Sixty one-year-old Ramaya Reddy performing various asanas with ease makes one wonder at his grit. For this lithe gentleman has undergone double total hip replacement surgery four years ago.
Ramaya Reddy taught yoga for 15 years before he met with an accident and suffered from severe osteoarthritis and coxavara deformity. It affected both his hips and he had difficulty walking. As total hip replacement was the only option, P. Sharat Kumar, consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Apollo Hospitals, performed the surgery in January, 2014.
Hailing from Odisha, Ramaya, accompanied by his brother Raghunath Reddy, returned to Apollo Hospitals on Thursday not as a patient, but as a yoga practitioner who gave a live demonstration to dispel apprehensions of those who have undergone joint replacement surgery on the occasion of International Yoga Day here. Both the brothers teach yoga at Bharatiya Yog Sansthan centres for free. After the surgery, Ramaya underwent physiotherapy at Apollo as well as his hometown. In 55 days, he joined his work and after six months, he resumed practising yoga with simple asanas . Now, he is back to practising and teaching yoga as Yoga Pradhan .
“I remember my doctor’s remarks after the surgery that the operation was a success and I should make efforts to walk. Not only did I start walking after physiotherapy, but I got back to my passion i.e., yoga,” said Ramaya, sharing his experience with the media.
He urged every citizen to perform yoga to one’s capacity and slowly increase the intensity. At least half an hour of yoga followed by Pranayama helps one be healthy, energetic and stress-free. “Endorsing fitness is an integral part of surgery outcome,” said Dr. Sharat Kumar. Yoga improves muscle strength and flexibility and enhances the range of movements and joint stability. “However, utmost caution and discretion is needed to avoid over stretching as it could result in joint dislocation,” he added. “Everyone lose 1-2% of strength after crossing 25 years of age. Yoga being low-impact exercise has multiple health benefits. It improves quality of life, the life of the joint replaced and could delay the need for revision joint replacement surgery,” Dr. Sharat Kumar said.
