Guest viewing is limited

THR Better late than never

Status
Not open for further replies.
Weezi and sansabosa the exercises where you are laying on your stomach and doing leg lifts...my PT had me doing those the first time I went, that was less than 2 weeks after surgery. I think that was way too early for them and I couldn't do them, my leg was way too weak. I told her I can't do them and left it at that so she said practice, well I didn't because they hurt to do. Now I can do them but not too high.
 
Hi sandybeach
Yes, the first time it had been very very difficult for me too and the PT helped me with her hand to make the movement and gradually we overcame it. Yes, it is not high at first and it does not need to be high. However, it is an important exercise just like the side way lift. However, she did not push me if I had a pain, she only hepled me to do the action if I could not manage it by myself.
 
BarbaraR,
Yes! My appointment is this Wednesday and I'm praying he will give the ok to move forward and hopefully start driving. I'm am trying not to get too excited as he is obviously a very cautious doctor. I will definitely post the outcome. How is your pinky toe?

sandybeach and sansabosa, are you guys doing that clam exercise? It's the one where you bend your legs while lying on your good side, feet together, raise and lower "new hip" leg? I just started that one last week and it's not so easy for me. Sandybeach, I do think you started to soon with the on the stomach leg lifts. I can't go high either and it's hard to keep my leg straight.
 
Hiya weezi, hoping you get the okay to drive on Wednesday :)

For most us the clamshells are not our favourite exercise at all but they are very effective, I still do them now and still don't know if I am doing them exactly as I should.lol.

Take care

Ann
 
Weezi
Hi dear,
the clam exercise, yes!
I think we started it at post op week 2. The first time, I could not do it and the PT helped with her hand to elevate the operated leg. It was very very hard. But the next session, which was 2 days later, I was able to do it. Last week, she was exerting oppos,te pressure with her hand...what I am trying to say is it is difficult at first, dont worry but it opens up and you will be amazed with your progress.
 
Hi Weezi & everyone else,

I was looking for some comparisons to how I was doing, which is one of the reasons this site is so fabulous. I'm right at 2 months and doing the clam exercise fine. In the last 2 - 3 weeks I've seen some great changes, like shopping without worrying about overdoing.

But I have good days, and days I'm exhausted. Still more pain than I think I should. And my other hip pops all the time and aches. My PT made me get rid of the cane altogether and all this started happening.

So is anyone else having similar problems. Is it too early to ditch the cane, or do I need to let my body adjust?

Thanks everyone. And I'm pleased to see everyone doing so well.
 
ı think you should not twist back to get help from your back muscles while doing the clam exercise. You should really lie on your side and try to focus yourself to stay in the lateral position while doing the exercise.
 
HappyHippy, why did your PT make you ditch the cane? Have you told her that you're having more pain without it? And you're exhausted? What's the big deal if you need to use the cane for a few more weeks? Can you talk to her about it?

Weezi, I'll be thinking of you on Wednesday.
 
Hi BarbaraR. I think he wants me to work at correcting the imbalance in my two hips. I thought I had a Leg length discrepancy, but it turns out that I hike up one side of my Pelvis. I did have back surgery years ago, so it may relate to that. I don't know. It may be more of an experiment on his part. He had me start doing something like a crab walk with a band around my calves to work my IT band, but I had bursitis before surgery and it feels like it's coming back too, and this exercise is hurting my thigh.

I don't want to be lazy, but I'm walking, shopping, cleaning the house, swimming, gardening, etc ... at 2 months. How much more strain do I need?

And I still have times where I have more pain than I think I should, and spend the evening with an ice pack. And now and then I still want to nap during the day. I suppose I'm healing at my pace, and my PT and I go way back so I don't like questioning him as he's like a friend. I'm a revision though and had a lot of angry muscles before the surgery and pain for 3+ years. I don't know if the normal hip progression fits, and if it takes longer to settle down, Now sansabosa you're a revision from a less-than-perfect first surgery. How are you doing?
 
Hello HappyHippy!
I think you are doing great. My OS still has be on the walker with only touch down weight bearing and I had my surgery on Feb. 5th. I am able to walk without it but don't want OS to know that. I still use walker the majority of the time I'm at home. My husband took me to the grocery about a week ago and I made it through with out the walker but my back started hurting towards the end. You may want to keep that cane handy just in case. I think the most important thing is to know your limits and the harder you push the more down time you may need to get over that last excursion. I have my good days and then the not so good days. But like I said, your doing great and a lot more than I'm able to do right now. Keep up the good work and pamper yourself when you need to. :SUNsmile:
 
Weezi
Be careful in grocery stores without your walker. My PT said if I go to the store I can use a shopping cart to help me balance and I always use one. It's great protection from kids and other people that try to run you over. I know a few people have run into me before surgery. You wouldn't want to fall. Please be careful and protect yourself. There are a lot of careless people out there that don't know you are recovering. Make it obvious to others by at least taking a cane or a crutch. Actually canes, I found, are not that obvious if someone is on your other side. Stores are kind of scary, no one is paying attention to you. I don't mind using a cane alone if I'm walking outside but not in a store.
 
luluohio
Thanks for the advice Lulu! I actually thought I would end up getting on one of those scooters that you can ride in the grocery. Although I didn't, I did feel vulnerable without my walker. That was the first time I had been out in public without any type of walking aid. I did use the basked but would have felt better had I brought my walker. I won't make that mistake again. Thanks so much!:SUNsmile:
 
Wow, at two months you seem to be doing way too much IMHO...all that work around the house and intensive PT. Why is he trying to correct an LLD? most of us have the feeling of LLD, which disappears gradually over time as our new hardware settles in and our pelvis adjusts to our new gait. It doesn't usually require a special emphasis through exercise. This just a personal opinion but you may be focusing too much on PT. I did not progress well until I stopped doing exercises that left me in pain. Instead I focused on riding a stationary bike and walking, with an emphasis on improving my gait. I practiced in a mirror and by looking in shop windows. I can't tell you how much better it felt to stop worrying about improving specific muscles and comparing my progress to others. I am only just getting back to stretching and strengthening exercises......there's zero pain and now my hip feels strong and secure. As Selin says, listen to your body. If you are in pain after physio, something is wrong. Good luck, Vicki.
 
Anniepops,
Thanks so much, I hope I'll be able to drive too! It will certainly take the strain off our schedule if I'm able to drive myself to physical therapy. You are spot on about the clam exercises, I don't know if I'm doing them correctly either. I am trying to do all the exercises given to me but my form is not that great. I will definitely let you guys know what happens come Wednesday afternoon. Until then, keeping my fingers crossed! :wink:
 
sansabosa The exercises would be so much easier with the aid of my PT but she continues to preposition my body because to do them I use the wrong muscles, she says use the core. I think we all need to listen to our bodies and do what they are telling us along with doing what we can as far as the exercises. We do need to continue to get stronger but we won't heal at the same rate as others. I know when I push too much and then I pay for days afterward and then I go backwards.
Weezi you do sound like you're doing really well. You walked through the grocery store without any aid? If you could do that without any muscle pains, that's great exercise for you. I do agree with luluohio to be really careful of others so they don't bring you harm.
 
Weezi
Wow! no walking aids at the grocery store! I'm impressed and so glad you didn't have a fall! Be careful girl.
 
sandybeach and Teacat,
I did use the grocery cart, walker was out in the truck and I had planned on riding the in-store scooter. I just wanted to see how far I could take it without getting the scooter. I didn't think about it again until we were getting ready to check out. I ended up sitting in the stores patio furniture display until husband checked out. I was a little worried I had done too much but it turned out ok (especially since I went to lay down while kids put up groceries).
sandybeach my PT tells me which muscles I should be working for most of the exercises but some of them seem impossible, at least at this point.
 
Weezi, you are doing really well, slow and steady, just as it should be. I wouldn't worry too much about the exercises, if certain ones are a bit of a struggle then just leave it a week or so and go back to those ones. It's quite amazing the improvements we see after a few days, all of a sudden we realise that we can do things better.

Sometimes we seem to stand still, sometimes it seems like we are going backwards then a lot of the time we see massive improvements, we all get there in the end it just takes some of us a little longer. It is like babies learning to walk, not all of them do it at exactly the same age. Some take a wee bit longer than others but they all achieve their goal in the end, just as you will :)

Take care

Ann
 
sandybeach
I can't agree more with your comment above. We should really listen to our body and fine tune the exercise level according to our condition. For example, I never compare my capability in regards to muscle strenght with Gershom's he used to run marathons (you may remember he had bilateral THR and had an excellent recovery pace) and was walking 2 miles at week 4 post op unassisted if I remember correctly.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Active Antimicrobial Hydrogel

Members online

Total: 1,059 (members: 3, guests: 1,056)

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom