Bilateral THR 4 mos. Post bilateral hip sugery

[Cg21]

I'm still having a lot of discomfort when walking or standing from sitting. This may be normal but progress seems slow. My surgeon told me I'd be pretty good at 6 weeks! I'm still doing PT 2X week. I would like to hear how others with bilateral hr are doing.

 

[CricketHip]

@Cg21
So glad you found us hippies on Bonesmart! I hope you don't mind some questions?
What was the date of your bilateral THR's? This is very helpful when we want to offer advice. If you notice here at the bottom of my post that there is a signature that shows my surgery dates and details.
I am also interested in your physical therapy sessions.. did you begin with thsoe early on in your recovery? Sometimes, if the muscles and soft tissues are inflamed and so acutely sore, it's better not to push the exercises..

For now, I'd love to leave you some of our hip recovery guidelines and I think they will help you in this process. Some of us take longer to recover, we are all individuals with different bodies and issues and sometimes it takes a lot of patience.

So here you go.. there's some great and sage advice enclosed.. so glad you've joined us!



Hip Recovery: The Guidelines
1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now, they are almost certainly temporary
2. Control discomfort:

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rest​

elevate​

ice​

take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)​

3. Do what you want to do BUT

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a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you​

b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.​

4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these

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BoneSmart philosophy for sensible post op therapy​

5. At week 4 and after you should follow this

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Activity progression for THRs​

6. Access these pages on the website

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Oral And Intravenous Pain Medications​

Wound Care In Hospital​

Pain management and the pain chart

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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​

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?​

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BIG TIP: Hips actually don't need any exercise to get better. They do a pretty good job of it all on their own if given half a chance. Trouble is, people don't give them a chance and end up with all sorts of aches and pains and sore spots. All they need is the best therapy which is walking and even then not to excess.
We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery.
While members may create as many threads as they like in a majority of BoneSmart's forums, we ask that each member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.

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[CricketHip]

We have some other Bilateral Hippies on the forum.. one is our wonderful Senior Forum Advisor @Mojo333 and she chronicles her recovery quite well, it might be very helpful to you.. I also taggeed her when I placed the "at symbol' before her avatar name.. like this @Mojo333

Bilateral THR - Grateful Double Hippy

Well, no coffee. Thorough shower on the agenda along with reassuring myself and my better half that it's gonna be ok. See you on the other side

bonesmart.org

 

[Mojo333]

and welcome to the forum!
A very grateful double hippy here but it was a bit of a journey to get to the point where I thought "Hey, this actually worked!"

When do you have your surgery?
There are stages of recovery and the six week mark definitely isn't the All Done mark.
Be glad to answer any questions you have and I hope you don't think more PT is best.
Oft times it's the opposite.
Look forward to hearing your story.

 

[Cg21]

Thanks for responding. My surgery was July 24th of this year. I started PT at home probably 5 days after surgery, for a month and then went outpatient beginning in Sept. It does not seem like continuous progress. It's more like better days and bad days. I also go to the gym. Is it unusual that I have daily discomfort?

 

[Cg21]

P.S. I just turned 65 yes. old.

 

[Mojo333]

It's really hard to say exactly how things should go...at four months out I still had soreness, tightness and discomfort...and I went back to a very active job too quickly...however I was not going to the gym.
Also still infinitely better than that bone crunching miserable OS pain!
Dont know how much you are doing and how it is affecting you.
I was still going home and resting, and often still icing and elevating to recoup.
Lots of improvement to come and often less can mean more if something becomes aggravated.
Our bodies are definitely in charge and we sometimes have a hard time listening to it...
The stiffness upon sitting doesn't just pertain to sauces
Very normal. Or was for me...

 

[Mojo333]

P.S. I just turned 65 yes. old

P.S. Happy belated birthday!!

 

[Mojo333]

P.P.S.
Lots of ebb and flow the first year, but now...I feel great and my hips are Happy!