THR 4 weeks into recovery. Questions.

[EL11]

Sue, I had my LTHR on July 30th too. I have considerable numbness. I am practicing walking for short spurts with or without single cane around the house. Am having the other hip done in just under 3 weeks and that side is somewhat burn-y and arthritic-feeling, so walking up stairs normally is not an option. I second the elevation/ice advice. I felt as if I had backslid a couple of days ago, waking up in the wee hours, and elevating my legs helped a lot (got a memory foam wedge online).

The physical therapist who urged me to do this last year, told me that PT was not necessary, but I like it and doing it since the hospital sends someone over. The current therapist told me, "Every healing is different." This is because I was speculating that maybe hip #2 would be easier. Important to remember. Good healing to you!

 

[SueK]

Sorry... another question. Groin muscle pain. When I google it, all I get are alarming results. I assume that this muscle gets jostled around during surgery as well, but I'll just ask. Is it normal or is this something I should be concerned about?

 

[wonkyhipoy]

Hi @SueK ,

I literally just posted the same same question. I am not surprised by the pain (actually surprised I didn’t feel this pain from day 1 post op), be google can freak the heck out of even the strongest on mindsets. So, I will second the question here... when is groin pain bad, versus just part of the healing process?

Cheers

 

[SurreyGirl]

I would like the answer to this too! It came on after my first 1/2 mile walk and has been intermittent ever sincez I am not going to google it but hope someone can weigh in here!

 

[Mojo333]

Very common pain after THR and can ache as you do more walking and really hurt when overdoing it.
Check out this link I also left on Wonkeyhipboy thread
https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/groin-pain-good-hip.10308/

I didn't have to go to great measures to resolve ...just alot of icing and backing off of activities that aggravated it until my hip had more healing time.

 

[luvsibes]

Welcome @SueK - I am almost 11 weeks post-op and have had a great recovery feeling so much better than before. I have had groin pain on both op and other leg off and on. I currently am having a minor bit of pain in the "good" hip. My PT says I'm rebuilding new muscle and muscle memory in that hip as well. I spent 4 years limping and putting a lot of stress on the non-op hip so it's in recovery too! It's challenging to learn to pace yourself but when it hurts, don't do it and rest it. That's been the biggest lesson for me! Less is best not more! Your journey is just beginning and Bsmart can provide support and less stress than Dr. Google!

 

[SueK]

Thank you!

 

[SueK]

Bsmart can provide support and less stress than Dr. Google!

Wow do I agree with this. Dr. Google has been frustration after frustration. My search results basically would only talk about the alarming things. Finding good answers on THR recovery is difficult! Thank you

 

[Layla]

There is an awful lot of inaccurate self diagnosing going on through internet searches.
Best to touch base with your OS, or a member of his care team when issues are involved.
Searching around online can produce a lot of unnecessary anxiety.
Hope you're having a good week, Sue.
A great holiday weekend to you!
@SueK

 

[wonkyhipoy]

LOL... I laugh very hard at this... its just so true. Before I went to see my OS, I did a ton of DR. Googling about THRs (I already knew I needed one at that point). When I went to see the OS, I was set on hip resurfacing because of my age and the fact that the implants only last about 15 years. The OS chuckled and said "you are very well informed... unfortunately you are informed with information that is 10 years out of date". He indicated that while they have no long term data on the new prosthetics (I have ceramic head on HCPE liner), they are now expecting a 90%-95% implant survival rate at 25 years or longer. He said Google is great, and the information is often accurate for the time it was published... but so often it is out of date. He encouraged me to look a NCBI/NHI research if I really wanted to know the state of things... but even that information may be a few years out of date.

Cheers.

 

[SueK]

Oh my gosh! I do this all the dang time. I like to research if for no other reason than that it gives me better ideas of what questions to ask! lol My primary kind of laughs about it, but we get along well and he doesn't mind. It's a thing most doctors have to deal with anymore.

BTW, I have titanium implants with a ceramic head. I am pleased, but think I won't be googling for info anymore. I'll ask my primary or the surgeon instead. The groin pain thing is diminished by a lot simply with resting my leg in the middle of the day. Overdoing things is easy to do. Plus I'm discovering that I can do things simply by accident (went up a single stair with the "wrong" leg first a little while ago and didn't even notice until afterwards. lol Recovery is weird)

Edited to add that I had seen, and had concerns with, the 15 year time frame. I'm 61, so that was a concern! Glad to hear it's up to 25 years+. Interestingly, I get more and better information from my primary doctor than I do from my surgeon. Just saying

 

[Mojo333]

Happy one month hipversary, @SueK
Really early days...
Going to get better and better.

 

[Lski]

Hi! As Layla says don't worry about how long you are walking. Just keep moving as much as the hip allows. I only walk 30 min. stretches when I'm grocery shopping 1 x a week. Otherwise it's short 5-10 min. around the house or into a smaller store like a pharmacy. I measure my progress by increased range of motion of being able to do something I couldn't do the previous day. Patients & time will lead to a successful recovery. Hang in there.

 

[Layla]

Happy One Month Anniversary!
Being 61, myself, I also worried early on about revision in my lifetime.
Finally realized it's a waste of time to worry about something that may never happen.
If it happens, I'll have to deal with it. Right now I'm just enjoying it!
Wishing you a great weekend!
@SueK

 

[SueK]

It's funny. A few days ago I was sooooo worried about top of thigh/groin area pain. That went away (rest, rest, rest + gentle walking) Now it's outer glutes. LOL I am figuring out that the discomforts shift around. One area gets resolved and another ramps up a bit. I now just figure that it's a matter of muscles healing and taking on a bit more work that produces a lot of this pain, so I am a LOT less concerned about it. It's how muscle tone gets built even when not in recovery from surgery. I greatly appreciate all the support in here. I don't feel like I'm going nuts or creating imaginary bugaboos. Pain and discomfort are real following surgery and will, barring true injury or problem, resolve if I just keep on keeping on

 

[Jaycey]

Any new activity may bring on aches and pains. Post both my THRs lifting or pushing anything heavy resulted in my hip complaining. Just ease off and try again another day.

 

[Mojo333]

Oh yeah, the traveling pain.
Will certainly happen as you get more mobile...
You are doing very well...and will resolve with patience!
Have a great day!

 

[SueK]

Yep. Traveling pain certainly describes it. And it isn't the same as the pain just after surgery. This is more low-level and it is more like post-workout pain. More than discomfort, but getting the muscles up and running again is going to have some comfort issues. I've paid for it when I've tried too much and backing off that is certainly the ticket. But just walking around and being more active is bound to bring on a few muscles achey-pains. Just part of the process, I think. I think this is pretty normal. Thanks

 

[Mojo333]

It is very normal. Hope today is a good day...

 

[SueK]

Hi again. I am now 6 weeks out from surgery and am having 2 issues I don't quite know what to do about. They seem to be minor and will most likely resolve along with everything else, but I wanted to check and see if anyone had any ideas on what I could do to take care of them.

I say it's 2 issues. It is, but it seems to be the same root problem.

I cannot push off my left leg (the one with the new hip) to go upstairs "normally" or to stand up from sitting. (Actually, I can do this, but not without some real pain involved and a lot of tightening up later)

The 2nd issue is getting in and out of the car. Lifting my left leg over the frame to get my foot inside is doable, but VERY uncomfortable. Any pushing off or lifting on that leg is VERY uncomfortable and those are they only activities I have trouble with.

I hesitate to call it pain, because it's pretty low-level and resolves right away when I stop pushing or lifting. The discomfort is in the upper thigh, right at the very top and right smack-dab center, near my incision, but not right there.

The muscle seems VERY tight and so it also means that I usually have a slight limp simply because I can't quite stretch the muscle far enough, so I step a little bit "short." I also seem to have a bit of weakness in the knee which makes me a bit nervous coming down the stairs "normally" but I can do this with no pain since I'm not pushing with the leg.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance!