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Taking a shower after a hip prosthesis is removed due to a staph infection or wear and tear can be a daunting task. Typically one cannot put more than 25% of one’s weight on the affected side because there is no real hip joint, just a spacer. Even though we have two bathrooms, one has a regular bath tub, and the other has a stall shower with a step-over wall, about 6” high. To get in and out of either requires lifting the effected leg and putting full weight on it which was impossible with just the “spacer”. We also do not have grab rails in either bathroom and we did not want to install them since this we hoped mobility issue would be temporary. We did not want holes in the ceramic tile. As everyone knows, most accidents that happen in the home happen in the bathroom. We definitely did not need anymore unplanned hip surgeries. Our neighbor came up with a solution. He had a portable outdoor (sometimes called Hurricane) shower near his swimming pool which can be hooked up to a hose. By filling the hose with water and leaving it lying out in the sun, one could get a really hot shower. Of course you have to get washed real fast before you run out of hot water and get hit with a blast of cold water. Those of us who live in the Sun Belt don’t have a problem taking an outdoor shower except on those rare, cold days that sometimes pop up and catch us by surprise. During those months when we had a “spacer” and no hip joint, that was the way we took a shower. Our yard has a privacy fence, and we warned our friends to knock on the gate before entering the back yard since he would be “au naturale”. This may be a kind of fun way to take a shower, but extremely inconvenient. All the bath items had to be lugged out to the yard and then be brought back inside. This adds a lot of extra work to the caregiver’s chores. We did this for about three months. When my husband was scheduled for hip revision surgery (replacing the prosthesis that was removed) it was now November and taking a shower outside may not be possible due to occasional bouts of cold weather. We also were told he would be wearing a brace for three months to stabilize the hip. This meant life in the shower was not going to get any easier. In fact, for the next three months we would still have the same old mobility challenges. It was time to find some relatively inexpensive gadgets that would help us handle the shower issue more effectively. We wish we knew about some of these items before we came home from the hospital. Please visit my website at: to find products and ideas to make everyday tasks easier for both the patient and the caregiver after hip or even knee surgery.
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