Guest viewing is limited

THR Bayfoxnw's Recovery Thread - Back Pain Was Hip Problem

@bayfoxnow I am so sorry you are having so much pain. You sound like a truly caring professional who really cares about her patients.

I had hips replaced about a month apart. I noticed you mentioned you were having sacro/piriformis pain. I am having that now and it set in about 2 or so weeks ago, on the right side, about 2 months after the surgery on the right. Have you found anything that helps it? I also have a long history of SI joint pain, but it had been doing very well up until this present flare up. I was going along doing pretty well, walking with only one cane, etc., and now I have to use the walker again because walking/sitting is very painful. I called my OS office, but they can't get me i to see him until Jan. 21st. I've seen my regular chiropractor who has done some gentle work to try to relieve it.

Do a lot of folks get this after surgery? Does it ever clear up?

Peace and love to you, and thanks for any info or encouragement you can give.

Milli
 
I think many of us can empathize with the emotional ups and downs as well as the physical ones!

wow, 8 hours of sleep - haven't done that in years although it's better now (4 weeks out) than anytime in the past couple of years.
 
Milli,
Yes i do have the sacro/piriformis pain or another word for it (in my case) is BM sciatica. I brought this up to my doctor at the two week followup as it was all I could do to live with that pain. Some people are just lucky I guess. Me being one who had this right after surgery. I use a lot of fiber to keep things going and I do not sit on the toilet until I have to. I also use a bathroom commode at the proper height over my toilet.This is a very painful condition. I will wake up in horrible pain that decreases after a bowel movement and then goes a way. But I have had this since the day of my surgery and it is getting better at this time at 3 weeks out. Although our symptoms may sound the same they probably are not and only your doctor can diagnose what is going on with you. Please keep your appointment and during this time keep a journal of when the pain hurts the worst, what makes it better, and a pain journal to take to your doctor. Also keep a record of your BM's and see if it affects your pain and report that to your doctor also.I am so sorry you are feeling this pain. I am thankful my pain is getting better with ice, fiber, and time to heal. Please keep me posted and I hope you feel better soon.
 
charmed-life said:
I think many of us can empathize with the emotional ups and downs as well as the physical ones!

wow, 8 hours of sleep - haven't done that in years although it's better now (4 weeks out) than anytime in the past couple of years.
Click to expand...
Well I truly hope you get to sleep 8 hours in time. I was shocked I slept through the night. After having a few bad days from over doing it I am amazed at myself. But I will take any sleep the sleepfairy gives me and be happy for it. How are you doing at this point? It seems with my first THR left side that each week I would do a jump in improvement esp at the 4 week time. In fact i cannot wait until next week to see where I am with my right side. thank you for your support.
 
I was wondering does anyone else have muscle spasms? When i go to straighten my leg my thigh and calf muscles seize up. They do not go into a full charley horse, they grip and tighten up so much it is all I can do to straighten my legs and it is all I can do to move my legs. I take methocarbomol to control these spasms but i was sure hoping the surgery would stop these. it is almost a spasticity I am feeling. this prevents me from standing, or getting up like I need to because I have to settle the spasms and this sometimes takes a few minutes to do to relax and move.I will tell you I did not have these spasms until i had my back fusion. i was hoping the hips were the cause but now I am worried they have not eased up. Anyone have this and did it stop with healing.
 
I had spasms like this before surgery when I was lying in bed - very hard to straighten my leg and keep it flat. It started up after surgery too but after a week or so (and some muscle relaxants which maybe helped, not sure), it has stopped. Mine did not affect me standing - in fact bending my knee in bed would take them away... so maybe different.
 
charmed,
They sound the same to me and methocarbomol is a muscle relaxant. I will give it a few more weeks. Yours going a way gives me hope mine will too. I had another 8 hour night. Again it took an increase in pain med to get to sleep. I layed on my surgery side for 15 minutes. Felt good to be able to hug my hubby if even just for a bit. thank you for the info. It is funny how just knowing someone else has the same symptoms relaxes someone else. I love this site! May I ask what approach you had?
Jan
 
My spasms were almost same as charmed-life....I couldn't straighten my right leg onto the bed prior to surgery....I took diazepam for a few days and walked to stretch the muscles which helped...hope yours settle down soon. Chrissie xx


Sent from my iPad using BoneSmart®
 
My arthritis had caused huge bone spurs that took away the rotation in my hips. It was a wonder I kept walking. I am so happy for my surgery and the release of my hips. I will keep waking and exercising and I know the spasms will go a way in time. Thank you for the support!
 
Well today I am going to take two walks spread out a bit from each other and for 15 minutes each.I will not push it as laying in bed for two days recuperating is not moving a head. I am now at 3 and 1/2 weeks and I think I need to step it up a bit. I still have pain in my lower back which is consistent at a pain level of 4-8/10 depending on what I have done or not done. The sciatic nerve is settling down a bit today which I think is because I am actually sleeping for 8 hour two nights in a row.So my pain is localizing into my lower back/groin area and easing at the incision and sciatic areas. I am getting better. I took a leap at 3 and 1/2 weeks with my left THR also. For me it is a milestone time. Have a good day all!
 
MY STORY:
Oh I was going to say my picture is of me and my father in-law Tim who my hubby and I took care of until his death at the age of 90. I was 56 in this picture and a new graduate nurse.I have been a nurse for 5 years. My specialty is wound care, and educating in the home environment. I worked in the field in the homes of my patients. My title was Case manager as that is what I did. I coordinated physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, social worker, bath aide and of course doctor care and orders. I loved my job. I woke up each day ready to go.I went to bed happy I had seen all my patients and they were doing well. I had an open phone line where they could call me at any time. I never had a patient abuse this. I put in between 500 and 700 miles a week. I live out in the country and my patients were my neighbors at times. I was a very busy girl and I put in between 60 and 80 hours a week. Then it started. With getting in and out of my Geo, bending into the car to get supplies and refilling my supplies and carrying my 40# bag (a mini hospital) into and out of the houses I found it harder and harder to do two years ago. I had a lot of walking into and out of gates and uneven farms packing my supplies and it got to the point my patients would have a chair waiting for me to sit in. Now with home health care there is a lot of lifting of legs and bending over wounds and getting on the ground etc etc and the twisting. You have no electric beds or other people to help you. I got to the point that I could not spread my legs and so I could not lift my legs over things any more. The pain got so severe all I could is go home and ice up. I could not sleep and lifting became agony. I would be in bed doing paper work and resting when at home. I could not garden any more which was my one thing I used to clear my head and relax after a busy day.Then it happened. I could not stand the pain anymore and went to my GP who sent me to a neuro/surgeon after an MRI showed I had a lot of arthritis in my back and a very compressed sciatic nerve,I was told all the pain was from my lower back and a fusion would fix it with decompression of the nerve. After the 7 hour fusion and no NSAIDs my pain increased and my rotation totally gone (my surgeon kept saying I had nothing biologically wrong with me during this time and sent me to a pain specialist) my GP a year later had me take an xray of my hips when he could not budge them during my physical without me screaming in pain.There they found the severe bone on bone arthritis in both hips. Now this was after a year of listening to their(there is nothing biologically wrong with you the pain is in your head),( my nuero surgeon never examined my hips) and he was trying to sell a book which said pain is nothing but anger and you can write it down tear the paper up and be pain free. He told me I chose to live the way I do and it was my fault I hurt. this was after I went to him for my last visit a year after surgery. He was ticked my GP found the arthritis in my hips and took it out on me. It was a horrific time in my life. Well my GP felt bad that I was not diagnosed earlier and I appreciated that. Not my neuro surgeon he was angry my GP had diagnosed me of all things.(How dare a GP diagnose me!)
Now here I am with new hips and a new life a head of me. Dr John Jiganti of Gig Harbor, Washington looked at my x rays and stated I had a perfect med school 101 case of arthritic hips and he could see that with just my gait or lack of gait. He did my surgeries and told me I would get better and not to worry. He is a God to me this man/doctor. Now here I am getting better and seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and I cannot wait to get my like back so I can go back to work. So what I say is no matter how bad things are and if you are not getting better please seek a second opinion. Also I went to a well known Seattle spine clinic that is why I did not question the nuero surgeon. I thought he looked at all my bones but he did not. This is my story and I am glad I can move on and heal and know that I am not crazy. Thank God for hip replacements!! That nagging arthritic pain is gone. Yes i still have back issues but not the hips. The surgery gave me life again. The day I had my first surgery and I could spread my left leg I told my doctor if all I got back was rotation in my hip I would be so happy. Now I have rotation in both hips and I am so happy I will be able to walk again. thank you for listening. Talk at you later!!!
 
@bayfoxnw - I had anterio-lateral approach - not the "direct anterior". The first couple of nights at home I slept like the drugged - since I probably was - but after a couple of days the spasms started usually after sleeping awhile in bed. Having recently taken pain meds did not change it - just touching my leg would set it off. Pushing hard on the muscle relaxes it as does bending my knee - but didn't want to sleep that way because then the knee falls out to the side - which before surgery caused horrible pain and I figure does not go along with the restrictions... but now the leg is far better and I can sleep several hours at a time and not wake up with spasms. I was so worried this was not going to get better after surgery and it really affects sleep.... now with minimal pain meds I sleep much better. So there's hope!
 
Thanks for sharing @bayfoxnw. So glad that your nightmare has come to an end. We put our trust in these people and sometimes it is misplaced. Your story ends on a lovely positive note which is so lovely. I thank God that when I had my spinal surgery I had a good surgeon...I hope to hear that your recovery musts get better and better! Chrissie xxx


Sent from my iPad using BoneSmart®
 
I have to report to one and all and I did report it to my hip doctor. I am 5' 6 and 1/2" again. With the 10% front tilt I have had I have not been able to take my ht for 2 years. I am so happy. I tried once and got 5'4" because I could not straighten up. Now my hubby is 5'10" and we can see eye to eye again instead of my bent up body trying to tilt my head to see him. This is so wonderful. I would guess a lot of you may have had my problem. My bone spurs were so big and placed so I could not spread my legs to climb over anything. I leaned forward and my knees were bent when I walked. I walked like this for over a year. This caused my back pain to escalate to very high levels. I told others I looked like groucho markz when he would run around like that, only it was my reality. No joking. I also used two canes for my walk today. I am getting better again. It comes in sprints I think. I am icing my back and hip right now as I say I did not push it but my hip and back said I did. I have to increase my walking time. I will see how i do at bedtime as this is the time the last few days I have been in the most pain. But with pain medication and a sleeper I have slept 8 hours which I am also so very happy with. I am taking a lot less pain medication in the day and more at bedtime. But I am sleeping 8 hours. By more pain medication I am taking 1/2 to 1 5mg pill every 4 hours during the day and 10mg at bedtime and then go 8 hours and then 1 -5mg pill to get moving in the am. I really think my own endorphins are coming to life again and I hope I will not need any after a week or two. I cannot take NSAID's as I had a GI bleed last Oct and my stomach took a bad hit and that was with only with 1 aspirin or ibuprofen. I lived on these before my back fusion and then could not take them until my backed fused which took a year to do.The NSAID's caused a bleed within 10 days of starting up again. I know they must have other medications I will be able to take to keep my arthritis in control. I have it in my back, hips, hands and feet. Thank god my knees are free from it. So here I am with a very good day and had to share. I can actually stand tall. To me that is a miracle!!!
 
@bayfoxnw, thank you so much for reaching out to me and for your encouragement. Wow, now that I've read your story, I appreciate you even more! I love your positive, caring, giving spirit. You've been through so much! You appreciate each step of progress. I especially treasure your note about being able to look at your hubby, eye to eye :). Wishing you continued good nights sleep, beautiful and fragrant days in your garden, and God's continued hand on your recovery. Xo
 
Hello @bayfoxnw Reading your saga I couldn't help thinking "how do doctors get so fixed on a diagnosis that they can't even consider they might be wrong?" All in the mind - well, words fail me (and that does not happen often!) and as for it being due to anger..... :gaah:I'd be angry, bone-on-bone pain and being told there was nothing wrong!!!
Like you, I had a GI bleed so can't take NSAIDs but am able to cope with paracetamol (tylenol in the USA) and occasional tramadol for knee and shoulder arthritis pain. Pre THR, for the last 9 months it was maximum of both daily plus liquid morphine to just get through a day of very limited activity. Indeed, I had not realised how limited until after I started to recover. I had retired from teaching science by then but the housework and our social life suffered - I'm only picking things up again now. How my lovely husband put up with me is a wonder, he is a treasure:angel:.
Take it easy - remember this a marathon, not a sprint. That's one thing I picked up on this wonderful forum.
Best wishes from a very wet England
Anne
 
@bayfoxnw , I have major back issues and they flared up big time just post THR. Took months to settle and yes I remember the spasms :yikes:! All this will settle. It just takes time. Keep moving and don't get discouraged. This too shall pass!
 
Thank you Jaycey. It really helps when I hear about others who are going through this. I can relax and let myslef heal without worrying so much. Thank you Lots!
 
Well I had two nights of 8 hours sleep but back to 5 last night. I am still happy I am at 5 hours though. I had to stop using the cane last night right after my walk as I started hurting 7/10 in my hip and my right shoulder started acting up again. I did get through the walk ok though. I have to admit I helped with dinner and making home made granola and fixing my pups foot as he cut it out on his run and I think I was pushing it after I told myself and you I would not push it. Hubby cannot stand wound care but he did get Zuke onto the bed on a cover and comforted him while I washed and wrapped his foot. It was not a big cut but more of a chunk out of his pad poor thing. I just cannot use my back yet and have to sit and stop every 2 minutes to get through it. I get so mad at myself when I have a set back day due to doing to much the day before. At least I did not end up in bed like last time. That in itself is an improvement on rebounding a bit faster. My cousin is coming over to visit tomorrow and I am so happy to see her. She has been so good to me through all my surgeries.When i was in Seattle she was there everyday walking me after my back fusion and using her energy to help heal me. She lives 70 miles from me and has been so good to me through both my hip surgeries also. We are 364 days a part and both the only dark haired girls of our generation. How funny huh? She is going to give me a ride on eh back of her Harley when my hips are ready to go. It is one of the things I want to do when I can. I will say it again Thank God for hip replacements!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Corganics CBD
Active Antimicrobial Hydrogel

Staff online

Members online

Total: 1,061 (members: 2, guests: 1,059)

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom