The Complete Guide to Hip Replacement in Turkey

This guide complements our Hip Replacement in Turkey procedure page, which sets out how the operation is performed, the hospital stay and the aftercare. It sits within our wider orthopedic surgery in Turkey section. Below you will find everything a Canadian patient needs to weigh the decision honestly: whether you need the operation, what it achieves, the implants, the day-by-day trip, recovery week by week, physiotherapy, long-term activity, revision, and how to compare prices. You can review indicative figures on our pricing in Turkey page at any time.

For most patients the change is not gradual. The arthritic pain that has been present every day, that wakes them at night, that has stopped them walking any distance — that pain is largely gone within weeks. Patients routinely describe it as getting their life back rather than getting their hip fixed. Two things make a hip replacement work well for a Canadian patient travelling for it: a fourteen-day stay with daily physiotherapy, and a rehabilitation plan with a Canadian physiotherapist arranged before you travel. The thromboembolic risk after hip replacement is the highest of any elective operation, and the first two weeks are also when your rehabilitation is established.

1. Understanding Total Hip Replacement

What the operation does

The worn hip joint is replaced with an artificial one, made of two components. The femoral component is a stem inserted into the thigh bone, carrying a ball head. The acetabular component is a cup fitted into the socket of the pelvis, with a liner inside it. The ball articulates in the liner, reproducing the ball-and-socket mechanics of a normal hip. The operation takes around one to two hours.

The surgical approaches

• Posterior approach — from behind the hip. The most widely used approach worldwide, with excellent visibility of the socket and long-established results.
• Direct anterior approach — from the front, between muscle planes rather than through them. Some studies report a faster early recovery in the first weeks, and it has become popular. The longer-term results converge with the posterior approach.
• Lateral approach — from the side.

Which approach is used matters less than patients expect. All three are well established, and the published outcomes at one year are broadly similar. What matters considerably more is that your surgeon uses the approach they perform most and are most experienced with. Your surgeon will explain which they use and why, and it is a reasonable question to ask.

What it is for

• Hip arthritis — the great majority of cases. Wear of the joint surface producing pain, stiffness and loss of function.
• Avascular necrosis — where the blood supply to the femoral head has been lost and the bone has collapsed.
• Post-traumatic arthritis after a fracture.
• Hip dysplasia with secondary arthritis.
• Inflammatory arthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis affecting the hip.

How long does a hip replacement last?

Modern implants have excellent survival data. Registry data consistently show high survival rates at ten and fifteen years, and a substantial proportion of hips are still functioning well at twenty years and beyond. Longevity depends on your age at surgery, your activity level, your weight, the implant, and the quality of the fixation. A patient of seventy-five is very likely to have one hip replacement for life. A patient of fifty should plan on the possibility of a revision at some stage. Your surgeon will discuss what is realistic for your age, and revision is covered in section 16.

2. Do You Need a Hip Replacement?

The honest answer

When the pain and loss of function outweigh what you are willing to live with, and when non-surgical measures have stopped working. There is no threshold on an X-ray that dictates the timing. A patient with severe X-ray changes and manageable symptoms may reasonably wait. A patient with moderate changes and constant pain who cannot walk to the shops may reasonably proceed. It is your decision, informed by your imaging and your surgeon's assessment.

The symptoms that usually mean it is time

• Pain at rest and at night. Arthritic hip pain that wakes you, or that is present when you are sitting still, indicates advanced wear.
• Pain that limits walking distance to the point where it dictates what you do.
• Stiffness that stops you putting on socks and shoes, cutting your toenails, or getting in and out of a car comfortably.
• Groin pain on weight-bearing — the characteristic location, and frequently referred to the front of the thigh or the knee.
• Failure of non-surgical measures — physiotherapy, weight management, analgesia, activity modification. Where these have been tried and are no longer sufficient, that is the usual point.
• A limp, or needing a stick.

What we look for on imaging

Weight-bearing X-rays of both hips, which show joint space narrowing, bone changes, cysts and the shape of your anatomy. An X-ray showing bone-on-bone contact with matching symptoms is straightforward. An X-ray showing moderate change requires the symptoms to make the case. MRI is occasionally useful — for avascular necrosis, or where the X-ray does not explain the symptoms.

Where the pain may not be coming from your hip

Worth checking, because it happens. Referred pain from the lower back can mimic hip pain closely, and a proportion of patients referred for hip replacement have a spinal source. Pain that is worse on the outside of the hip or radiates below the knee raises this question. Trochanteric bursitis — pain and tenderness on the outer point of the hip rather than the groin — is a different problem with a different treatment. We assess this, because replacing a hip that was not the source of the pain produces a disappointed patient. Where the picture is unclear, a diagnostic injection can settle it.

Send your X-rays first

This is the practical starting point, and it is free. Send your weight-bearing hip X-rays and your symptoms, and you will get an assessment of whether replacement is indicated, whether the timing looks right, and what your realistic outcome would be.

3. What Hip Replacement Achieves

Pain relief

This is the main thing, and it is reliably delivered. Hip replacement is among the most effective pain-relieving operations in medicine. Most patients have substantial relief of their arthritic pain within the first weeks — distinct from surgical pain, which settles over the same period. By three months the great majority describe the arthritic pain as gone.

Function

• Walking distance, which for most patients is the change that matters most day to day.
• Sleeping through the night, which patients frequently mention before anything else.
• Getting in and out of a car, putting on shoes and socks, and cutting toenails — the specific tasks arthritis had made difficult.
• Stairs, which improve substantially.
• Getting off analgesia, which a large proportion of patients manage entirely.

Activities

Most patients return to walking, cycling, swimming, golf and doubles tennis. Hiking is realistic for the majority. High-impact activity — running, singles tennis, contact sport — is generally discouraged long term, because impact loading accelerates wear on the bearing surfaces. Section 14 covers activity in detail, and the guidance is more permissive than it was twenty years ago.

Leg length

Hip replacement can correct a leg length difference caused by the arthritis, and it aims to restore equal lengths. Small differences after surgery are common and usually unnoticeable. Where a difference is perceptible, a shoe insert resolves it, and it is worth knowing this is a normal part of the process rather than a complication.

What it does not fix

Back pain, unless the back pain was caused by the way you were walking. Knee pain from knee arthritis. And it does not make you twenty years younger — though a number of patients say it comes close.

4. Implants: What Goes In, and Why It Matters

The components

• The stem, in the thigh bone. Either cementless — with a surface the bone grows onto — or cemented, fixed with bone cement.
• The head — the ball. Usually ceramic or metal.
• The cup, in the pelvis. Usually cementless, with a surface for bone ingrowth.
• The liner, inside the cup. Usually highly cross-linked polyethylene, sometimes ceramic.

Cemented or cementless

Cementless fixation relies on bone growing into the implant surface, and it is the most commonly used approach in patients with good bone quality. Cemented fixation is immediate and is frequently preferred in older patients or where bone quality is reduced — and registry data support it strongly in that group. Your surgeon chooses based on your age, your bone quality on X-ray and their assessment. Both are excellent when appropriately used, and this is a clinical decision rather than a matter of one being better.

The bearing surface

This is the combination of head and liner, and it is what wears over decades.

• Ceramic on highly cross-linked polyethylene is the most widely used modern combination, with excellent wear characteristics and long-term data.
• Ceramic on ceramic has very low wear but a small risk of squeaking or fracture.
• Metal on highly cross-linked polyethylene is well established and widely used.
• Metal-on-metal bearings, which were used in some hips roughly fifteen to twenty years ago, have been largely abandoned following concerns about metal debris. If you have an existing metal-on-metal hip, it is worth knowing this and mentioning it — some patients with these implants are under specific surveillance.

Your implant card

You leave with a record of every component: manufacturer, model, size and lot number for the stem, head, cup and liner. This matters for three concrete reasons.

• Revision surgery, whenever it happens, is planned around what is already in place. A surgeon revising a hip needs to know the exact components to obtain matching or compatible parts.
• Safety notices. Where a manufacturer or a regulator issues a notice affecting a particular implant, you need to know whether yours is included.
• Any future imaging or surgery — including unrelated procedures — is informed by knowing what metal is in your body.

Keep it permanently. Photograph it. Give a copy to your family doctor. Ask any programme whether an implant card is provided. It should be automatic, and if the answer is vague, that tells you something.

Which implant will I have?

Your plan specifies the manufacturer and the components, with the reasoning. We use implants from established international manufacturers with published registry data, and we name them in your plan rather than describing them generically. A quote that says "premium European implant" is not naming an implant.

5. Assessment: Building Your Plan

The online consultation

Send your X-rays. This is free, and it is the starting point. What to send: weight-bearing X-rays of both hips, ideally as DICOM files rather than photographs of films, and the radiologist's report, plus any MRI you have. Also send your age, weight and height, how long you have had symptoms, what limits you, your walking distance, whether the pain wakes you, what analgesia you take, what non-surgical treatment you have tried, all medical conditions and medications, previous surgery, and what you want to be able to do again. That last point genuinely informs the plan.

What we tell you

Whether replacement is indicated, whether the timing looks appropriate, what implant and approach we would recommend, and a realistic expectation of your outcome. Where your X-rays do not support replacement, or where the picture suggests the pain may not be from your hip, we say so — and set out what would help instead.

On-site assessment

• Clinical examination of both hips, your gait, your leg lengths, your range of movement, and your spine — since a spinal source of pain needs excluding.
• Weight-bearing X-rays, and templating, in which your surgeon plans the implant sizes and positions on your imaging before the operation.
• Blood work, and a group and save for the possibility of transfusion.
• Cardiac and respiratory assessment, proportionate to your age and conditions.
• Anaesthetic review, covering the spinal-versus-general choice.
• Dental check, which surprises patients — section 6 explains why it matters.
• Physiotherapy consultation, setting your rehabilitation plan and teaching you the exercises you will start immediately after surgery.
• Pre-operative physiotherapy where time allows, since strength before surgery predicts recovery after it.

Why templating matters

Because implant size and position determine your leg length, your offset — how far the hip sits from the pelvis, which affects stability and muscle tension — and how well the components fit your anatomy. Planning that on your imaging beforehand rather than deciding it in theatre is what produces a well-balanced hip. It is a reasonable question to ask any surgeon: "Will you template my hip before surgery?"

6. Preparing for Surgery

The dental check

This surprises patients, and it is genuinely important. Bacteria from dental infection can travel in the bloodstream and settle on a new joint, and a prosthetic joint infection is the most serious complication of a hip replacement. Any active dental infection, abscess or significant untreated decay should be dealt with before joint replacement, not after. We check, and where something needs treating we would rather it were treated first. If you know you have a dental problem, deal with it before you travel.

Any other source of infection

The same principle applies to a urinary infection, a skin infection or an infected ingrown toenail. All are checked and treated before surgery.

Stopping smoking

Genuinely important before joint replacement. Smoking increases the risk of wound problems, chest complications after anaesthesia, and — significantly — of infection and of the bone failing to grow onto a cementless implant. Stopping at least four to six weeks before makes a measurable difference. Canadian provincial quitlines are free, your pharmacist can advise on nicotine replacement, and combining behavioural with pharmacological support roughly doubles success rates.

Weight

Where your BMI is high, weight loss before surgery reduces your risk of complications and improves your recovery. We are practical about this rather than prescriptive: arthritis makes exercise difficult, which makes weight loss difficult, and telling a patient in pain to lose weight before you will operate is not always reasonable. Your surgeon will discuss where you sit and what is realistic. Where BMI is very high, we may recommend addressing it first — and our bariatric guides cover the option of a gastric balloon as a bridge specifically for patients in this position.

Medications

Bring a complete list including supplements. Blood thinners, anti-inflammatories and some supplements are stopped before surgery on a schedule we provide. Disclose specifically: any blood thinner, any immunosuppressant or biologic for inflammatory arthritis — these frequently need pausing around surgery and that is coordinated with your rheumatologist — and diabetes medication.

Getting your home ready

Do this before you travel. Section 11 has the full list, and the essentials are: remove trip hazards, arrange a raised toilet seat, sort out your stairs plan, and prepare food.

Pre-operative exercises

Your physiotherapist gives you exercises to start before surgery. Patients who arrive stronger recover faster, and this is one of the few things entirely within your control.

7. Your Trip, Day by Day

Fourteen days, and this is deliberate.

If you would rather stay longer

Some patients extend by two or three days, particularly those facing a long journey or living alone. We generally support it — the additional physiotherapy and the additional days before a long flight are both worthwhile.

8. Recovery: Week by Week

What patients underestimate

How much the muscles had wasted. Years of limping and avoiding activity weaken the hip and thigh muscles considerably, and rebuilding them is what takes months. The joint is fixed on day one. The muscles are your work.

9. Managing Pain

What to expect

Most patients find the surgical pain more manageable than the arthritic pain they arrived with, which surprises them. Arthritic pain is constant and grinding. Surgical pain is sharper but it improves every day, and by two weeks it is substantially better.

How it is managed

A multi-modal approach: regular paracetamol, an anti-inflammatory where appropriate for you, and a stronger analgesic for the first days, reducing as you improve. Local anaesthetic infiltration around the joint during surgery gives good early relief. Ice, elevation, and — importantly — movement, which reduces stiffness-related pain.

Taking it properly

On schedule for the first week, rather than waiting for pain to build. Patients who stay ahead of the pain move better, and moving better is what drives recovery. Reduce gradually rather than stopping abruptly.

Getting off analgesia

Most patients are on simple analgesia only by two to three weeks, and off it entirely somewhere between four and eight weeks. A substantial proportion of patients who arrived taking daily analgesia for arthritis stop it altogether, and they frequently mention this as one of the most welcome changes.

10. Movement Precautions and Dislocation

What they are

Depending on your surgical approach, you may be given movement precautions for the first six to twelve weeks — positions to avoid while the soft tissues around the new joint heal and tighten. For a posterior approach, typically: avoid bending the hip beyond ninety degrees, avoid crossing your legs, and avoid turning the foot inward. For an anterior approach, different precautions apply — typically avoiding extending the leg backwards and rotating outward. Your surgeon gives you your specific precautions and your physiotherapist teaches you how to manage daily tasks within them.

Why they matter

Because dislocation — the ball coming out of the socket — is uncommon but it is most likely in the first weeks, before the tissues have healed around the joint. Following your precautions for the period specified substantially reduces that risk. It is temporary, and most patients find it manageable once they have been taught the practical workarounds.

The practical workarounds

• A raised toilet seat, so you are not bending past ninety degrees.
• A high chair with arms rather than a low sofa.
• A long-handled shoe horn and a sock aid, which sound trivial and are not.
• Sleeping on your back initially, and how to get in and out of bed safely.
• How to get in and out of a car — a specific technique, taught rather than described.
• A grabber for picking things off the floor.

Most of these are inexpensive and available in Canada. Order them before you travel, and section 11 has the list. After the precaution period they are lifted, usually somewhere between six and twelve weeks, and normal movement resumes.

11. Preparing Your Home

Do this before you travel. It makes the first weeks considerably easier and it is entirely within your control.

Equipment to have ready

• A raised toilet seat — the single most useful item.
• A high chair with arms, for sitting and standing safely.
• A long-handled shoe horn and a sock aid.
• A grabber for reaching the floor.
• A long-handled sponge for washing.
• Crutches or a walker, though these are provided in Turkey and you will bring yours home.
• A firm mattress at a reasonable height, or a plan for how you will get in and out of a low bed.

Around the house

• Remove trip hazards — loose rugs, cables, clutter in walkways. A fall in the first weeks is the thing to avoid.
• Good lighting, particularly on stairs and at night.
• Grab rails in the bathroom where you can fit them.
• Move everything you need to waist height.
• Prepare and freeze meals, or arrange deliveries.
• A chair in the shower if you have one, or a plan for showering safely.

Stairs

Have a plan. If your bedroom and bathroom are upstairs, you will manage stairs from the start — your physiotherapist teaches you how, and it is entirely doable with a rail. Where stairs are genuinely difficult, some patients arrange to sleep downstairs for the first weeks.

Help

Arrange someone for the first week at home if you can. Not for care — for the practical things: shopping, driving you to physiotherapy, and being there. Patients who live alone manage, and a number of ours have. It is easier with a plan.

12. Anticoagulation and the Flight Home

Why this matters more here than in any other procedure

Hip replacement carries the highest thromboembolic risk of any elective operation. That is simply the reality of major lower limb surgery in an older population with a period of reduced mobility. It is also entirely manageable with the right measures, and those measures are why the stay is fourteen days.

What we do

• Early mobilisation — standing and stepping within hours of surgery, and walking daily from then on. This is the single most effective measure.
• Anticoagulation — a blood thinner started after surgery and continued for a defined period, typically several weeks. Your prescription and duration are specified in your plan.
• Graduated compression stockings.
• Hydration, which matters more than patients expect.

Your anticoagulation continues at home

This is important. You will be taking an anticoagulant when you fly and for weeks afterwards. Take it exactly as prescribed, including on travel days. Your plan states the drug, the dose and the duration, and it is addressed to your Canadian family doctor. Where a prescription needs continuing in Canada, your documentation supports that — arrange it with your family doctor as part of the conversation in section 13.

The fourteen-day interval

Fourteen days minimum before flying, and this is not a number we would move. Two reasons. The thromboembolic risk is highest in the early period, and fourteen days of mobilisation with anticoagulation substantially reduces it before you sit for ten hours. And the first two weeks are when your rehabilitation is established — a patient discharged at five days has had the operation without the rehabilitation. Ask any programme how long the stay is for a hip replacement. Fourteen days with daily physiotherapy is the appropriate standard. Anything substantially shorter, for a patient flying transatlantic, is a serious concern rather than a saving.

Making the flight manageable

• Book an aisle seat and request extra legroom. Airlines generally accommodate a request supported by a medical note, which we provide.
• Request airport assistance when booking. Wheelchair assistance through the terminal is standard, free, and worth using.
• Get up and walk every hour, without exception. This is the single most important thing you do on the flight.
• Wear your compression stockings.
• Take your anticoagulant exactly as directed.
• Hydrate, and avoid alcohol.
• Keep your operative report, implant card and medication in your cabin bag.
• Do not book a same-day domestic connection. Build in an overnight stay near your Canadian arrival airport — for a hip replacement we consider this essential.

13. Physiotherapy and Your Canadian Follow-up

Why physiotherapy determines your result

Because the joint is replaced in ninety minutes and everything else about your outcome comes from rehabilitation. Strength, gait, range of movement, endurance and confidence — all of that is physiotherapy, and it runs for three to six months. Patients who rehabilitate properly walk normally and get back to activities. Patients who do not are still limping at six months with a perfectly positioned implant. The difference is entirely in the rehabilitation, and it is well established.

What we do here

Daily physiotherapy from the day of surgery, twice daily in hospital. The purpose is not to complete your rehabilitation in two weeks — that is not possible. It is to get you walking safely, teach you your programme properly, and get you through the phase where supervision matters most. You take home a written progressive programme with stages, targets and progression criteria, plus guidance addressed to your Canadian physiotherapist, setting out your approach, your precautions, your restrictions and the progression plan.

Arranging physiotherapy in Canada

Do this before you travel. It is the most important thing to organise in advance. Physiotherapy in Canada is generally not covered by provincial plans for adults, and it is typically paid privately or through employer benefits. Check your annual allowance before you start — hip replacement rehabilitation runs for months, and knowing your limit lets you plan the sessions. The conversation to have: "I'm having a hip replacement abroad. I'll come back with an operative report, my implant card, a post-operative X-ray and a written rehabilitation programme. Could I book a first session for the week after I return?" Most physiotherapists say yes immediately.

Your family doctor

Also worth a conversation before you travel, for three things: continuing your anticoagulation prescription, having your wound checked, and holding your documentation. "I'm having a hip replacement abroad. I'll come back with an operative report, an implant card and an anticoagulation plan. Could you see me in the first week for a wound check and to continue the prescription?" Straightforward, and most family doctors are entirely happy to do it.

If you cannot access physiotherapy

Tell us. Your written programme is designed to be self-directed if it has to be, and the two weeks of teaching here is what makes that viable. It is not as good as supervised rehabilitation and we would say so — but patients who follow a well-taught programme do well.

14. Activity, Long Term

What you can expect to do

Walking, without limit. Cycling. Swimming. Golf. Doubles tennis. Hiking, including hills. Skiing, for patients who skied before — with sensible caution. Dancing, gardening, travel — the things arthritis had made difficult.

What is generally discouraged

Running as a regular activity. Impact loading accelerates wear on the bearing surface. Occasional running for a bus is not a concern; marathon training is a different matter. Singles tennis, squash, contact sport, and repetitive jumping. The guidance here is more permissive than it was twenty years ago, because bearing surfaces have improved considerably. Your surgeon will discuss your specific activities, and if there is something that matters to you, raise it — the answer is frequently more encouraging than patients expect.

Weight

Maintaining a reasonable weight reduces load on the bearing and extends implant life. Where weight was a factor in your arthritis, the improved mobility after surgery frequently makes it easier to address.

Dental work, for life

This is worth knowing and it is easily forgotten. Bacteria from dental procedures can settle on a prosthetic joint. Current guidance on routine antibiotic prophylaxis before dental work has changed over the years and varies, but the principle that matters is: keep your teeth healthy and tell your dentist you have a joint replacement. Any dental infection should be treated promptly rather than left.

Warning signs, for life

Worth knowing, because early recognition of a joint infection matters enormously. New pain in a hip that had been comfortable, particularly with fever, redness or warmth. Wound discharge at any point. Feeling systemically unwell with hip pain. Seek medical attention and say you have a hip replacement. Prosthetic joint infection is uncommon and it is treatable, and it is treated far better early than late.

15. Why Canadians Choose Turkey — and the Canadian Route

The Canadian public route

Hip replacement is covered by provincial health plans, and it is worth being completely clear about that. The obstacle is waiting time. Hip and knee replacement have among the longest elective surgical waits in Canada, and in many regions the total wait — from family doctor referral, to orthopaedic consultation, to surgery — is measured in one to two years or more. And that wait is spent in pain. That is the difference from most waiting lists: a patient waiting for a hip replacement is waiting while unable to sleep, unable to walk far, and taking daily analgesia. We suggest asking your family doctor for a referral and the realistic timeline in your region, and checking your provincial wait time reporting, which most provinces publish. If the wait is manageable, the public route is genuinely the better option — the whole team locally, permanently, at no cost, including the follow-up. If it is not — and for many patients two years of daily pain is not — this is a reasonable alternative chosen knowingly. That is why most of our hip replacement patients arrive from a waiting list.

What is different here

• Fourteen days with daily physiotherapy, rather than a two-day stay and a wait for outpatient rehabilitation.
• Templating and a named implant specified in your plan.
• A written rehabilitation programme and help arranging your Canadian physiotherapist and family doctor before you travel.

16. Revision: What Happens Eventually

Will I need one?

Depends substantially on your age at surgery. Registry data show high survival at ten and fifteen years, with many hips functioning well at twenty and beyond. A patient of seventy-five is very likely to have one hip replacement for life. A patient of fifty should plan on the realistic possibility of a revision at some point — and that is not a reason to wait if the pain is limiting your life now, since the years of function in between are the point.

Why revisions happen

Wear of the bearing surface over decades. Loosening of a component. Infection, uncommon. Dislocation that recurs. Periprosthetic fracture around an implant, usually after a fall.

Why your implant card matters for this

Because a revision is planned around what is already in place. A surgeon revising your hip in fifteen years needs to know the exact manufacturer, model and sizes to obtain compatible components — sometimes only one part needs replacing, and that is only possible if the rest can be identified. Without an implant card, a revision that could have been partial may have to be complete. That is the practical argument, and it takes a minute to photograph the card.

Where revision would be done

Wherever you are, and by whoever is best placed. Your documentation is what makes that possible anywhere. We also perform revision surgery, and where a patient we operated on needs one, we have the full record.

17. Aylan Clinic Across Canada: 50 Cities We Serve

Aylan Clinic works with patients from every province and territory in Canada. Wherever you live, the process begins the same way: send your X-rays and get an assessment, free, before you book anything. Below are the fifty Canadian cities from which we most frequently receive enquiries, with practical notes on travelling to Istanbul — and on the return journey, which for this procedure matters more than for any other in our series.

Greater Toronto Area and southern Ontario

Toronto is our single largest source of Canadian patients, and Pearson offers the most direct connections to Istanbul of any Canadian airport. For a hip replacement patient, a direct flight is a substantial advantage — one set of transfers, one boarding, no connection to manage on crutches. Across the wider Greater Toronto Area we regularly work with patients from Mississauga, Brampton, Markham, Vaughan, Richmond Hill and Oshawa. Along the lake: Hamilton, Burlington, Oakville, St. Catharines and Niagara Falls. In southwestern Ontario we see patients from London, from the Waterloo region — Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge — and from Guelph, Windsor and Barrie. Being driven to Pearson rather than connecting domestically is strongly preferable. Ontario publishes wait time data by hospital, and it is worth looking up yours before deciding.

Eastern and northern Ontario

Ottawa patients typically connect through Toronto or Montreal. Kingston patients are usually driven to either. In northern Ontario we work with patients from Sudbury, Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie. Journeys involve a domestic connection, and on crutches after a hip replacement an overnight stay near your arrival airport is essential rather than advisable. Orthopaedic waits are frequently longest for patients from these regions. Sudbury and Thunder Bay both have substantial francophone populations, and those patients are served in French throughout, including the daily physiotherapy and the written programme.

Montreal and the surrounding region

Montreal is our second-largest Canadian source, with excellent connections to Istanbul from Trudeau. Patients from Laval, Longueuil and Brossard are all within easy reach. The frequency of departures makes it straightforward to extend your return by a few days if you or your surgeon prefer.

Quebec City and across the province

From Quebec City and the Capitale-Nationale region including Lévis, most patients connect through Montreal — as do patients from Trois-Rivières, Sherbrooke, Drummondville and Saint-Jérôme, all within driving distance of Trudeau, which after a hip replacement is considerably preferable to a domestic flight. Gatineau patients depart from Ottawa or are driven to Montreal. From Saguenay, a domestic connection through Montreal is the norm, with an overnight buffer essential. All Quebec patients are served in French throughout. Your movement precautions, your rehabilitation programme and your anticoagulation plan are documents you will be following for months, and they are provided in French. For a hip replacement in particular, the precautions in section 10 need to be understood precisely — and that is a conversation to have in your own language.

Vancouver and British Columbia

Vancouver patients connect through European hubs, typically one connection and a full day of travel. We schedule assessment for the day after arrival. Across the Lower Mainland: Surrey, Burnaby and Richmond. From Victoria and Nanaimo, patients cross by ferry or short flight — the ferry is considerably easier after a hip replacement. Kelowna, Abbotsford and Kamloops patients connect through Vancouver or Calgary. Given the journey length and the connection, we frequently recommend British Columbia patients stay sixteen or seventeen days rather than fourteen.

Alberta

Calgary and Edmonton both offer good European connections, and Alberta is consistently among our strongest sources of orthopaedic patients. Red Deer and Lethbridge patients are usually driven to Calgary rather than adding a domestic flight. We schedule Alberta patients with the same approach as British Columbia.

Manitoba and Saskatchewan

Winnipeg patients connect through Toronto or Montreal. Saint-Boniface and Franco-Manitoban patients are served in French. From Saskatoon and Regina, journeys involve a domestic connection followed by a transatlantic flight. An overnight stay on the return is essential after a hip replacement.

Atlantic Canada

Halifax patients typically route through Toronto or Montreal. In New Brunswick: Moncton, Fredericton and Saint John, with Moncton and surrounding Acadian communities served in French. Most connect through Montreal, which for francophone patients means French-language service throughout. From Charlottetown and St. John's, journeys involve one or two connections, and an overnight between them is essential.

Northern Canada

We work with patients from Whitehorse in Yukon, and from communities across the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. For northern patients, hip replacement means travelling to a southern centre and waiting — frequently for a consultation first, then for surgery, and then returning for follow-up. Three things we plan carefully: the return journey, with buffer days and no same-day connections; physiotherapy access, which varies considerably — where supervised rehabilitation is not available, your programme is designed to be self-directed and the two weeks of teaching here is what makes that work; and your anticoagulation, which needs a prescription arrangement in place before you travel. Several of our patients from the territories have noted that one trip including surgery and two weeks of daily physiotherapy compares favourably with the alternative of multiple journeys south.

How we handle the logistics

Whichever city you are travelling from, your coordinator arranges airport transfers at both ends in Istanbul, confirms your hotel before you depart, and builds your schedule around your arrival time. Five recommendations: send your X-rays before you book anything; order your home equipment before you travel; request airport assistance, an aisle seat and extra legroom for the return; do not book a same-day domestic connection; and arrange your Canadian physiotherapist and a family doctor appointment before you travel.

18. What the Package Includes

• Free X-ray review and assessment before you commit.
• Free online consultation with a plan and quote.
• On-site clinical examination of both hips, gait, leg lengths and spine.
• Weight-bearing X-rays and pre-operative templating.
• Blood work, group and save, cardiac and respiratory assessment.
• Anaesthetic review, covering spinal versus general.
• Dental check before joint replacement.
• Physiotherapy consultation with pre-operative exercises.
• The procedure, anaesthesia, and hospitalisation.
• Implants from established international manufacturers, named in your plan.
• Four to five nights in hospital with twice-daily physiotherapy.
• Daily physiotherapy for the remainder of your fourteen-day stay.
• Nursing visits at your hotel.
• Crutches and walking aids.
• Anticoagulation, with a prescription and plan for continuing it in Canada.
• Graduated compression stockings.
• Post-operative X-ray confirming component position.
• Surgical review before departure.
• Operative report, and an implant card recording every component with manufacturer, model, size and lot number.
• A written progressive rehabilitation programme, with guidance for your Canadian physiotherapist.
• Guidance for your Canadian family doctor, including your anticoagulation plan.
• Medical note for your airline for legroom and assistance.
• 5-star hotel accommodation, full board.
• A companion at no extra cost, accommodated and fed in the same room.
• Airport–clinic–hotel transfers, with assistance arranged.
• A personal coordinator from arrival to departure.
• English and French-speaking Canadian patient liaison available on request.

The clinical team

• Orthopaedic surgeon — hip arthroplasty and revision surgery.
• Anaesthetist — spinal and general anaesthesia, with arthroplasty experience.
• Musculoskeletal radiologist — imaging review and templating support.
• Physiotherapist — daily sessions and your written programme.
• Dedicated nurse — post-operative care throughout your stay.
• Internal medicine input — where conditions need managing around surgery.

19. Results by Patient Profile

The classic case

A patient of sixty-eight with bone-on-bone hip arthritis, unable to sleep through the night, walking distance down to a few hundred metres, on daily analgesia, who had been waiting eighteen months with more expected. Cementless components, posterior approach, fourteen-day stay with daily physiotherapy. Her arthritic pain was gone by week three. She was off analgesia at five weeks, off her stick at seven, and walking her dog properly by three months. She describes it as getting her life back. This is the majority of our hip patients, and the results are consistently good.

A younger patient with avascular necrosis

A patient of forty-nine with collapse of the femoral head, in severe pain and unable to work. Ceramic on highly cross-linked polyethylene, chosen with his age and the likelihood of eventual revision in mind. His implant card is comprehensive, and he understands he may need a revision at some point. He returned to work at three months. Waiting would have cost him years of function for no gain.

A patient whose pain was not from the hip

A patient of sixty-two referred with hip pain whose X-rays showed only moderate change. Examination found the pain reproduced on spinal movement and referred below the knee. A diagnostic injection confirmed a spinal source. We told her before she booked. She saw a spine specialist in Canada and her pain was addressed without a hip replacement. Replacing that hip would have produced a disappointed patient, and identifying it was the more useful service.

A dental problem found at assessment

A patient with an untreated dental abscess found at the pre-operative dental check. Surgery was deferred, the abscess was treated, and the hip replacement proceeded four weeks later. Prosthetic joint infection is the most serious complication of a hip replacement, and this is exactly why the check exists.

A patient with a high BMI

A patient of fifty-eight with severe hip arthritis and a BMI of 47, told in Canada she needed to lose weight before surgery — which she had been unable to do, because the hip pain prevented exercise. We discussed a gastric balloon as a bridge. She lost enough weight over eight months to bring her surgical risk down, and then had the hip replaced. Two problems that were feeding each other, and addressing the order made both solvable.

Physiotherapy done properly

A patient who did her programme diligently and saw a Canadian physiotherapist twice weekly from week three. Walking unaided at five weeks, hiking at four months. Her surgeon's comment was that he did ninety minutes and she did the rest.

A patient who lived alone

A patient of seventy-one living alone, who prepared her home properly, arranged a neighbour for the first week, and stayed sixteen days rather than fourteen. Living alone is not a barrier, and the preparation in section 11 is what makes it work.

20. Questions Worth Asking Any Programme

• "Will you review my X-rays before I commit?" — it should be free, and it should include an honest view on whether the timing is right.
• "Have you checked that my pain is coming from my hip?" — a spinal source is a genuine possibility and it should be assessed.
• "Which implant will you use — manufacturer and model?" — a specific answer, not "premium European implant."
• "Will I receive an implant card recording every component?" — it should be automatic, and section 16 explains why it matters in fifteen years.
• "Will you template my hip before surgery?" — this is how leg length and offset are planned rather than decided in theatre.
• "How many days is the stay, and how much physiotherapy is included?" — fourteen days with daily physiotherapy is the appropriate standard for a patient flying transatlantic. A two-day stay is not.
• "Is there a dental check before surgery?" — prosthetic joint infection is the most serious complication and dental infection is a real source.
• "What anticoagulation will I have, and how do I continue it in Canada?" — you need a prescription and a plan, not just a discharge note.
• "Will I get a written rehabilitation programme and guidance for my Canadian physiotherapist?"
• "Which surgical approach do you use, and why?" — the answer matters less than the surgeon's experience with it.

21. Practical Points to Know

What to expect

• Surgical pain that is frequently more manageable than the arthritic pain you arrived with.
• Walking with crutches from the day of surgery. Off crutches onto a stick between weeks three and five for most patients, and off the stick between four and eight weeks.
• Fatigue for the first four weeks, more than patients expect.
• Movement precautions for six to twelve weeks depending on your approach.
• Swelling in the leg and around the hip, sometimes with bruising extending down the thigh — normal and settling over weeks.
• Substantial functional gains between months three and six, and continued improvement out to a year.

Recognised points

Hip replacement is among the most successful operations in medicine, with high satisfaction and excellent long-term data. Your surgeon will discuss the considerations relevant to you, and the fourteen-day stay with daily physiotherapy and anticoagulation exists precisely to manage the early ones. The main ones: venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, the highest risk of any elective operation — which is why early mobilisation, anticoagulation, compression stockings and the fourteen-day interval before flying all matter. Infection, uncommon, and the reason for the dental check and the attention to any other infection source. Dislocation, most likely in the first weeks, which is what the movement precautions address. Leg length difference, usually small and unnoticeable, resolvable with an insert where perceptible. Periprosthetic fracture, usually related to a fall. Nerve irritation, generally temporary. Loosening or wear over decades, which is the revision question in section 16. Persistent pain where the hip was not the source, which is why the assessment in section 2 matters.

Two things entirely within your control

Preparing properly — home equipment, help arranged, dental problems dealt with, smoking stopped. And doing the physiotherapy. The joint is replaced in ninety minutes. Your result at six months is rehabilitation.

Who this suits

Adults with hip arthritis or another indication, symptoms that outweigh what they are willing to live with, in a condition to undergo major surgery, prepared to do the rehabilitation. In pregnancy, elective joint replacement is deferred.

22. Price: How It Is Built and How to Compare It

Why we quote per case

Because the implant, the complexity and your medical management vary. A straightforward primary replacement in a fit sixty-eight-year-old differs from a case with significant deformity, previous surgery or substantial comorbidity. Your quote is built from your X-rays and your details, itemised, and fixed once you approve it.

What determines your price

• The implant — the manufacturer, the bearing surface, and whether cemented or cementless. Named in your plan.
• The complexity of the case, including deformity, dysplasia, previous surgery or bone loss.
• The extent of the workup your age and conditions require.
• The length of your stay — fourteen days as standard, with four to five nights in hospital, and longer where you or your surgeon prefer.
• Any condition needing managing around surgery.

What is included in your quote

Everything in section 18: the free X-ray review, the on-site assessment with templating, the dental check, the anaesthetic and physiotherapy consultations, the procedure and anaesthesia, the implants, four to five nights in hospital with twice-daily physiotherapy, daily physiotherapy for the rest of the fourteen days, nursing visits, crutches, anticoagulation with a plan for continuing it in Canada, compression stockings, your post-operative X-ray, the surgical review, your operative report and implant card, your written rehabilitation programme with guidance for your Canadian physiotherapist and family doctor, an airline medical note, your hotel with full board, transfers with assistance, and your coordinator. A companion is accommodated and fed at no additional cost. See our pricing in Turkey page for an overview.

What sits outside it

Flights, travel insurance, physiotherapy in Canada — generally not covered provincially, so check your employer benefits — home equipment, and your anticoagulation prescription once the initial supply runs out.

How to compare quotes properly

Six checks, and orthopaedic quotes differ substantially in what they contain.

• Is the implant named — manufacturer and model? This is the largest silent variable, and it is the component you cannot inspect. A quote that does not name it is not a complete quote.
• Is an implant card provided? It should be automatic.
• How many days is the stay, and how many nights in hospital? Fourteen days with four to five nights in hospital is the appropriate standard for a transatlantic patient. A quote based on a five-day total is not a cheaper version of the same thing.
• How much physiotherapy is included, and is it daily? This determines your result.
• Is anticoagulation included, with a plan for continuing it in Canada?
• Is a dental check included?

Why the lowest quote is a serious concern on this operation

We say this directly, as we do for bariatric surgery. On a hip replacement, the savings available concern the implant, the stay, the physiotherapy and the anticoagulation — and every one of those is what makes the operation work. An unnamed implant with no card. A five-day stay that sends a patient onto a transatlantic flight during the period of highest clot risk. A discharge sheet instead of daily taught physiotherapy. That is not a cheaper hip replacement; it is a different and worse product. Ask any programme the six questions above and compare the answers alongside the price.

Insurance in Canada

Hip replacement is covered by provincial health plans, and care abroad is generally not reimbursed. There is no claim to prepare for the surgery. Your follow-up in Canada is covered as ordinary medical care — family doctor visits, wound checks, X-rays and your anticoagulation prescription according to your provincial formulary. Physiotherapy is generally not covered provincially for adults; check your employer benefits, and note the annual limit. Travel medical insurance is worth arranging, and read the exclusions carefully — many policies exclude complications of elective surgery. Ask in writing, and prioritise medical repatriation and hospitalisation cover.

Payment

A deposit confirms your dates. The balance is settled on site, under terms set out in full when you approve your plan. There are no additional charges once accepted.

Getting your figure

Send your weight-bearing hip X-rays — ideally as DICOM files — with the report. Add your age, weight and height, how long you have had symptoms, your walking distance, whether the pain wakes you, your analgesia, what you have tried, all conditions and medications, previous surgery, and what you want to do again. You will receive an assessment and quote within 24 to 48 hours, including whether replacement is indicated, whether the timing looks right, and the implant we would recommend. And if your imaging or symptoms suggest the hip is not the source of your pain, we will tell you that instead.

23. Glossary

24. How Canadians Search for This

• "Hip replacement Turkey cost" — the most common search. Send your X-rays; the review is free.
• "Hip replacement wait time Canada" — among the longest elective waits in the country, and the wait is spent in pain. This is why most of our patients travel.
• "Is hip replacement covered in Canada" — yes, by provincial plans. The obstacle is the wait. Ask your family doctor for the timeline in your region.
• "Anterior vs posterior hip replacement" — both well established, with similar results at a year. Your surgeon's experience with the approach matters more.
• "How long does a hip replacement last" — high survival at ten and fifteen years, many at twenty and beyond. Your age at surgery determines whether a revision is likely.
• "Hip replacement recovery week by week" — crutches from day one, stick at three to five weeks, unaided at four to eight, essentially normal at three to six months.
• "Hip replacement precautions" — depend on your approach, typically six to twelve weeks. Your physiotherapist teaches the practical workarounds.
• "Flying after hip replacement" — fourteen days minimum, with anticoagulation, compression stockings, an aisle seat and hourly walking.
• "Hip replacement blood clot risk" — the highest of any elective operation, which is why the fourteen-day stay, the anticoagulation and the mobilisation all matter.
• "Physiotherapy after hip replacement" — the part that determines your result. Arrange it in Canada before you travel, and check your employer benefits.
• "Hip replacement implant card" — you should receive one recording every component. Ask.
• "Running after hip replacement" — generally discouraged as a regular activity. Walking, cycling, swimming, golf, hiking and skiing are realistic.
• "Dental work after hip replacement" — keep your teeth healthy, treat infections promptly, and tell your dentist you have a joint replacement.
• "Hip pain or back pain" — a spinal source can mimic hip arthritis closely, and it should be assessed before a replacement.

In Summary

Total hip replacement at Aylan Clinic combines a free X-ray review before you commit, pre-operative templating, a dental check, implants from established manufacturers named in your plan with a full implant card, and a fourteen-day stay with daily physiotherapy — plus anticoagulation with a plan for continuing it in Canada, and a written rehabilitation programme for your Canadian physiotherapist. With 5-star accommodation and a companion at no extra cost, for up to 60% less than Canadian private prices. Hip replacement is among the most successful operations in medicine. Five things make it work well for a Canadian patient travelling for it:

• Send your X-rays first. The review is free, and it tells you whether replacement is indicated and whether the timing is right — including whether your pain might be coming from your back instead.
• Stay fourteen days. The clot risk after hip replacement is the highest of any elective operation, and the first two weeks are when your rehabilitation is established. This is not a stay to shorten.
• Keep your implant card. A revision in fifteen years is planned around knowing exactly what is in place — and without it, a partial revision may have to become a complete one.
• Arrange your Canadian physiotherapist and a family doctor appointment before you travel. Two short conversations, and section 13 has the words for both.
• Do the physiotherapy. The joint is replaced in ninety minutes. Your result at six months is rehabilitation, and the difference is walking normally versus still limping.

And ask your family doctor about the wait in your region first. If it is manageable, the public route is the better option — and if it means two more years of daily pain, you will have chosen this knowingly. To go further, read our Hip Replacement in Turkey procedure page for how the operation, stay and aftercare are run, review the pricing in Turkey, or explore the full range of orthopedic surgery in Turkey.