugly or tight.
Long-handled Sponge
Following hip surgery, bathing in a bath or shower chair is the safest option to limit the risk of falling. A long-handled sponge is useful for scrubbing hard-to-reach areas such as feet and lower legs which typically would require someone to bend at the hips and cross legs to reach and clean while in a sitting position.
Reacher
The last item found in a Hip Kit is a reacher. Since someone who just had hip surgery cannot bend forward at the hips to reach down and pick something up a reacher can be used to reach for and grab objects or clothing that are positioned below the waist.
