Percussive vs. Gentle Massage for Recovery After Hip Replacement

Summary

Many people who have hip replacement surgery through a "bikini incision" on the front of the hip (anterior approach) develop numbness, tingling, burning, or tightness in the front and side of the thigh afterward. This happens because a small nerve near the incision can get irritated during surgery. For most patients these symptoms fade over time, but for some they can last for months or longer.

This study is testing whether a simple, at-home self-care routine can help these symptoms improve faster. Patients will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: one group will use a handheld percussive massage device (like a massage gun) on the thigh twice a day, and the other group will do gentle hand massage on the same areas, for the same amount of time, twice a day. Both routines take about 5 minutes and are done every day for 6 weeks after surgery. Neither device use nor massage is applied directly on or near the surgical incision.

The researchers want to find out whether the massage device works better than gentle hand massage for improving hip pain and function, reducing numbness and tingling, and improving sleep and comfort during recovery. Participants will complete short questionnaires and daily logs, with follow-up visits at 6 weeks and 3 months after surgery.

Conditions

• Paresthesia
• Total Hip Arthroplasty (THA)
• Direct Anterior Total Hip Arthroplasty
• Lateral Femoral Cutaneous Nerve Injury

Interventions

DEVICE

Percussive Massage Therapy (Toloco or Hyperice Hypervolt GO 2)

A handheld percussive massage device (30 Hz frequency, medium amplitude, ball-head attachment) is self-applied to the anterior and lateral thigh in slow, overlapping longitudinal strokes, using device weight only with no added downward pressure. Sessions are performed twice daily (morning and evening) for 5 minutes total (2.5 minutes per anatomical zone), beginning postoperative day 1 and continuing through 6 weeks, maintaining a 2-inch exclusion margin from the surgical incision at all times.

OTHER

Gentle Manual Massage

Gentle massage is self-applied to the anterior and lateral thigh using the flat palm and fingers of the hand in slow, overlapping longitudinal strokes, using hand weight only with no added pressure. Sessions are performed twice daily (morning and evening) for 5 minutes total (2.5 minutes per anatomical zone), beginning postoperative day 1 and continuing through 6 weeks, maintaining a 2-inch exclusion margin from the surgical incision at all times.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Total Joint Specialists

  collaborator NETWORK

• Zachary M Ricciardelli

  lead NETWORK

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2026-09-30

Primary Completion

2026-12-31

Completion

2027-01-31

FDA Device

Yes

Countries

• United States

Study Locations