Your Walking Speed Predicts Your Recovery After Hip Surgery

Dr. Joseph Mercola - Take Control of Your Health

Briana Mercola

Health & Fitness, Alternative Health

4.6 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 20 January 2026

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Osteoarthritis (OA), the leading cause of hip pain, affects an estimated 240 million people worldwide. It occurs when the protective cartilage that cushions the ends of your bones gradually breaks down, causing pain and stiffness
A study published in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery found that patients with a gait speed of at least 1 meter per second (m/s) before hip replacement recovered significantly better than those with slower gait
In another study published in BMC Geriatrics, researchers found that older adults who walked regularly before a hip fracture, at least 30 minutes or most days weekly, regained better walking speed one year after surgery
Hip osteoarthritis mainly affects adults in their 50s and older and is more common in women
Many people can manage hip osteoarthritis with safe, drug‑free strategies like walking, strength training, and reducing inflammation through lifestyle changes — often delaying or avoiding injections and surgery

Transcript

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0:00.0	What if your recovery after hip surgery could be predicted by something as simple as how fast you walk today?
0:06.0	Welcome to Dr. Mercola's cellular wisdom. Stay informed with quick, easy-to-listen summaries of our latest articles, perfect for when you're on the go. No reading required.
0:15.0	Subscribe for free at Mercola.com for the latest health insights.
0:19.0	Hello and welcome to Dr. Mercola's Cellular Wisdom.
0:21.6	I'm Ethan Foster.
0:23.6	Today we're looking at why your walking speed before a hip operation and your everyday movement
0:29.6	before a fracture can forecast how well you regain mobility.
0:33.6	We'll also cover practical, drug-free ways you can support your hips if you're dealing with
0:38.1	osteoarthritis.
0:39.3	I'm Alara Sky.
0:41.7	Hip pain is widespread.
0:43.7	Osteoarthritis is the leading cause and affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide.
0:49.5	Many end up considering injections or surgery, but the research we're discussing shows
0:54.0	that what you do
0:55.0	before those interventions, especially how you move, has a measurable impact on what happens after.
1:02.5	A long-term study from Kayushu University tracked people scheduled for total hip arthroplasty
1:08.0	using a simple 10-meter walk test before surgery.
1:12.1	Researchers followed them for 5 to 10 years with patient-reported tools like the Oxford
1:16.8	hip score and the forgotten joint score 12.
1:19.9	The strongest predictor of a better future?
1:22.4	A pre-op gate speed of at least one meter per second.
1:25.8	That's important because walking speed reflects integrated
	...

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