Brookeer
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I’m really glad you’re pain free. It must be such a relief.
THR Brooksy’s Hip Recovery
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myglasshalffull
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I've been doing a lot of walking on vacation and soaking in salt water at the beaches so I think that "cured" it for now!!!
Merrimay
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I'm so sorry you're disappointed and in pain, @Brookeer. I'm at 4 months and somedays veer from hopeful to devastated in a matter of minutes. I tell myself I've rounded the corner and then bang-- the pain and stiffness returns. I feel a million years old, a failure.
Do you have healthy distractions that can bring you distraction and emotional comfort? I'm revisiting much-loved novels and biographies, sketching, and planning my spring container garden. In between those activities, I do my exercises and chores, walk my dog, rest, ice, and try to reassure myself that time will be the great healer. Sending you sympathy, understanding, and hope, @Brookeer .
Do you have healthy distractions that can bring you distraction and emotional comfort? I'm revisiting much-loved novels and biographies, sketching, and planning my spring container garden. In between those activities, I do my exercises and chores, walk my dog, rest, ice, and try to reassure myself that time will be the great healer. Sending you sympathy, understanding, and hope, @Brookeer .
Brookeer
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I’m on holiday too. I did nearly 10,000 steps over the first day and been in agony since. I made it into the pool yesterday and that was lovely.
Brookeer
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Thank you so much. I’m really sorry you’re still getting pain & stiffness. This makes me feel old too. You’re not a failure. It’s not something you’re choosing to be like and I’m just the same as you. I could accept being like this but I’m not. I’m determined to get better so probably make it hard for myself.
It’s really strange. I thought by now I’d be able to be back to normal and exercising properly. I’m definitely getting stronger but the pain is worse than just after the op. Some nights the pain is so bad I can’t sleep and I’ve been taking strong killers as paracetamol doesn’t touch it. I normally wouldn’t take anything so that’s a big change for me.
I normally keep busy especially with my twin toddler grandchildren, school runs, shopping & cooking. I’ve spent ages cleaning my flat over & over to get rid of the mould. I think I’ll have to move.
I’ve been going on beach walks which has been amazing and I’ve gone further than pre op but still can’t go far. Then I really pay for it for a few days after.
I hope you improve soon.
Hi @Brookeer
I'm sorry you are frustrated and worried that your preop issues aren't resolving and still having a lot of pain.
I know hearing that 5 months post-op is still early in recovery and a vulnerable time when we can still set ourselves back by insisting on getting back to our "normal" lives...
Also, didn't know if you are doing stretches and other things trying to help resolve the issues?
I did wonder if this article might interest you as it surprised me to see that sometimes some therapies, like stretching, could actually aggravate this issue.
This part struck me:
examination of these patients often confirms that the psoas is not short or tight, but rather lengthened and overused. Therefore, additional stretching of this dysfunctional muscle is not useful in the physical therapy treatment plan and may lead to additional pain if the muscle and tendon is hypersensitive. Physical therapists routinely receive prescriptions requesting treatment to stretch, strengthen, and stimulate muscles. In some cases, muscles are overstimulated and need therapy to inhibit them through exercise and movements. In this case, “overstimulated” means the muscle is being called upon to function in movement patterns exceeding its normal function and therefore creates dysfunctional movement patterns and potential pathology and pain. The muscle is always “on,” functioning both in expected movement patterns and, when not expected, leading to faulty movement patterns. The process of identifying an overused and overstimulated muscle is a combination of clinical observation of movement patterns, and the muscle is often tender to palpation. Once the muscle is inhibited and relieved of its overly stimulated state, only then may it be functionally reeducated.
@Jamie has been utilizing trigger point therapy via a PT...perhaps this could help with the pain along with a concentrated effort to give yourself lots of resting between activities?
I'm sorry you are frustrated and worried that your preop issues aren't resolving and still having a lot of pain.
I know hearing that 5 months post-op is still early in recovery and a vulnerable time when we can still set ourselves back by insisting on getting back to our "normal" lives...
This is alot in itself...and tendonitis can be hard to resolve without alot of babying.
Also, didn't know if you are doing stretches and other things trying to help resolve the issues?
I did wonder if this article might interest you as it surprised me to see that sometimes some therapies, like stretching, could actually aggravate this issue.
This part struck me:
examination of these patients often confirms that the psoas is not short or tight, but rather lengthened and overused. Therefore, additional stretching of this dysfunctional muscle is not useful in the physical therapy treatment plan and may lead to additional pain if the muscle and tendon is hypersensitive. Physical therapists routinely receive prescriptions requesting treatment to stretch, strengthen, and stimulate muscles. In some cases, muscles are overstimulated and need therapy to inhibit them through exercise and movements. In this case, “overstimulated” means the muscle is being called upon to function in movement patterns exceeding its normal function and therefore creates dysfunctional movement patterns and potential pathology and pain. The muscle is always “on,” functioning both in expected movement patterns and, when not expected, leading to faulty movement patterns. The process of identifying an overused and overstimulated muscle is a combination of clinical observation of movement patterns, and the muscle is often tender to palpation. Once the muscle is inhibited and relieved of its overly stimulated state, only then may it be functionally reeducated.
@Jamie has been utilizing trigger point therapy via a PT...perhaps this could help with the pain along with a concentrated effort to give yourself lots of resting between activities?
Brookeer
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Thanks for all the information. The article is really interesting. Since the op I have been doing stretches and all kinds of different exercises for it as well as seeing a physio and chiropractor.
When I was diagnosed via ultrasound and MRI it said ‘the psoas tendon appears mildly hypochoic, heterogenous and thickened’ (I haven’t got a clue what that really means but was told it is psoas tendinopathy.
I wasn’t able to exercise when it started as it just seemed to cramp and I got pain in my buttock as well. If I do too much now it’s just the same and I’d say the buttock pain is worse now than before the op.
I’m going to show my physio the article you sent and see if he can make a plan for me.
If you haven't tried the trigger point therapy, you might also want to give it a try for a couple of months. It did help me a lot, although now that I stopped therapy and stopped taking Tylenol, I've had some problems with returned groin pain. My surgery was August 23rd, so I'm even further out than you are. I have been trying to get my head around the idea that my recovery is not going to be a fast one. Like you, I had some hip issues for years prior to surgery and I do believe it takes an extended period of time for that to resolve. But, because my pain returned, I got back on Tylenol (1 500mg tablet every 12 hours), babied my hip a bit, went back to using my cane....and things have improved. My activity schedule is nowhere close to yours (TWIN TODDLERS - oh my!). My feeling is that you probably are going to need to give yourself that full year at least to see whether things improve or not.
One thing that might be helpful is for you not to try and equate anything you're going through now with what happened prior to your surgery. Your body is not the same as when you needed your hip replaced. If you had problems with the hip for an extended period prior to surgery, that means your soft tissues all did a lot of compensation to make up for the bad hip. The surgery puts everything into proper alignment all at once and that means those tissues have to adjust to the new normal. This takes time. You might want to temper doing those things that make your hip hurt in the hours and days following the activity. You are just inflaming the recovering soft tissue and not doing yourself any favors by pushing it. As much as I hated going back to using a cane for a week or so, it and the Tylenol did make a difference. I can now walk around the house with no cane again and I believe that may continue to improve.
I have an appointment with my surgeon next week to discuss all this, and I expect him to tell me that I need to try and be more patient. I understand your frustration. I feel it too. We have these surgeries to get a better quality of life and it's sometimes really difficult to absorb that a full recovery can be a gradual process over a year or more in the making.
One thing that might be helpful is for you not to try and equate anything you're going through now with what happened prior to your surgery. Your body is not the same as when you needed your hip replaced. If you had problems with the hip for an extended period prior to surgery, that means your soft tissues all did a lot of compensation to make up for the bad hip. The surgery puts everything into proper alignment all at once and that means those tissues have to adjust to the new normal. This takes time. You might want to temper doing those things that make your hip hurt in the hours and days following the activity. You are just inflaming the recovering soft tissue and not doing yourself any favors by pushing it. As much as I hated going back to using a cane for a week or so, it and the Tylenol did make a difference. I can now walk around the house with no cane again and I believe that may continue to improve.
I have an appointment with my surgeon next week to discuss all this, and I expect him to tell me that I need to try and be more patient. I understand your frustration. I feel it too. We have these surgeries to get a better quality of life and it's sometimes really difficult to absorb that a full recovery can be a gradual process over a year or more in the making.
Brookeer
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Thank you. You make a lot of sense. The top of my thigh is still swollen and I can’t lie on my left side. It feels like there’s a big lump there and it’s painful. So I guess that’s soft tissue damage.
I haven’t tried trigger point therapy so I’ll look into that. I don’t normally use my walking stick anymore unless I have a flare up or I’m out walking but since my long walk a few days ago I’m back using it all the time.
I got rid of my riser/recliner chair and my sofa is fairly low. The ‘squats’ have helped strengthen my legs but sometimes it’s a struggle getting up.
Last time at the physio he made me get up off the floor. He said I needed to know that I could. I was like a beached whale.
I was hoping the microcurrent device I got would help. It wasn’t cheap and got such good reviews. It resolved my shoulder pain in three hours so it must be doing something.
I think I’m in too much of a hurry to be fit again. You’re right and I need to be more patient.
It’ll be interesting to hear what your surgeon says next week.
Be careful with those squats. You’re too early in your recovery to be doing much of that, especially if you’re doing lower squats. There are many muscles in your hip area that need to be strengthened first. You may be putting a bit too much strain on your hip with deep squats that’s resulting in your pain and swelling. Try not doing any for a while and see if that improves.
Brookeer
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I’m just past the 5 month mark and pleased to say that after all this time things are finally getting much better.
I don’t seem to get pain anymore but sometimes a hint of soreness. I rarely use my stick. I still haven’t got rid of the lack that of mobility from the psoas tendinopathy but it doesn’t hurt anymore.
My physio said before the op I was about 20% where I should be and now I’m 60%. He said he’s aiming for 70-80% so I’m doing pretty well.
I’ve had a bad chest infection which started last December and so far 2 lots of antibiotics haven’t cleared it. I thought it was that making me breathless but I got a letter from the cardiologist yesterday telling me one of my heart valves is leaking. It’s mild to moderate. That is such a shock and completely out of the blue. My last echocardiogram didn’t show that so it’s started since last September.
I won’t know until I see him the week after next what the plan is. I’m pretty sure it’ll be surgery sometime in the future. It explains why I get breathless and the weirdest thing is hearing the swooshing liquidity sound in my chest & throat. It kind of sounds like a dripping tap.
I’m due to start a new job soon and I’ve been getting my mandatory training up to date. I don’t think they’ll take me if I need surgery as I understand it’s a 3-4 month recovery after a few days in ITU.
It’s strange that this has happened after surgery but maybe it was too much stress on my heart even though my head didn’t think it was.
I don’t seem to get pain anymore but sometimes a hint of soreness. I rarely use my stick. I still haven’t got rid of the lack that of mobility from the psoas tendinopathy but it doesn’t hurt anymore.
My physio said before the op I was about 20% where I should be and now I’m 60%. He said he’s aiming for 70-80% so I’m doing pretty well.
I’ve had a bad chest infection which started last December and so far 2 lots of antibiotics haven’t cleared it. I thought it was that making me breathless but I got a letter from the cardiologist yesterday telling me one of my heart valves is leaking. It’s mild to moderate. That is such a shock and completely out of the blue. My last echocardiogram didn’t show that so it’s started since last September.
I won’t know until I see him the week after next what the plan is. I’m pretty sure it’ll be surgery sometime in the future. It explains why I get breathless and the weirdest thing is hearing the swooshing liquidity sound in my chest & throat. It kind of sounds like a dripping tap.
I’m due to start a new job soon and I’ve been getting my mandatory training up to date. I don’t think they’ll take me if I need surgery as I understand it’s a 3-4 month recovery after a few days in ITU.
It’s strange that this has happened after surgery but maybe it was too much stress on my heart even though my head didn’t think it was.
LaKarune
member
Good news that your hip is finally starting to feel like it’s healing. Perhaps the psoas will follow suit as your body adjusts to your new stability. So sorry to hear you’re now facing new issues around your heart and lungs. I’ve been surprised by how my (pre-op) pain has been affecting my blood pressure so would not be surprised if they were related for you, but could be totally separate too. I hope you have an excellent care team for your cardio stuff and that the healing in your hip affords lower stress to support your heart.
