THR Still having pain 4 months out

[harry47]

After 5 years of varying degrees of hip pain, the offending joint is finally gone. Surgery was Friday AM and everything went smoothly. They gave me a spinal block and it was amazing. A little pinch in my back, an injection of Tequila as my anesthesiologist called it and I was out. About 2 hours later while waking up in recovery, I felt nothing below the waist and even after the drugs wore off, the pain was minimal.

The staff had me up with the walker for PT twice on Saturday and once today. For pain management they're using tramadol and Celebrex with hydrocodone just before PT. The only real pain I felt came with the first few steps that produced a sharp burning sensation in the thigh area.

Still very tired from the whole ordeal and now have to get through the next 6 critical weeks. As we were going through discharge today, the nurse reminded me about the 90 degree rule, etc. I asked her when I could cross my legs for example and she said "not for the rest of your life". That comment kind of floored me. Other than that, the whole hospital experience wasn't bad but I'm glad to be home for the remainder of this recovery.

 

[djklaugh]

@harry47 - Glad to hear you are doing well! Please ignore what that uninformed nurse told you!!!!! The "no crossing your legs" thing is part of the hip precautions and is only for the first 6 weeks or so while bone is growing around the implants - you don't want to torque the new hip and have a dislocation. Once the 6 weeks are past - about the same time as your post op appointment with your surgeon - you should be able to forget about the precautions and go on about the business of rehab The only permanent restriction my OS gave me after bilateral hip replacements was "no bungy cord jumping" - no worries on that score for me since that was never on my bucket list

 

[buzzybee]

@harry47 Well done and congratulations on your new hip! Sounds as though everything went well, nice to
hear your positive experience.
Yes its going to be tricky to remember that 90 degree thing - I seem to cross my legs automatically when I
sit down.
Hope everything continues to go well for you at home.
Cheers.

 

[Cleifeste]

Congratulations on being on the other side! As I was reading about the burning sensation down your thigh after your first walk my mind went to the first time I walked after surgery and I can totally remember that feeling. They had me up & waking within 4 hours of surgery and the rushing of blood in my thigh was the only pain I felt. My doc explained to me that with the anterior approach and the pulling of the muscles apart, you literally have pulled muscles and walking rushes blood to those muscles. I am about 2 and 1/2 weeks post surgery and that feeling has passed for me though it took a while. I hope things go smoothly for you. And congrats again for your new hip!


Cheryl

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[Josephine]

I recently found this comment in a newspaper reported interview with a well known knee surgeon
"There was a time when doctors would instruct patients with joint replacements to take it easy. “We realized that 20% of people didn’t listen to us and we watched them and they were fine,” Yun said."

I've been saying this for years! It's the same with hip restrictions. How many members have said they've been told their restrictions are for life? How many do we seriously think abide by that instruction for more than about 18 months if that? Very, very few, I think. Because if a hip is truly going to be a Forgotten Hip, then the instructions will be forgotten too! It's just common sense!

 

[Liznwiz]

Congratulations @harry47 I had my hip done same time as you, but not allowed out of bed until the next day. Hope you are recovering well.

 

[harry47]

Thanks everyone for the encouraging replies. I think the medical profession probably wants to be conservative about recovery hoping to keep us from doing dumb things. But, this site has been great for finding "real world" experiences. None of us wants a revision but I, like others, cross my legs and ankles unconsciously and can't imagine undoing what's been a habit for decades. Plus, that lifetime restriction thing doesn't even make sense when considering I've been told that I can play tennis again in 6 months.

I hope your recovery goes well also Liznwiz. So far, not much pain for me and I'm sleeping well even on my back. I thought sleeping was going to be a big problem.

The leg is still pretty swollen and numb around the incision area but the ice pack helps a lot. I'm still using a walker but I think I may be able to use a cane soon.

 

[beachgal]

Congrats on your new hip (alias "new lease on life") and you will find with each passing day that you will be more and more grateful to have taken this huge step! I was probably overly-cautious with my restrictions and followed them to the letter -- to a point. Once I got brave enough to experiment, I found that most of the things I always had done, I could still do, crossing legs included. Your body will tell you more about what to do (and what NOT to do) than any list you may be following but take the doc's advice to heart. It's really for your own good, only for a few weeks out of the rest of your life! What a small price to pay to get your life back!

I couldn't shower for two weeks. I had to wear compression hose for a month on my op leg. 90-degree thingy. It wasn't fun but neither was that old hip pain. Once you make friends with your new hip, get a bit of mobility back, get your bathroom habits regulated again, and generally know how to take care of yourself for the next few weeks, you'll realize each day a bit more freedom. Just be careful!

Keep icing your hip, keep your leg elevated as BS mantra, rest a lot, give your body time to heal. It really WANTS to, so listen to what you body tells you. You'll be fine!

 

[harry47]

This may be a question for the experts. I had a spinal block for my surgery last Friday. The only thing I remember after going to sleep was this sensation that something was being hammered in my leg. Was this a figment of my imagination or was this part of the surgical procedure?

 

[torment]

If you were in twilight then I could see you possibly getting a pressure sensation, but you shouldn't have felt any pain. Part of the procedure involves a bit of hammering so it's not unbelievable. At the same time, your mind can play some interesting tricks on you.

I personally don't remember a thing.

 

[Jaycey]

THR is carpentry. I had spinals for both my THRs. During my LTHR I actually woke up to hammering. No pain, just lots of hammering. Before my RTHR I discussed this with the anaesthetist and told him I did not want a repeat performance. I am happy to say I was totally out the second time around!

 

[twinhipster]

Hi harry47, I've had both hips replaced and I had a spinal both on both occasions. The first time I was slightly sedated and I too woke up to hammering and banging although I couldn't feel a thing (thank god!!) the second time I was completely awake (no sedation) and so heard everything from start to finish, even heard them laughing at one point ?!?! It certainly was an experience !! Hope you're recovering well

 

[djklaugh]

Reality - one of the instruments standard for hip replacement is a surgical mallet - hammering the implant into the femur is standard procedure

 

[beachgal]

My OS grew up on a farm. He loved hammers and saws. He told me this at our first meeting and I wished he hadn't. It obviously was his calling! My hip is perfect!


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[harry47]

Tomorrow will be one week since my THR. The pain hasn't been overwhelming but I still need to use the walker and move slowly otherwise I get this stinging pain around the incision and thigh area. The tramadol certainly helps and the pain doesn't keep me awake at night but I was just wondering how long this initial level of pain will persist. I know everyone is different but it would be nice to know when I can graduate to the cane. Any insights?

 

[Realhippy49]

Wow, you are doing great! Be thankful you are sleeping and moving around so well. How much weight are you putting on operated leg? Maybe lessen up a bit.

 

[souldancer]

@harry47 - Hi, I had my right hip replaced April 13 with the direct anterior approach. My
incision is approx 4 3/4 inch long just right of the middle of thigh. I had no restrictions &
went home the following day. However, I had a very tough first week-lots of pain and
trying to get the right amount of pain relief. The second week was less painful but I
didn't want to see anyone or have anyone visit beside my husband. I finally felt I had
turned the corner by the 3rd week.

My home PT was only twice the second week. There was no way I wanted anything
the first week. I actually cut down the prescribed exercises in half as I felt it made my
body hurt more.

I was using the walker through to the 3rd week and now have switched over to a cane.
I'm not able to put full weight on operated right leg maybe approx 60% of weight.
I can go up and down stairs, and this 4th week am working on putting foot over foot
instead of "Up with the non operated leg and Down with the operated leg".

As you mentioned we are all different. I'm sure that it helped somewhat that I am
younger, overall healthy just a bum hip and I tried to prepare physically for this
surgery (swimming and yoga). But I had less pre op pain then post op pain and
the surgery still kicked my butt!

Hope this helped, you will be hearing from other people and the moderators will
give you excellent information as to the healing process and any other questions
you have.

 

[zauberflöte]

Graduate to the cane when you realize you've walked away and left the walker behind!
Your pain sounds familiar to me-- even at two years out, I can replicate it if I rub my scar. It refers around the scar too.
Is tramadol all you are taking? I was lucky and had percocet, which I took a month to wean off during the daytime, and a week or so longer to give up that half pill at bedtime. We really are all different!


My phone sent this using BoneSmart Forum, clever phone!

 

[Jamie]

@harry47 You may notice that I have merged your three threads. We like to keep our members' recovery posts all in a single thread. That way it's easy for us to go back and read your history before responding to a question or concern. In addition, the thread becomes a journal of your recovery for those who come along later and want to read about you. So, please post in this thread from now on when you want to give an update or ask a question. If you decide you'd like a different thread title at any point, you can change it by using the Thread Tools button at the top right of your screen or just post what you want here and we'll get it changed for you.

 

[sharonslp]

Harry, there's no hard and fast timeline for ditching the walker and transitioning to a cane. I was 10 days on the walker with my first hip, and only 7 with the second. Some people take several weeks to a month or even more. It depends on a variety of variables. One of those variables is definitely pain, and heavy pain is quite normal at one week out. But I do wonder if you are being adequately medicated for pain. Were you given a narcotic to use at home for the first couple weeks? Tramadol worked well for me, but I alternated it with vicodin for the first month or so. Then I weaned off the vicodin to just one pill before bed, and used tramadol and tylenol with good results for the next month. Finally I got to just tramadol and tylenol, and by the end of three months...just tylenol. This is just an example of how it can be done. But pain medication needs to be an adequate dosage taken frequently enough and with consistency, so you're not trying to play catch-up. If you wait until the pain is overwhelming, you've waited way too long. That stinging pain says you've waited too long.

Has anyone given you articles to read? I'm attaching them here.

Sharon


First are the BoneSmart guidelines ....
- rest, elevate, ice and take your pain meds by the clock
- if it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physiotherapist - to do it to you
- if your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again
- if you won't die if it's not done, don't do it
- never stand when you can sit, never sit when you can lie down, never stay awake when you can go to sleep!
- be active as much as you need to be but not more than is necessary, meaning so much that you end up being in pain, exhausted or desperate to sit down or lay down!

Pain management and the pain chart
Healing: how long does it take?
Chart representation of THR recovery
Dislocation risk and 90 degree rule
Energy drain for THRs
Pain and swelling control: elevation is the key
Activity progression for THRs
Home physio (PT)
Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?