Been on the other side 15 days! Need encouragement!!

[summertime]

@younghippie I am sorry you are having a hard time with steps also. You are two months out from your surgery hopefully it will get better soon. I seem to continually get better each day. I however had surgery six month ago and am still feeling minimal pain and mostly a tight pulling feeling when I take the stairs and sometimes when just walking. I remember when I was doing the step at PT it was a slow process, but my non surgical hip suffered more than my surgical hip so, my doctor had me quit doing it. I don't know if my lack of PT is causing this issue. Keep up the PT sure wish I was able to do it too. Take care.

 

[alexthecat]

So, your OS corrected preexisting coxa vara and he is saying that is the source of your pain and inability to climb steps now? I haven't heard that before, but @Josephine may have. I tagged her, so she can comment on that.

 

[Jamie]

You may notice that I have merged your two threads. We like to keep our members' recovery posts all in a single thread. That way it's easy for us to go back and read your history before responding to a question or concern. In addition, the thread becomes a journal of your recovery for those who come along later and want to read about you. So, please post in this thread from now on when you want to give an update or ask a question. If you decide you'd like a different thread title at any point, you can change it by using the Thread Tools button at the top right of your screen or just post what you want here and we'll get it changed for you.

 

[Josephine]

I believe he was talking about the angle at which the ball is going into the socket, not the angle of rotation.

So, your OS corrected pre-existing coxa vara and he is saying that is the source of your pain and inability to climb steps now? I haven't heard that before, but Josephine may have. I tagged her, so she can comment on that.

The incidence of coxa vara is quite low but not as low as coxa valga. I thought this image might help you to visualise what the situation was and now is.

I told my OS my concern and he told me that my hips are at 118 degree angle and they only make replacement joints at 130-132 degrees. So, I am probably feeling the muscles and tendons pulling when I walk up steps. I am not doing a lot of exercise walking because my left hip is in a lot of pain and needs to soon be replaced. Does it correct itself? Is it something I have to live with?

That's the most likely explanation. Muscles often have a tough time trying to adapt to a new angle like that and that's not a small difference. Does it correct itself? Only time will tell that. But now you know that the cause of the pain is, you know we have been right all along - never do excessive exercises. Gentle stretches are probably best and then not too many. In your case the muscles are actually going to have to grow new tissue in order to accommodate the extra length.

Really dread having the second replacement done because of the recuperation time of my first hip. I have it scheduled for September, but sometimes I want to cancel because of previous post op pain and the hip degree issue.

Don't be. Now you know what you're facing and you know to be heavy on the pain meds and light on the PT - better yet, zero on the PT! As I said previously "hips actually don't need much exercise to get better. All they need is the best therapy which is walking and even then not to excess".

I think this is a great break-through in information and as we all know, knowledge is power!

 

[summertime]

@Josephine Thanks, as always, for the information. I am walking in the pool every other day a few laps each time, up to 6 times. Are there specific stretching exercises that might help, in the pool and out of the pool? Another question, I understand if you don't have an answer, how long might it take for new tissue to grow? Knowledge is power! Again, Thanks Josephine!

 

[summertime]

@Jamie Thanks for moving my thread. I didn't know how to find the old one.

 

[alexthecat]

Summertime you could try the stretches shown here:
broken link removed: https://www.physioadvisor.com.au/8109550/hip-stretches-hip-flexibility-exercises-physio.htm
Ignore what it says about repetitions. 2 or 3 repetitions once a day is fine. I'd suggest stretching your nonsurgical leg too, if you can.

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[summertime]

@alexthecat Thanks for the info. I have been doing those, but not #4 and #5. In the pool I have been lifting my leg up, like a high marching step when I am walking. My nonsurgical leg has small fractures and when I do too much I suffer a few days, so I try not to do the same as I do my surgical leg. Mostly walking in the pool and around the house. Thanks Alex

 

[alexthecat]

In that case, just stick with it. It can take a while because, Jo said, you need to grow new tissue. There's no window of opportunity that closes after a certain amount of time. You have as long as it takes and I honestly think you'll be in a better place after your other hip is replaced. Then you'll be moving forward with both THRs.

Here is an article that explains the phases of healing. It has some recommendations of things to eat to support healing and recovery.
https://bonesmart.org/forum/index.php?posts/529657

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[Josephine]

Re new tissue growth - somebody hasn't been reading their recovery articles - it was in post #6 and second on the list - Healing: how long does it take?