Sleeping positions

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GabrielsMom, sounds like you just overdid it. (BTW, I went back to work at 4 weeks and it was too soon, no matter what the testimonials say about the anterior approach. I was exhausted for 2 weeks and am just generally tired now.) We all have muscles that were overused or underused because of the arthritis and its limitations; maybe you have tight hamstrings? Which would explain why you would have butt pain after overdoing it. I don't know if your surgeon mentioned this, but at my 2-week visit, my surgeon told me that as I became more active I could expect to experience more pain. And that has been true--I spent most of yesterday baking and cooking (i.e., standing on a tile floor), and I had to go to bed last night with an ice pack on my thigh. Today my thigh is pretty swollen--and most of the swelling had gone down--so I know that's my signal to take it easy. Rest, ice, take your pain meds, and I hope you feel better tomorrow.
 
Thanks, BarbaraR. That makes me feel better. No, my doc did not say anything about increasing pain once I become more active but that makes sense. Prior to my surgery I read so much about the anterior approach and how it is so much less painful than posterior and I've had this idea that I should be in less pain than I am right now. Rude awakening there! I am icing and elevating and already feel a bit better. Thanks again!
 
Well, it really is easier not to have restrictions I think, but all those stories about people walking 3 miles at 2 weeks and taking spin classes at 4 really set up unrealistic expectations. It is major surgery, and recovery takes time and patience.
 
Hi sorry to hear your news....you have probably overdone it...rest up ice pain meds....wiser voices may say something different
 
Hello all. I am writing again because I really need advice. I am 4 weeks post-op today and I continue to have this sharp pain in my right buttock when I walk. The pain is most intense there and then sometimes even shoots down the back and side of my leg all the way to my ankle. I called the doctor's office a week ago and they prescribed a muscle relaxant but it doesn't really help. The pain meds don't really help either. I mostly feel the pain when I am walking (with a crutch). It does not bother me much while sitting, although after sitting for a while the pain seems worse when I stand up. Two weeks post op I could walk short distances (down the hallway in my house) without any assistive device and now at four weeks I can't walk two steps without a crutch or cane! I am so discouraged! It seems kind of like piriformis syndrome but I'm not sure about that. Has anyone else had this? Any advice? I feel like I should go back and see the doctor...
 
Hi GM. I'm going to tag Josephine for you. But she'll want to know what you're taking for pain; also how much and how often.

Sharon
 
I got started with this group not long after my RTHR in March 2013 but endless complications afterward and depression kept me away from the group. Now I am 10+ months post-surgery and need some advice.

So one big complication I had was a crack in my greater trochanter (basically, the top of the femur), which my surgeon said most likely happened during surgery. This was discovered in mid-April 2013. That has taken a long time to recover from but I am mostly back to normal now.

However, I continue to be plagued by muscle and nerve pain in my right buttock and going down the outside of my right leg to just below the knee. The pain is mostly a dull ache but if I move in a certain way a sharp pain will shoot across my buttock and down my leg. When it's really bad the pain can radiate into the right side of my low back.

My surgeon says it is a “sciatica-like” condition although I have had an MRI and there is nothing wrong with my lumbar spine. He said that during surgery the sciatic nerve can get very irritated and it can take a long time to resolve, but that it will resolve “eventually.”

I have tried many things to try to make this pain go away – deep tissue massage, chiropractic, three months of physical therapy, acupuncture, heat, ice, muscle relaxants, stretching. The list goes on. Nothing helps for more than a day or two. Some days are okay; other days the pain makes it difficult to move around – especially after sitting or standing for too long. The pain almost always gets worse at night. The doctor said I can try a 5-day course of an oral steroid – prednisone – and that can calm the nerve down but I am very hesitant to try something else. I am just so tired of taking meds and tired of people poking and prodding at me. It has been over 10 months and I just want to feel 100% now!

Have any of you had a similar problem after your hip replacement? If so, can you offer any advice?
 
You have had some really bad luck. I think I would give the prednisone a try, since it's just for 5 days---maybe it will quiet the nerve down and give you some relief. Did you ask your doctor if it could be Piriformis syndrome?
I'm tagging @Josephine since no one else has chimed in with similar problems.
I hope things get better for you soon.
 
Hi there...sorry you are still in a lot of pain...that's not what you need at all.....it's strange you mention this pain today as I've just come back from an 80 th party and a friend just had THR 2 months ago and has had pain similar to you have mentioned. She went to see the surgeon who told her that during the op the sciatic nerve was stretched...hence the pain through the buttock to the knee.....he has given her muscle relaxants and said there is an op he can do to repair it but would rather wait for 6 months as it does repair itself, given time.....hope this helps in some small way honey. Take care. Chrissie xxx


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Thanks for your response, Sissy. Before the MRI, my doctor was focused on my lumbar spine being the source of the sciatica and piriformis syndrome wasn't mentioned. After the MRI results showed nothing wrong with my spine, I took his comment about the sciatic nerve being generally irritated during surgery to be another way of describing piriformis syndrome (which the prednisone would presumably help) but maybe that's a wrong assumption.
 
Thanks, Chrissie. That does help. I have tried muscle relaxants too and they DO help but I only take them when the pain is at its worst. Massage is the other thing that consistently helps. My doctor said the same thing - the pain will eventually resolve itself.
 
Trouble is you want it gone NOW....of course you do after all you've been through....hope it resolves for you soon. Chrissie x


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I hope all your pain goes away. Are you walking well ?
 
The pain is mostly a dull ache but if I move in a certain way a sharp pain will shoot across my buttock and down my leg. When it's really bad the pain can radiate into the right side of my low back. My surgeon says it is a “sciatica-like” condition
There you have perfectly described Piriformis syndrome in every aspect. It is appropriately described as 'sciatica' (which just means pain arising from the sciatic nerve) as it's the sciatic nerve that is being compressed between the piriformis in spasm and the bone of the pelvis - see in the article. This causes the pains shooting down the leg which is typical sciatica. But it's nothing to do with the spine at all.

I had this for several months and found life very tiresome and difficult. Couldn't shower, toilet or dress properly. No shopping, housework, laundry - it was horrible. I took plenty of Tramadol and paracetamol and used large ice packs all the time. I would toss them onto the settee and just flop onto them - to say 'sit down' would imbue the action with a grace which was totally absent! I used walking sticks and crutches to get about. Fortunately, I also developed trochanteric bursitis in the same hip for which my GP gave me a cortisone injection and it cured the piriformis as well! Luck was truly on my side that day! I hope you are as lucky. In the mean time, give the stretches a try.
 
@GabrielsMom I am in the exact same boat you are in, and I, too, am searching for answers. My situation sounds exactly like yours and is very painful. I've read on this forum and online about the piriformis stretches, but my OS told me not to try them because my hip surgeries are fairly recent and most of the movements require drawing knee up to chest or putting the foot on the other knee, which he says stress the new hip. I have gotten some help from my chiropractor, but the pain is still there. It is just so frustrating to be still having this and I wonder if I will ever be "normal" again! I have an appointment with a back ortho in February and I guess I'll ask him about those injections Josephine mentioned. Like you, I am just so tired of this, and mine hasn't been going on nearly as long as yours has. It started up about 4 weeks after my second surgery, and is on the second surgery side.

Peace and love to you.
 
Welcome. I found that lying on the non op side with a pillow between my legs was comfy. Hate lying on my back, my heels were sore that way, don't know why. lol.
Aud

I'm glad I'm not the only one!!!! I'm 3 weeks post op & was told I can lie on my back or operated side only for 6 weeks - however it was driving me crazy & I wasn't sleeping so for the last week or so I've been lying on my 'good' side, with pillows wedged between my legs so I can't cross over.
 
I just had my two week post-op appointment and my Dr told me I had no restrictions about sleeping positions. I had the anterior-minimally invasive on my left hip. They removed the sutures, and said the stiches, remaining dressing etc, would come off gradually. I am mostly sleeping on my back with some on the non-operated side and pillow between my legs.


I had THR about one week ago and just found this great resource today. I have a specific question I hope someone can help with. I had sessions with physical and occupational therapists in the hospital but realized after I got home that, although they gave me lots of great info about many areas of life, they did not talk with me about sleeping positions. I have been sleeping on my back every night as that seems to be the safest thing to do. It is not the most comfortable, however, and I'm getting rather tired of it. Does anyone know if it is okay to sleep on my side? If so, which side? I had the anterior approach, so my incision is on the front of my thigh. Any advice is appreciated. I plan on calling my doctor's office to see if they can help, but also wanted to hear from people who have been there. Thanks for your help.
 
I think you have just overdone it - I had my birthday (my big 5-0!) a few days ago and I was standing, walking and pushing it more than I had post-op. The next day I had a headache? and knee pain I neverhad before. But a few days later it was gone. I also had the anterior approach. You probably are experiencing muscle pain, soreness from using muscles, tendons you hadn't before. I'm taking it very easy and realizing my body is in recovery mode and needs rest.

First let me say that I love this site! I have relied quite a bit on the great advice you all have given on various topics. I am three weeks post op today. I had my 2 week appt with my surgeon last week and he said I'm doing great. My pain had decreased quite a bit and all seemed wonderful. HOWEVER, the last 2-3 days I have had a mystifying increase in pain and I need to know if any of you experienced this. The pain is not coming from my incision (which is on the front of my thigh), it is coming from the back (from my butt, for lack of a better term) and is radiating a bit down to my knee. Granted, I had a busy weekend with Easter and some other commitments that required me to be more active than I had been previously (including a 3 hour round trip car ride). Have I just overdone it? Has anyone experienced an increase in pain after 3 weeks? I had the anterior approach, which is supposed to be less painful in general, and I know some people who have gone back to work at 3 weeks but I am not ready to do that. Can anyone relate? Any advice?
 
I found that if I put a pillow under my knees when trying to sleep on my back that it stopped the heel pain, then I put a blanket at the bottom of the bed under the operated leg and that helped to stop any swelling in the lower leg. I can lie on my good side happily now almost as long as I like but I continue to keep the pillow between my knees; I don't think I need it so much to stop over reaching but just for the comfort and reassurance.
 
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