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THR Bone Smart Excercise / Sports Recomendations after THR

Hi @Hip2BGone
You mentioned anytime you try to take a step without your crutches that it really hurts.
Did you mention this to your OS? If so, what was his response?
 
Layla said:
Hi @Hip2BGone
You mentioned anytime you try to take a step without your crutches that it really hurts.
Did you mention this to your OS? If so, what was his response?
Click to expand...

Well i didnt tell him at my appointment as i hadn't adventured into really trying.
Today I took my first steps without crutches at the kitchen between ountertops.
I can take 3 steps each way, I did 4 laps with little to no assistance and it didnt hurt at all.
It felt sketchy as the balance is not quite there, and i felt quite insecure becuae it was my first tie trying, but I was amazed and really happy of having tried and obtaining such a good result.
Specially 'cause of the no pain part.

Today it was the first day I got to "step up" err steps :P using my operated leg on my daily walks w/ crutches. It felt natural and painfree.

After the 20 min walk and the "no crutches" test drive I don't feel any soreness, pain or excessive tireness.

I get more tired from taking a shower, and more hurt from lifting my leg to get in and out of bed.

:yay:
 
All good news!
Practice along the counters as you've been doing until you feel balanced and steady.
It is scary to take those first steps unassisted, you have the feeling the prosthetic isn't going to hold you and you'll land in a heap on the floor. :heehee: At least I felt that way, lol.

Remember when you navigate stairs - Up with the good leg first, followed by surgical leg.
When you go down - Bad leg (surgical) first, followed by good leg.
"Up with the good, down with the bad"

Don't forget the heel-toe walking to lose the limp. Heel strikes the ground first, followed by toes.
I feel more in balance when I concentrate on walking that way.
It feels odd at first but try to remind yourself of it as you walk.

The fatigue is Energy Drain. Your body is using all of its energy to heal and not leaving a lot extra for all the other activities of daily life.
https://bonesmart.org/forum/threads/energy-drain-for-thrs.12415/

Rest or nap whenever you're tired, or able to. You're very early into your recovery and there's a lot of healing to still happen.

You can use the belt from a bathrobe (any belt would work) to assist in lifting your leg until it becomes easier.

You're doing great! I hope you have a wonderful week!
@Hip2BGone
 
The kitchen is a wonderful early playground - I did the same thing, followed by experiments in other rooms where the furniture was slightly further apart. The fact, your recovery sounds very similar to mine with the exception that you're doing much better on the stairs - I didn't really start to feel comfortable on stairs until this weekend! Congrats on your recent advance - you're clearly feeling pretty good about it, and you should be! And I'm gonna go with everyone else, and suggest you take this at your own pace - I've found my doctor's well-meaning advice on my recovery to be considerably less helpful than what I've found here. Use the force, Luke.

Just remember that recovery is non-linear - it proceeds in fits and starts, and sometimes you may actually feel worse than the day before. Or there may be days when you've pushed your hip a little too far and it spends the next day or two biting you in the nether regions for your impertinence. (On those days, I'll be happy to give you the complete tour of the ODIC - my name is actually on one of the bar stools.) This is just all part of the bigger adventure on the way to settling down with your new bestest buddy: your plastic hip!

Keep on keepin' on!
 
Layla said:
All good news!
Practice along the counters as you've been doing until you feel balanced and steady.
It is scary to take those first steps unassisted, you have the feeling the prosthetic isn't going to hold you and you'll land in a heap on the floor. :heehee: At least I felt that way, lol.
@Hip2BGone
Click to expand...

That's exactly what Ithought might happen. It was a great surprise to feel such a solid support

Remember when you navigate stairs - Up with the good leg first, followed by surgical leg.:)


Layla said:
When you go down - Bad leg (surgical) first, followed by good leg.
"Up with the good, down with the bad"

Don't forget the heel-toe walking to lose the limp. Heel strikes the ground first, followed by toes.
@Hip2BGone
Click to expand...

That's how i was handling steps, however just two days ago i found a step in one of my walks and instead of changing my stride to step up with the good leg, i handled it with the bad one without any proble.Back in the house i did a couple of "test Steps" going up with the bad and it worked just fine.

Heel2Toe is always on my mind when i am walking. It makes you more conscious of what you are doing, and it also aids in enphatizing the movement not allowing your stride to be dragged out. Two days ago I started "pushing off" from the toes at the last stage of the stride. Before that my leg felt "limpier". It's starting to wake up :happydance:

Layla said:
The fatigue is Energy Drain. Your body is using all of its energy to heal and not leaving a lot extra for all the other activities of daily life.
@Hip2BGone
Click to expand...

I feel you, I shaved today after two weeks from having laid it off, I looked like my beagle Morris. :dogsniff:
Well the bath + shave combo left me totally drained out.
 
Bone-obo said:
The kitchen is a wonderful early playground - I did the same thing, followed by experiments in other rooms where the furniture was slightly further apart. The fact, your recovery sounds very similar to mine with the exception that you're doing much better on the stairs - I didn't really start to feel comfortable on stairs until this weekend! Congrats on your recent advance - you're clearly feeling pretty good about it, and you should be! And I'm gonna go with everyone else, and suggest you take this at your own pace - I've found my doctor's well-meaning advice on my recovery to be considerably less helpful than what I've found here. Use the force, Luke.

Just remember that recovery is non-linear - it proceeds in fits and starts, and sometimes you may actually feel worse than the day before. Or there may be days when you've pushed your hip a little too far and it spends the next day or two biting you in the nether regions for your impertinence. (On those days, I'll be happy to give you the complete tour of the ODIC - my name is actually on one of the bar stools.) This is just all part of the bigger adventure on the way to settling down with your new bestest buddy: your plastic hip!

Keep on keepin' on!
Click to expand...

Hello Bone-Obo.
I agree the kitchen will soon be my favorite playground, specially since it's full of treats :cheers:

Early in the morning I was feeling all the xtra walking I did yesterday. Specially since I'm off my meds since Friday.
However after my morning walk, having breakfast, icing and resting in my recliner all pain was gone. Imfeeling excellent.
Thanks for the advice.
 
Today I went to an old friend's physical terapy business.
He is a doctor who later on specialized in sports PT, I have known him from several years back as we used to train together. Therefore he knew my previous activity level, the decay It suffered from my hip going bad and knows my future expectations: Doing lots of excercise biking, swimming and weights to try to stay healthy and to avoid future surgeries, as my right leg and lower back also present wear.
Competing in Triathlons is also in my mind, in order to use as a carrot. (Motivation purposes).

In short this is what he told me after manipulating my leg to check its ROM and testing my strenght and balance:

"You have been taking it way too easy it will end up indering me. If you don't start moving right away your hip will "lock" in place, "strong cords" will develop in the joint space limiting ROM.
If that happens a surgery will be in order where the surgeon will have to put you to sleep and harshly manipulate the joint in order to break the "stong cords" that developed."

He recomended me to move around, to avoid spending too much time in the recliner. And to incorporate movements such as:

Heel Slides
Abductor leg to the side while prone

He also recommended walking in pool, and doing these movements in pool to work on rom.

He said that he found my leg to be too weak from all the inactivity I had prior to the surgery, and that i should have started to move, walk, do the excercises from day 1, specially at my age.
2 or 3 weeks of doing this and if I'm able to raise my knee to a 90 degree angle and gain some basic strength, he would take me in at his facilities to startwhat he called 'proper PT'.

I agreed to some of his observations. As I have been babying my leg too much, I don't mean excersice wise, but being extremely cautious in everyday activities and spending too much time laying around.

However he lost me at his comment rewarding losing ROM and having "cords growing that would need to be removed surgically. Is that true or just a "scary story"?

Another topic where he difered with BoneSmart is where he said that 2-3 weeks out of surgery cold is not longer needed, he said that he felt it was time to use heat instead specially prior to doing excercises or PT.
 
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There is a difference between the kind of physical therapy needed to rehab from a sports injury and the kind that is needed to recover from a surgical procedure. You are healing from having your body cut open, having diseased bone removed, having carpentry tools used to ream out a hole in which to pound in a replacement body part. In the process, all the soft tissue in your lower extremities was disturbed...the muscles, the tendons, the ligaments, the fibers, the blood vessels. It is well recognized that long after the surgical incision itself heals up, it takes a full year and sometimes more for all that inflamed soft tissue to fully heal. Adding aggressive physical therapy this early in the process sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.

Recovery involves finding a lovely balance between resting to allow healing to occur and moving to promote flexibility and blood flow. By all means move around more. Get up from the recliner frequently to stretch and remind your muscles that they are still needed. Take some walks outdoors, and gradually add time and frequency.

I can't count all the people who have come to this forum after following the kind of regimen this sports doc is recommending, and 4 months, 6 months, 9 months after surgery they are completely sidelined by a tendinitis of one kind or another. It pays to recover from this surgery just once; recovering a second time after overdoing the PT is a madness that is easily avoided.

As for the business of manipulating the joint to relieve "strong cords" that develop, it sounds like he is talking about the treatment used for adhesions. Check out this information:
MUA (Manipulation under Anaesthetic) and Adhesions
 
sharonslp said:
As for the business of manipulating the joint to relieve "strong cords" that develop, it sounds like he is talking about the treatment used for adhesions. Check out this information:
MUA (Manipulation under Anaesthetic) and Adhesions
Click to expand...

Thank you I read the article.
I believe he was worried because he knows my ROM was very limited for over two years prior to surgery.
Reading that article made me worried as well from having developed adhesions already from the two year period I described.


The good thing from having talked to him is that i started to feel more confident and to move more freely during my everyday activities and that translated to a better gait and lots of small achievements such as being able to bend the knee while sliping out of bed, being able to loose myself and rest on chairs, etc.

Instead of goofing off all day in the recliner. I will have more frequent walks and/or movements sessions that will follow with sitting down for a little treat-meal before enjoing rest and ice on the recliner.

That makes the day pass easier/faster and I slept like a baby.
 
:happydance::happydance::happydance:
Just today while taking a short walk at noon I had to incorporate going up/down a flight of stairs to my walk as it had rained and the hallway where i usually walk at was slippery and wet.
I only did the flight of stairs once however I don't know why but afterwards for some magical reason my gait had a MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH after . I was gladly surprised and so was my wife and mother in law who noticed it as well.
I still don't understand why that happened but my gait freed up enormously after that.:wowspring:
 
:egypdance: Happy you are seeing improvement!
Don't go too crazy now with your new-found strutting!
Isn't it amazing that we can fix those bad hips!:ok:
 
I'm 3 weeks out today. The operated leg is getting looser and moving much better.
Been really happy about it.

However, I have been experiencing soreness around the groin area, and sporadic pinching/stabbing type of pain in the joint in my non-op leg. (The groin soreness is like a 3 the pinching stabbing pain lasts just a sec when it happens but hurts at a 8-9).

The non-op leg showed some wear two years ago when i had x rays done, not as bad as the one i got fixed, its ROM was hindered but i could perform my everyday life perfectly and even perform at sports witout it hurting. During my last two years when my other leg gave out I used it as a crutch and It NEVER gave me any pain at all.

That's why I'm surprised of the sudden pain and soreness (specially the joint pain) I am feeling on it since three days ago, tht's when my operated leg started to move more "naturally" from having started the ROM movements.

I knew that I might have to get my other leg done sometime soon.It's just that I was wishing that "soon" meant like in a few years, not just a few weeks/months.

Is there any chance that I'm experiencing joint pain in the non op leg due to the xtra mobility on my op hip that it has to get used to?
Or is this a definetely sign that the other leg is toasted?

There is also a noticeable height diference between my legs after the surgery. When I try to stand up straight I have to keep my non op leg bent as my op leg is shorter. Can this pain be caused by all the walkig I've been doing in an uneven way? I am walking 4 times a day (15 mins early in the morning ans late at night and 5 min twice in between during the day)
 
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I did PT from the day after surgery on, it was real basic and on my own at home. I did most of it laying down and the only thing that was a strain was leg lifts. My non op leg has been behaving itself and the only time it hurt was when I tried to push it's ROM like my new joint.
 
At my 2 week follow up my OS told me to put more weight into my operated leg at week 3 in order to try to drop the crutches all together at week 4.

He didn't explain how to achieve this. I am currently using two crutches.

Use only one crutch?
Continue using two but apply less support from my arms?
lean into the operated leg more?

Thanks
 
I was full weight bearing on day 1, but I don't think I started putting full weight through the leg till about day 5/6. Do you see a Physiotherapist? As they normally help you with this.
What I did was: Keep 2 crutches but try to walk properly, squeeze your bum and your core and don't put too much weight through your hands. make sure you look up instead of looking down at the floor as I found it helped with posture. I was advised that the more I walked on my leg, the better it would heal, but obviously different people have different opinions.
 
[Bonesmart.org] Bone Smart Excercise / Sports Recomendations after THR
@Hip2BGone, 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 have questions or concerns that need an immediate answer, please tag an admin, a mod, or other members or all three.

If you decide you'd like a different thread title at any point, you can just post what you want here and we'll get it changed for you. THANKS!

If you are having a problem locating your thread, here is a link with how to do it: How can I find my threads and posts?
 
Thanks.
I've been doing that. While on two crutches put less weight on the hands, and try to feel more weight on the foot.

Focusing really hard on walking heel to toe, lifting leg and bending knee, centring myself more, etc.

I've incorporated brief walk sessions inside the house with a stck and without any support just a few steps.
In order for the leg to have full weight at least a couple of moments each day.
I notice that while I dont limp while using the stick it feels too tiring still.

I find it easier to apply more weight mantainng a proper gait and body position (no limp) while climbing stairs. I can comfortably go up and down a flight of stairs in a normal fashion just relying on the handrail.

Baby steps all the way. (I loved that movie "What about bob?" with Bill Murray)
 
I know I had to figure alot out as I went..listen to your body.
Things aren't that fragile...just listen to your body.
You are doing great!
 
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