Australian Hiker

Where do I start? Over the past seven years, after some failed hikes, some ever worsening issues with my right leg, and much not so subtle badgering from Gill, I decided to see a specialist to ascertain what was going on. Long story short, through my initial scans and discussion a surgeon, I discovered that in addition to having a degree of osteoporosis in both hips and knees, my right hip was at only 60% capacity and that the fix was a replacement of the right hip.

Now the reason for me writing this article is that as an information driven individual and in doing an internet search for ‘hiking with a hip replacement’ I found minimal hits and without the level of detail I was after. In talking with my orthopaedic surgeon and my physiotherapist who also recently had a recent hip replacement, after cataract surgery hip replacements have the biggest impact on quality of life post operation. For me it was more about the recovery process and how that would play out given I wanted to get back into long distance hiking as soon as possible.

In this article I take you through the process leading up to the operation and finishing 12 months later. I write this article with the hope that it will help those of you in a similar situation.

Context

My first real long distance hike was the Larapinta Trail in 2016 followed up by the Bibbulmun Track in 2018. By the end of the Bib I was at my fittest as an adult from a hiking perspective. However in coming back to the real world, I had tight hip flexors on my right side and in stereotypical male fashion I spent the following six years trying to fix the symptoms rather than focus on the cause.

In 2019 Gill and I undertook the Hume and Hovell Track and ended up not completing this trail. I had serious bursitis in my right knee that meant I was walking at a much slower pace than usual and was in a fair amount of knee pain if I walked over 18km in a single day. A far cry from the year before when I was averaging 32km per day. Over the following years the leg issues became worse and I developed what is called a ‘Trendelenburg Gait’ which is a very obvious hitch in my walk brought on by weakness in my hip muscles as I increasingly favoured my right side. This came on so slowly that while Gill noticed it, wasn’t really apparent to me.

Fast forward to 2024 and by April of that year if I walked for any longer than around 12-15 minutes I felt physically ill. The other signals that I needed to do something occurred at work where a wheelchair bound colleague gave way to me and on a seperate occasion someone offered to carry my laptop to a meeting ‘to ease my load’. After finally succumbing to Gill’s not so gentle hints, I went and saw a physiotherapist who after a few sessions strongly suggested I see an orthopaedic surgeon.

As mentioned in the introduction, the resulting scans and visit to the orthopaedic surgeon resulted in my needing to have my right hip replaced. Now while I have always had private health insurance, I had decided a couple of years previously that I wasn’t in the category that needs a joint replacement (the average hip replacement patient is approximately 65-68 years old) so I downgraded my insurance to remove that option; on reflection very unwise but hindsight is wonderful! This left me with two options. First I could foot the approximately AUD $25,000-$30,000 fee to go private and choose my timing, or secondly go on a public wait list while waiting 12 months for an upgrade to my insurance ‘pre existing conditions’ and then go private if I hadn’t already gone through the public system. I opted for the second option. As it turned out my health insurance policy upgrade came through which was a good things because the public system only got back to me in early 2026 – almost two years later!

By the time I had the operation in May 2025 my hip had gotten much worse and hiking wasn’t an option. I was now taking Panadol Osteo to dull the pain on a daily basis. This version of Panadol is a behind the counter pain medication because of the strength of the active ingredient. For me asking a packet at any pharmacy was never an issue but Gill must have a ‘look’ about her as almost without fail, they questioned her in great detail when she requested a packet on my behalf.

By operation time the head of my femur was jamming into my hip when I performing certain movements (I wasn’t able to ride a bike as my hip jammed on the upstroke) and Gill said I had a permanent grey coloured complexion. When I looked at my scans really closely there was no cartilage and the head of my femur was spiky and grinding in to the hip bone.

Once I had booked in my hip replacement surgery for May 2025 I spent the months leading up to the operation doing my best to lose the excess weight I had gained and get as fit as I possibly could to ensure things would go smoothly for the operation and recovery.

This short video is from March 2022 showing me coming into Merimbula Wharf at the end of the 27.5km Wharf to Wharf Walk. My limp is reasonably pronounced. As bad as it looks I was still capable of walking 27.5km at a reasonable pace. By the time I had my hip replacement operation in May 2025 the limp was noticeably worse and walking the distance that I did on this day was a distant dream!

May 2025-Operation time

I had my hip replacement on 12 May 2025 and it was a seamless process. There are two options with a hip replacement, anterior (front) and posterior (rear) and in my case it was anterior which results in a faster healing process because there is less damage to the muscle with this approach.

I was first on the roster for the day and after being wheeled into the theatre I was given a spinal block, which as it turned out was the most painful part of the process, and then put under with a general anaesthetic. The next thing I remember was waking up in the recovery ward later in the morning before being wheeled back to my room. As part of the post operation recovery a wound pump was installed as part of the post operation dressing and this little device uses controlled suction help heal my wound and this stayed with me until the battery died around a week later. I knew that this was part of the deal but just found it annoying when I moved in bed at night.

Post operation, the physiotherapist and a nurse came around later in the afternoon to get me up and standing and, if possible, get me taking a few steps which is pretty typical for this type of operation. I was able to stand but couldn’t walk as I felt like I was going to throw up which is apparently a side effect of the spinal block. The surgeon dropped by in the evening and had a quick chat and indicated that it was definitely time for the operation.

The next day the physiotherapist returned and had me up and walking with crutches. Over the next couple of days I managed to walk up and down a flight of stairs with just holding the railing! Providing there are no medical complications they usually wait until you are fully mobile, including stairs before you go home which is usually around 3-4 days. The most annoying thing about hospital is being woken up late at night to be given you all your medication. From start to finish I was in hospital for just on three days.

On discharge I was sent home with a batch of medications including an opioid based pain killer with a number of these medications lasting up to one month. In my case the only pain killer I ended up taking was Panadol Osteo but more for discomfort. If I’m honest, I had absolutely no pain at all which given what this operation involved was surprising. Given I was living with a permanent low level of pain for many months prior to the operation, pain was definitely not an issue, and in Gill’s words ‘I was no longer grey in colour’.

The recommendation from the surgeon was no long distance car trips, or plane travel for preferably three months – this is based around the potential increase for Deep Vain Thrombosis post a major operation. Now while I didn’t fly until six months post operation, I did go on a two-hour drive with Gill but in doing so we stopped a couple of times each way so I could get out an walk around for 5-10 minutes. This as probably the only thing I did that I wasn’t supposed to!

A benefit that came with the operation was the use of a Disability Parking Permit which was a big help. This permit had an expiry date but it meant I could park close to where I needed to be at least until I had built my mobility back to a reasonable level.

If you have a hip replacement they will get you up walking around on the day of your operation. This video is from the day after. My clumsiness in getting up is more about getting used to the crutches rather than walking on a new hip joint!

May-June 2025

Exercise wise I kept my walking to multiple short walks throughout the day in addition to doing my rehab exercises. These walks were on flat stable ground and were actually quite easy but my hip movement did feel quite strange in both a good and bad way. On the plus side my hip moved very freely for the first time in years and there was no longer any pain. On the downside it felt as though my leg bone was moving independently of the muscle. I don’t know if that was what was actually happening but that’s the way it felt and given that the surgeon needed to slice me open to replace the head of the bone, it didn’t surprise me.

I had follow ups with the surgeon two weeks after the operation and was surprised when he said I was OK to drive a car again. I wasn’t expecting to be able to do this until the 4-6 week mark but he indicated this was more about being on serious pain killers, which I wasn’t using. Not having to rely on public transport or Gill to drive me around was liberating.

While post operation I had been walking and doing rehab exercises, June saw me engage with my physiotherapist at the one month mark to check my progress and to see what else I should be doing. In addition to slowly increasing my walking duration I was starting to walk on uneven ground. I could feel my wound progressively healing and strengthening but any walk outside the house involved a cane or trekking poles for stability. I only used crutches for longer walks during the first week and if Im honest I found the cane annoying preferring to use my trekking poles.

I started back at the gym after seeing the surgeon but only doing upper body weights and for the first time in many months cycling and the elliptical trainer. I could feel my right leg strengthening but it was still very obvious that I was favouring my right leg out of habit so the cane and the trekking poles in particular pushed me into using both legs evenly.

Mobility wise I had a pair of crutches but only used them on longer walks, instead opting for a cane. One thing that the surgeon told me was that he could fix the hip but not the limp which was a habit I would need to break myself.

July 2025

Late July saw me do my first ‘proper’ hike and while the 3.2km distance wasn’t an issue this was the longest continual walk I had undertaken since the operation. One thing that was obvious to me was that I was being overly careful in my walking. This is something that you don’t tend to think about but I was paranoid about injuring myself so on a section of that particular hike where the ground was a bit greasy, I was taking very small measured steps. It was however good to finally go bush again!

One potential post operation complication is a hip dislocation and as such you are advised not to bend the hip past 90 degrees in the early stage. While this is a possibility it’s a rare occurrence but that didn’t stop me from being paranoid and as it turned out this would end up being a concern for a many months.

August-September 2025

August and September continued my rehabilitation with me progressively doing longer walks, so much so Gill and I did the 18km Munjip Walk on the NSW south coast in September. This was my longest walk in over two years and while I was only carrying a small day pack, my hip was very happy. My biggest issue was my cardiovascular fitness which is something that my increasing physical training will hopefully address. I also started walking up my local mountain and found this to be really helpful as the uphill slope forced me to use both legs evenly and helped to improve my cardiovascular fitness.

The other key change to my fitness training saw me get back in to the pool again for the first time since before COVID. Swimming is something I have always loved but I needed to wait until the surgery scar was fully healed as well as finding a decent pool. I have always found that swimming uses totally different muscles from other forms of cardio exercises, particularly the leg muscles, and this has helped me greatly.

November-December 2025

I had my six month scheduled follow up with the surgeon in early November and in short, he told me to ‘go for it’ (paraphrasing). I thought I had been pushing myself since September but realised I had been holding myself back for fear of doing injury to my refurbished hip. This surgeons visit helped greatly and improved my confidence which was all about mental confidence rather than confidence in my leg itself.

December saw me go backwards for the first time post operation. After a work conference with a large number of people in the room, I came down with some bug – I did a rapid test for COVID, RSV and the flu and I was pleased that it was just a cold but probably the worst one I have had since my teenage years. It was bad enough to put me off doing any serious exercise for around 10 days and for whatever reason, my right leg went backwards taking me a couple of weeks to get it back on track again.

January-February 2026

After building my strength back up, 17 January became a key date. Everything just seemed to click on that particular day and my right leg felt the best that it had done in about the last seven years. This month saw my exercise regime increase in a number of ways with more and harder exercise sessions. My cardio and weights sessions in the gym increased in intensity. I did more walks up my local mountain which continued to pay dividends as I built my fitness for my first planned long distance hikes in Autumn of 2026.

One of the biggest changes in my exercise regime over the past few months was the focus on the weak muscles on my right side. All the physical issues I had been having over the past 5-6 years had crept up on me slowly, driven by the hip issues, and now the trust in my leg continued to improve.

February saw me really ramp up my exercise regime to the highest level in a number of years. In addition to increasing the weights for my gym sessions I was walking up my local mountain, Mount Ainslie, 2-3 times a week, which is an incline of 232 metres. Instead of the designated Mount Ainslie Summit Walk which is on formed, sealed trail, I cut through the suburbs and use a combination of dirt management trail which includes sections with a gradient of 1:4 on surfaces that are very uneven and slippery at times before finishing at the summit with the last 25% on the sealed track. This ascent of 232 metres combined with the gradient forces me to use both legs rather than relying on just the left one which has seen my legs muscles being the most well developed since the Bibbulmun Track in 2018.

More than any month since my operation I noticed that I was still favouring my right leg out of habit. I’d stand at the sink rinsing some dishes or making a cup of tea and realise that 90% of my weight was on my left leg. I know I don’t need to do this but it’s a hard habit to break. At least I’m much more aware of it.

While I steadily improved my fitness, I had days where improvements seem to happen out of nowhere. Last month it was the 17 January, this month it was the 6 February. It really was that noticeable on those two specific days.

March 2026

This month saw a big change in my work situation as I moved over to Australian Hiker as a full-time blogger. This has meant that my daily routine is now totally under my control. I have now changed the exercise habits of the past 25 year years based around not having to travel to an external work place. For many, many years my alarm was set at 4:30am for four days a week to allow me to exercise prior to going to work and it was rare that the alarm ever woke me up. I still have my alarm set but now it’s at 5:15am for four days a week but depending on the time I go to bed, I still wake up prior to the alarm going off.

Being my own boss I now have the flexibility to train as much as I want and my body allows. I have increased the amount of exercise I am doing by about 30% over and above what I had been doing for so long. My legs are building muscle that I haven’t had for many years and it’s physically noticeable. I feel so much better when I hike which is now mainly focused on hill walking.

My main issue now from a fitness perspective is my weight which is around 10-12 kg heavier than I want to be. I know from many years experience that when I want to lose weight I tend to build muscle first and then start losing weight second.

April-May 2026

The second half of April was saw me do my first long distance hike since early 2024. Initially I was going to do the 164km Grampians Peak Trail but instead changed to the 250km Great South West Walk (GSWW). This may seem a strange choice because it’s around 100km longer in distance. My reason for this change was that although the GSWW was a longer walk, I wanted a gentler change of gradient which the GSWW provided. There are some steeper sections but overall the gradient change is very gradual when compared to the Grampians Peak Trail.

This GSWW is a walk of two halves. The northern half of the trail was very much a ‘walk through the forest’ and I managed to get my walking pace up to the highest its been in years; but it’s still not at the peak of 2018. The southern half of the trail involves a lot of beach walking and boy did that slow me down. I was hoping to do a 28km day on the southern section of this walk but my physical fitness is still not there; in addition my stride length has shortened. I came away from this walk much fitter than when I started and also 5.9km lighter weight wise but still need to lose weight and increase fitness. In my case, I reach a really good level of fitness on a hike around week three due to both the exertion as well as weight loss.

I still have the habit of favouring my right leg, and I’m finding it a hard habit to break. Using trekking poles and carrying a weighted pack force me to use both legs evenly but as soon at the pick comes off the old habit returns!

I did the GSWW because I enjoy long distance hiking but it was also a test of how I would cope doing longer distances and to see if I was ready to do the Heysen Trail in South Australia. The end result is yes I am! Post Bibbulmun Track I planned to do this walk in 2021 in a timeframe of 42 days but cancelled due to COVID. My 2026 plan is to take 52 days to do the Heysen Trail. While I do have some long days due to camp site locations, I have also scheduled a number of zero days due to the time required to compile and release on-trail podcasts. I may find that over the duration of this walk I can again do longer days than I have planned but I can make those changes on-trail whereas adding days will be harder to deal with as Gill is planning on meeting me at the end of the trail and return home at a more leisurely pace.

There were two things that I noticed in doing the GSWW. The first was more about the little things that you need to manage on a long distance hike that I had just forgotten e.g. to wipe the memory card on my camera before starting! And secondly reinforcing I need to focus on the what and why I am carrying to help minimise the impact of pack weight.

Around a week after I returned from the GSWW I had my scheduled 12-month post operation x-rays which turned out as expected and showed no issues. These X-rays were the last part of this medical process – yaaayy!

Tim’s right hip X-ray 12 months post operation showing the new hip and joint in place

Final thoughts

As my surgeon told me early on ‘he can fix the hip but not the limp’ and this is going to take me a while as my limp is still with me when I get tired. This is a habit I’ve had for 6+ years, and it’s a hard habit to break. As such I use a cane or trekking poles whenever I do longer walks including when I go to shopping centres. When I’m hiking with a loaded pack or going up hill, the limp goes because I’m forced to use both legs rather than favouring the right side. I still have a noticeable scar but it has very much faded since the operation and continues to fade as time goes on.

One thing I should mention is that I am now the proud owner of a card that identifies all the hardware I inside with me – a necessity for going through airport screening, just in case I set off the scanning machines. This hasn’t been an issue for the plane trips I have done since the operation but I’ve gotten into the habit of telling the scanner staff before I go through.

In preparing for the operation I did what I could my-end fitness-wise to put myself into the best position I could. The medical staff from the surgeon to support staff were all really helpful and supportive. I also couldn’t have asked for a more seamless process from start to finish. While I was very much blind to my own problems until late in the piece, I can now recognise hip issues in others when I see them, it’s so obvious!

I hope this outline of my own journey provides some aid to those about to go through a hip replacement process and also some reassurance that this will be one of the best things you do. In my case, I’m back into long distance hiking again and pain free for the first time in years. Being 12 months post operation I still need to lose around 7kg and with that will come much greater fitness given my blood pressure can be maintained at a reasonable level (thanks mum and dad for that genetic gift) so I – and added reason for staying healthy.

Recommendations

There are some key takeaways from going through this experience that will make the whole process much easier. These are:

• Do some research on the process. Be warned there are some very good images and videos on Instagram of the hip replacement process but I picked the wrong one first up and it made me queasy!
• Look at your health insurance. Going public is an option and is very minimal cost wise but it can make for a long wait list. However, private health insurance likely requires a gap payment that you need to be aware of
• Lose as much excess weight that you can before the operation
• Get as fit as possible prior to the operation
• Commit to doing post operation rehabilitation

Published

24 May 2026

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