THR Groin & Thigh Pain 5 Months After<

So sorry @remo7 :sad: You are still early in the healing game,, I hope you find some answers soon.
 
Squats (holding on to chair) , lifting leg (as in marching ) just simple ones - doing five laps around house - 3 times a day.


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She thinks it's a combination of inflamed muscles and a build up of scar tissue.
This 'build up of scar tissue' is a common fallacy put about by PTs who ought to know better! It's actually a very UNcommon phenomenon and what is most often the problem is simple inflammatory issues.
Squats (holding on to chair) , lifting leg (as in marching ) just simple ones - doing five laps around house - 3 times a day.
I couldn't disagree more strongly. In my experience, squats and marching have been responsible for far more pain issues than almost anything else. Read this BoneSmart philosophy for sensible post op therapy
 
Even after 7 weeks squats and marching are not good?
They are never good for anything! I've seen more cases of inflammatory response from exercises like those than enough. They always do more harm than good - always.
And what can I do for the inflammation?
Ice, elevate, rest and do normal everyday activity. It will settle in time so you don't have to 'do' anything. Recovery is not something we have to 'do', it's something we have to endure!

BTW, did you read the article I left for you? Those questions give me the impression you didn't. Please tell me I'm wrong!
 
Ice, elevate, rest and do normal everyday activity. It will settle in time so you don't have to 'do' anything. Recovery is not something we have to 'do', it's something we have to endure!

I love this statement. I think it should be prominently pinned at the top of every page on the Hip Replacement Forum. Now that the restrictions have been ended after my gluteus tendon repair surgery, and I try to get strength back into muscles that haven't been used for 17 months and learn to walk without aids after all that time using them, I must continue to be patient and allow my body time to recover. I have aches and pains, but I trust that all the soft tissue connections are sound, and that I will walk again, if I don't foolishly try to hurry the process.

@baclectic, my orthopedic surgeons don't allow squats or lunges until 13 weeks post-op, and then only if you aren't having any pain or weakness.
 
Yes. I've read the article. I don't believe I've been over-doing it. I've been doing a lot of icing and elevating. I lie in bed mostly and only sit for meals. I walk everyday while doing daily activities that I must do, but I thought after 7 weeks it's abnormal to be in so much pain. also my thigh looks slightly swollen, pinkish, and warm to the touch. My surgeon said he usually doesn't encounter someone suffering like this 7 weeks after surgery so he referred me to the Physical Therapist. She did deep tissue massage and said I should mainly walk for about 7-10 minutes 3 times a day plus gentle squats and leg lifts.

I'm just trying to let my body heal, have avidly read your mantra and have been practicing it.

I know being 71 my body takes longer to heal but I get scared when I'm in a lot of pain, and get worried that I'll never get well.


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I do need to emphasize that I don't know how I would have gotten through this recovery without you and this forum. Your emphasis on icing and elevating prompted me to buy two additional gel packs and I am constantly alternating them, especially throughout the night. Luckily I had previously purchased a bed whose foot and head board raise and lower and are controlled with a remote.

I hope I'm just being impatient, but it's scary when your surgeon scratches his head and says I should be better by now. Also the PT says she's never had a patient with my issues.

But I have faith in you, Josephine, and will not allow anything inappropriate done to my body. Again, thank you for reiterating the same thing again. I am listening and what you say makes sense. The hip itself is very strong and my incision has healed well. There's no pain around my incision. It feels like the muscles have been traumatized. Hope you're well. Barbara


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Read this Medications: acetaminophen (Tylenol, paracetamol) and NSAIDs, differences and dangers. You'd be much better off using Tylenol at 1,000mg 3-4 times a day.
@Josephine, this article touts the supposedly salutary effects of proton-pump inhibitors to offset possible damage done by NSAIDs. PPIs are falling into disfavor, at least in the U.S., and rightfully so, as they have been linked to C. difficile colitis as well as osteoporosis. (Though there is some recent controversy re: the latter.) Because they're now available OTC and are promoted massively via media ads, people are staying on these meds indefinitely. However, they've never been approved by FDA for other than short-term use.
 
You bet there is controversy! The studies that say this are so faulted it's not true! I have never read any article that referred to it being linked to C. difficile or osteoporosis.

And I don't know why you cite "people staying on these meds indefinitely" as being a problem. I've been on them for about 35 years but I know they are still effective as I soon know about it if I miss a dose!

However, your worry-wort post does not take into account the fact that NSAIDs are very dangerous. Gastro-enterologists around the world are reporting ever increasing cases of sudden and life-threatening gastric bleeds which require emergency surgery. In almost all these cases, investigations have shown that the patients were taking NSAIDs and some only had a few doses. I would also point out that NSAIDs are freely available over the counter which makes them even more dangerous.
 
I agree with @Josephine that NSAIDs can be dangerous. It's not for me to say whether PPIs may or may not be beneficial in specific situations. Obviously, this risk is just one among other factors that patients and their physicians would want to consider in relation to PPI use.
 
SAME PAIN BUT I FIGURED IT OUT: I had a similar experience but I have finally figured out what I was doing wrong, and for me it was a mechanical thing!

I have not been on this site in a year, but wanted to see if anyone else had the same issues that I did with my THR, right hip, anterior (2015). I first had groin pain and I could not drive without burning sciatic pain after 45 minutes of driving (about first 6 months, this is pretty normal). This finally dissipated after about 9 months.

Then the groin pain moved to the front of my leg (quad area). I would stand up and then limp for the first 3-4 steps and then my leg/hip would be sort of OK to walk on without that intense pain, but it still was painful. When I lay down, I had intense pain and as I was getting up off the bed, it would soar to a 10 pretty quickly., quite searing.

I sleep with a pillow between my legs and always on my left side (THR was on right). I was so exasperated because after I felt the intense pain, when I walked around there was still residual pain, much more than soreness, but not intense as the pain when I stood up from a chair or when I got out of bed. I would often favor my right leg a bit when walking too, and my hip would not feel "settled in".

I finally decided to go back to the basics and if that didn't do anything, I was going back to the surgeon. (BTW, all my checkups showed the hip was beautiful, aligned and healed, etc. perfectly !!) I started paying attention to how I got up out of bed and out of a chair AND I WAS DOING IT ALL WRONG (AT LEAST FOR ME). I was getting out of bed by swinging my fully extended right leg onto the floor, then sit up and then swing my left leg on to the floor, with my body kind of sidewise-ish to the bed. When my right leg was fully extended I would feel like my muscles were pulling my hip down and out, such crazy intense pain! When I got up out of a chair, my legs were not straight together, as in my knees and thighs were not completely parallel with each other, so they would be spread apart and at an angle.

I decided to change this by following immediate post-op advice: I scootched up with my elbows to sit up in bed, until I was in a full sitting up position on the bed with my legs extended in front of me; then I put my right leg on the floor, completely at a 90 degree angle to the bed then put my left leg next to it. When they are STRAIGHT and EVEN, I stand up without leaning far forward, in other words, I engage my core and push off a bit with my arms with a straight-ish back. NO PAIN WHATSOEVER!

Same with a chair: knees and thighs parallel, keep my back as straight as I can and do not lean far forward, and VOILA, absolutely no pain. Apparently the mechanics of leaning forward and having my legs at angles would stress my hip, I would feel this searing pain, limp for a few steps and then kind of shake it off but still with residual pain.

Now I HAVE NO PAIN WHATSOEVER WHEN I GET UP, and feel pretty stupid I didn't pay attention to this before, but am thrilled to have found this out. I don't know if this will help you but it is worth a try. And I too got regular massages, I go to the gym when I can, try to be active (nothing really helped) but the pain got so debilitating mentally and physically that I was going out of my mind. Now I understand when people with THR say they are pain free, I am virtually 80% and getting better every day. It is a miracle, plain and simple. GOOD LUCK!
 
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Thanks for your help. I'll give those suggestions a try. I'm willing to try anything at this point. It seems to be getting worse! Thanks again!
 
Posture can make a HUGE difference to what we experience. The human body loves alignment and balance. You found that out the hard way! Well done!
 
Re: NSAIDS --I'm here to say that just months prior to my surgery I found out I have an ulcer in my small bowel from NSAID use long term. Like I've told people, I had a good, long run with them, so can't complain. I may try turmeric to see if this helps. I've also read about harmful effects of Prilosec and am weaning off. See : http://www.health.harvard.edu/digestive-health/do-ppis-have-long-term-side-effects. The Prilosec was given for NSAID use anyway. :fingersx:
 

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