I have just had a total hip replacement operation on June 3rd 2010 and would like to know what are the suggested sexual positions after surgery.

Hello Tiggy

You must be feeling pretty good after your surgery. That's great! This would be an excellent question for your surgeon because everyone is different and part of the answer will have to do with your anatomy and musculature, healing, etc. But generally speaking, the big thing is to not dislocate your prosthesis. So all of the things they have told you about positioning for sitting in chairs, getting in and out of cars, etc., will apply to sex positions. You do not want to over flex that hip and pop it out.

That means perhaps besides missionary, maybe lying on your side facing whatever direction you like, perhaps standing if that's comfortable but not bending too far or putting your legs around your partner...really anything that doesn't over flex that prosthesis and follows your hip precautions should be okay. But to be safe, I'd check with the surgeon.

Surgeons often don't think about this kind of thing when giving post-op instructions. They think about the hip, not your daily life so much. It's a sort of tunnel vision. So they just don't always think to talk about sex. Even if he sounds surprised, ask him to be specific. He can do it, even if it's awkward for him. It's part of the job.

Thanks for writing and let us know what he says. It will help others.