THR 50 year old male's recovery

[Onestepatatime]

You have come to an amazing supportive community here. As you can see, the group is full of knowledge based on their own experiences. I can totally empathize with you regarding the desire to get this recovery over with. It is very difficult to accept this is a longer recovery than we anticipated. Please do not see your pain as personal setbacks, and you need to listen to your body. Icing is really important. Sometimes less is more. I know for myself, I cannot sit still but I do frequent short walks. Personally I find using one crutch much better than a cane. But I come with my own unique set of complications....For me, noticable improvements were ability to get in and out of bed with more ease, go up and down stairs better, etc. My operation was on my right hip, and driving is really hard. I think it is getting in and out of the car on my operated side.

Your determination is great, just slow down some, ice, and take medication if needed. You got this!

 

[Marvin L]

I’m 3 months out. At 8 weeks it got better, I started PT, and I get sore. Different days, different pains, I still am very sore when I wake up. I walk 3-5 mile a day, do PT 2x a week, once in pool, once on land and go to gym 3x a week. Ride bike for 30 minutes n do light weights. Ate you using a cane? Make sure you are not limping. It does get better, measure your success weekly rather than daily. I was limping for years before surgery, it takes time for body to adjust. Be patient and know you will be good, might take a year so don’t expect it to be over in another month.

 

[Corey W]

@toughstuff I am also an active guy now 9 weeks out. I still have the pain in the thigh and hip cup but I control it with 3 IBuprofin 3x a day (the only thing that works for me) My surgeon told me that muscular guys are the hardest to operate on because the size/strength of the muscles means they need to use more force to get to the hip joint. I have been riding my bike pretty much every day since week 6 and have been getting stronger every ride. That said I do get pain towards the end of the ride in the hip and I know I am pushing it, but I listen to my body and it says GO! I know you can't tell an impatient person to calm down (not in our DNA) so I'll give you the advice of my PT and OS....Be smart and listen to your body. LOL! Keep moving forward brother!

 

[toughstuff]

Can that one day of doing too much effect me for an entire day afterward? Today I’ve been very sore, lethargic, and just not active.
Should I feel better the next day?

 

[Layla]

No, you won't necessarily feel better the next day. It can take days to recover from over activity. Your body is telling you it needs rest. Just go with it. Rest / sleep and ice any areas of discomfort for 40-60 minutes, no less, each time you ice. Target several times daily.

Are you still on meds? If not, consider Extra Strength Tylenol to get you through this period at a dose of 1000mg, every six hours, not to exceed 4000mg in any 24 hour period. Anything else you're taking that contains Acetaminophen must be calculated into that 4000mg, in an effort to stay within that safe range.

Try not to worry, you will begin to feel better with rest, then you'll need to start out slowly, increasing your activity at a lighter pace than before.
Wishing you comfort and speedy relief.
@toughstuff

 

[Calgal]

I’ve read states that soft tissue will heal in 6-8 weeks

6 weeks is often cited - but it's when a pseudo capsule forms around the joint, making it less likely to dislocate. Which is why that's when a lot of the precautions are lifted for most. However, it takes another 6 weeks for the soft tissues around the joint itself to really heal, notwithstanding all the other soft tissue /muscle trauma healing adjacent to the actual device. A lot of timelines get thrown around and often get misrepresented. Honestly 3 months is much more realistic. Sorry to bear bad news but it's better to reset expectations.

 

[swimmer77]

Well, I am only a week out of my surgery but I am going to offer this anyway. Me thinks you need to slow down and listen to your body! Easier said than done I guess, especially if you are highly motivated. But I think I learned this today. I've been pushing myself like I want to set some Guinness World Record. I am feeling it today and need to stay with basics.

Realistically, I'm already enjoying my new hip and since reading this thread I am ditching the Guinness World Record and using two crutches to work on gait and strength for as long as it takes.

Good luck to you - back to basics for you too?

 

[Barbaraj]

Oh, yeah, @toughstuff, just echoing what so many have said--you need to slow down and start exercising that patience muscle big time! I can totally appreciate how hard this must be for you, active before surgery despite hip pain and now it seems like it's going to take forever to get back to your "real" life. But hips definitely have a mind of their own, and if we don't listen and push ourselves too hard, they are going to complain LOUDLY! It is all going to get better but you have to honor and listen to your body. Seems like it's saying "back off, bud" right now. Maybe you should listen.

 

[Mojo333]

Me thinks you need to slow down and listen to your bod

Realistically, I'm already enjoying my new hip and since reading this thread I am ditching the Guinness World Record and using two crutches to work on gait and strength for as long as it takes.

That's the ticket!!!!

 

[Mojo333]

Remember:
When you are icing and elevating and watching telly you are not 'dossing around' you are 'engaging a carefully considered proactively designed heuristically programmed dynamically structured recovery programme'.

Hope things ease up soon, especially your anxiousness about how you are progressing.
Sending good mojo your way!

 

[Harryn1]

@toughstuff I control it with 3 IBuprofin 3x a day (the only thing that works for me) My surgeon told me that muscular guys are the hardest to operate on because the size/strength of the muscles means they need to use more force to get to the hip joint. I have been riding my bike pretty much every day since week 6 and have been getting stronger every ride. That said I do get pain towards the end of the ride in the hip and I know I am pushing it, !

@Corey W Be careful. That is one heck of a lot NSAIDS to be taking on a daily on going basis, they are dangerous. NSAIDS are conta indicated during vigorous exercise.

 

[Hoppy Nanny]

@toughstuff
I’m going to add my pennyworth here!! You seem to be fixed on some arbitrary time limit when your body & muscles will be ‘fixed’.

Like you, on my first THR I pushed & pushed for the first 8 weeks... tried to get rid of crutches... walked like a maniac... suffered a lot of pain ...afterwards.. until I found Bonesmart. My recovery was so slow... I believe now because I pushed too hard in the first few weeks.

My 2nd THR... 5 months ago was so different... I used crutches for a longer time.. walked a little... rested a lot.. followed the Bonesmart mantra...Only used paracetamol for pain & only for 3 weeks...I’ve had the most easiest recovery & my hip is fabulous...

If you give your body time to heal your hip will be amazing..

take care now!!! x


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[Mojo333]

Josephine told me early on in my recovery Tylenol was a better choice.
I am constantly reading confirmations through research that NSAIDS are not a good choice for recovering hip patients.
FYI - an excerpt:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0300060517732697
Postoperative drugs
Painkillers are frequently used by patients with hip osteoarthritis. In our experience, most of these drugs are represented by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). NSAIDs are the least safe of painkillers in terms of osseointegration. NSAIDs impair the osseointegration process of titanium implants by inhibiting cyclooxygenase-2. This results in decreased levels of prostaglandins, which are important in promoting inflammation and supply of bone-formation cells.

 

[Corey W]

I don't know if that's accurate based on such a small clinical trial. Here is the conclusion of that study: However, osseointegration does not appear to be negatively affected by NSAIDs in the human clinical studies, which contrasts with the experimental in vitro and in vivo animal studies. Furthermore, there are no human clinical studies that have investigated the effect of a selective COX-2 NSAID on osseointegration. Therefore, further research with an emphasis in human clinical studies comparing the effect of the COX selectivity of NSAIDs on osseointegration is required.

 

[ceezee]

However, osseointegration does not appear to be negatively affected by NSAIDs in the human clinical studies, which contrasts with the experimental in vitro and in vivo animal studies.

That’s exactly what my OS told me and that they were fine to take after a hip replacement. So, I’m following my doctors advice.

 

[ForumUser]

toughstuff,

I am not tough ... but on my second hip fixed the thing I did wrong on my first 20 yrs ago - I substituted tylenol for narcotics. 4 g/day.

This time I had nearly zero pain - until I overdid it at about a week. Even then I stayed with tylenol without issue. A few days later the pain was gone. I didnt like the way the narcotics made me feel.

Soreness? Sure, but not too bad. Did a few of the easy supine exercises ... and then just continued to walk more. And walk and walk.

 

[SurreyGirl]

@toughstuff

Like you, on my first THR I pushed & pushed for the first 8 weeks... tried to get rid of crutches... walked like a maniac... suffered a lot of pain ...afterwards.. until I found Bonesmart. My recovery was so slow... I believe now because I pushed too hard in the first few weeks.

If you give your body time to heal your hip will be amazing..

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Exactly the same for me! Set myself back weeks by overdoing it...

 

[Mojo333]

The jury is still out certainly about NSAIDS and I'm certainly not a medical professional, so I can only say that my OS was not a fan and I opted to play things as safe as possible my first three months in regard to NSAIDS. I was also astonished at how well Tylenol worked as it never seemed to touch my preop pain.
More importantly to me however are the obvious concerns...increasing activity because you are on pain meds is not a good way to heal, in my opinion.

9 weeks out. I still have the pain in the thigh and hip cup but I control it with 3 IBuprofin 3x a day

That said I do get pain towards the end of the ride in the hip and I know I am pushing it, but I listen to my body and it says GO

I think your hip might be saying "enough already " .
Giving your post op stretched out muscles and tendons, and soft tissue time to heal before requiring then to perform is a much better way to get ahead.
Plenty of time to tone and strengthen later.
Lots of different strategies to digest @toughstuff but Bonesmart has seen many unnecessary cases of post op issues directly related to "too much too soon"
Hope you have a better week.

 

[Corey W]

I feel ya Mojo333 - your advice is solid.

 

[toughstuff]

I’ve felt better lately. Less soreness and pain in the leg. The leg now just feels weak and tires quickly with minor aches. I’m just over 5 weeks. The approach I had as I’ve stated previously, ‘bluntly separates the gluteus Maximus and significantly retracts the gluteus medius. ‘

Should I start to work the glutes harder or just walk, those of you who have recovered.

I’m assuming it’s still reasonable to be uncomfortable in straight chairs; restaurants primarily are uncomfortable. ??

Thanks