THR Clairebella’s recovery journey

[Elf1]

As @springs12 noted, when the one PT moved me to "land" as they called it they would get out big pads that they had warmed up. I totally forgot about that.

I agree the pool while being wonderful while in can drain you for the rest of the day. That's the problem, it feels so good that you don't realize you're overdoing. I think you have a goid plan though to eventually work up to more days.

Sorry about your surgeon seeming dismissive. Unfortunately some of these guys don't have the best bed side manner. They're all about their hardware. As long as that is in the correct place and hasn't moved they pretty much consider their job done. I'm seriously hoping you're just having a bit of a harder time due to how long you struggled prior and having had that earlier surgery so still recovering from that trauma.

I know at almost 12 weeks/3 months out I was still using a walker, switched over to a cane shortly after. The PT just didn't feel I was as stable as she thought I should be and decided we should take the safer approach. And I used the cane for quite a while after that, especially out in public. I remember being in a clothing store and their door alarm went off. The manager was in such a hurry to catch a possible shoplifter that she blew right by me and spun me around! Luckily between the cane and the clothing rack I didn't fall. She realized after the commotion died down what she did and was falling all over herself trying to apologize. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that things start improving for you.

 

[Clairebella]

I had PT today and she’s very confident my pain is soft tissue and muscular. In particular residual hip capsule tissue that’s impinging. She gave me a stretch which felt pretty good and I’ve to stretch quads and hip flexors daily as well as a stretch of hugging knee to chest only as tolerated. She encouraged me to build up my stamina by increasing cardio in the pool and using the bike in the gym for 5-10 mins. I was at the pool again today and enjoyed it however hit the energy drain big time from early afternoon. So, I will take a few more weeks off work, aim to return January realistically and just use this time to rehab and build up some stamina.

 

[Hippie Chick]

It sounds like you have a good plan! Have you tried the knee to chest stretch? A January return will give you more time to recover which will be nice!

 

[Hotchocolate]

I got permission to start using a stationary bike this week, and I honestly feel like it's helping me improve faster. Crossing fingers it does the same for you!

 

[Elf1]

@Clairebella sounds like it was a good visit with the PT and that you two have come up with a reasonable plan. That energy drain can seriously seem to take forever to let up. Just try to rest up, nap or just chill if you can when it starts coming on. Remember that we do some of our vest healing when sleeping.

 

[Clairebella]

Yes the knee to chest stretch will be a work in progress! She walked me through relaxing all my muscles, letting everything go, tummy including and just gently pulling into the point i feel discomfort and then breathing and holding for 30 seconds. Then relax and heat pad. She likened it to the gentle treatment of a frozen shoulder stretching the muscles and fascia ?? In particular.
It’s certainly not at this point causing any pain following the stretch. It’s not going to happen overnight!

 

[myglasshalffull]

I try to do my stretches every AM before I really start my day, overall good idea as long as you can tolerate it.
Heating pad some days is my best friend! Then ice!

 

[Clairebella]

My pain has definitely improved this week. I have been to the pool twice and managed out to shops further afield in the car on other days.

PT has given me on non pool days gym based exercises. Bike for cardio - that’s fine. She’s added the leg press and quad and hamstring weight ones too. I am 3 months post op now. I notice they are advised against on here but is that only if early days ?? Does anyone else add these in?

 

[Mojo333]

My take on the added PT, is only you can know if things are too much too soon.
I had no restrictions placed on me, but when I saw some subsiding in pain levels, I tried not to push it too hard...
If you do try the leg presses... (3 months would be the Minimum that I would start these strengthening exercises) and I would not bend much more than 90 degrees. Maybe start with a maximum of 25% of your body weight and progress slowly with the reps as often it doesn't hurt until a day or so later.

I found, though boring, that alot of the exercises were helpful without adding a lot of weights or resistance bands until I was well on to 6 months out.
Walking and stretching (and pool walking) were my go-tos

 

[Clairebella]

Thanks @Mojo333 I do plan on sticking more with the pool walking and my stretching but I might tentatively try some strengthening exercises now. I have a lot of weakness on my op side.

 

[Mojo333]

You can do thisJust keep it all incremental and listen to your body.... it really will be worth it in the end.
Happy Saturday

 

[Hotchocolate]

As long as my surgeon gives me the clear, I intend to get back to strength training at 3 months, but I was strength training before surgery as well.

My best advice is to go very light your first day and just feel the movement out before you try to add more weight. Ideally, you should be able to do 8 reps where the last 1 or 2 feel a little hard to finish, but after a minute rest you can do 8 more (for a total of 3 sets of 8 reps).

If something feels wrong, stop. You can always ask your PT for alternative exercises if one of those is causing trouble.

 

[Hippie Chick]

Yay! I am so glad you are seeing an improvement in your pain levels. It sounds like you are heading in the right direction. Thanks for sharing what is working well- it helps those of us who did home PT with printed instructions!

 

[Layla]

Happy Three Month Anniversary, Clairebella!
It's good to read your pain is easing. Wishing you all the best as you continue the journey.
I hope you have a great weekend!
@Clairebella

 

[Clairebella]

Thanks @Layla !

I am slowly but surely progressing. I do feel I’m quite behind though. I’m only just managing some of the PT exercises that I was given 1 month post op. I’m managing to the pool twice a week now so that’s an improvement. I also think my energy drain has improved slightly.

I’m still limping when I go from sitting/lying to standing and walking. My leg feels incredibly weak still. Pain improved but muscles seem to ache daily!

 

[benne68]

I'm glad to read that you are seeing progress! And there is no such thing as being "behind" because no two of us recover at the same rate or in the same way.

...still limping when I go from sitting/lying to standing and walking.

Yes, I think this happens to a lot of us. I certainly happened to me as well and it continued for 5-6 months post-op. I don't know exactly when it went away, but I can now go from sitting to standing and walking without doing that "penguin shuffle" when I first get up.

Remember at 3 months, you are only 1/4 of the way through this year-long recovery. You will get stronger and feel better. It just takes time.

 

[CricketHip]

I've had both hips replaced with about 4 years in between the two. The left hip is amazing at 99% and rarely pings me but when it does, it's usually a hamstring.
Righty took a long time to fully recover and I am guessing that it is currently at 92% for functionality. (it was done in 2019), and I have no regrets about it being a bit less than Lefty. For example, we have a new puppy and he is a dachshund, so I am constantly bending down and getting on the floor to his level and Righty reminds me in the mornings about that. Oh and I am running and playing chase, a lot! Sometimes even when I've been lounging on the couch for a few hours and then get up.. but it's really okay. I am tons better than I would have been without those two surgeries.

I limped and felt weak on Righty for months. I don't recall exactly so scrolled through my recovery thread and I was still using my walking sticks at 4 months when out for a long day of shopping, site seeing or whatever.
It's very good now but I still think it's not 100% like Lefty. I am okay with that. I am now walking, hiking biking, swimming, horseback riding (occasionally), doing tai chi and I'm sure there's more but that's enough to list.

The thing that was the most bothersome at 4, 5 and 6 months were other people's opinions of how they perceived how I should be progressing! So, please don't let any of that bother you. You are being you, right?
The one thing that was the very beneficial to me was going for regular massages. I think I started with weekly for the first three sessions then I went to less, like every three weeks then to monthly.
So many of the aches and pains and stiffness at this point for you are soft tissue related-- muscles, tendons, ligaments. Massage therapy is great for soft tissue issues.
So, in summary, just be patient a while longer, I think you are doing well and wanted to also stress that I wasn't doing the recommended exercises in the time frame suggested and didn't care a bit about it.
There's plenty of time for that after the first year or so. Well, that's how I viewed it, thanks to finding BoneSmart early on and listening to what they recommend in addition to listening to my body.

Sorry for the ramble but hopefully there's a couple useful pieces here for you to be encouraged by.

@Clairebella

 

[Goma]

That's encouraged me as some days I feel I'm falling behind eventhough I was feeling great early on.

Mine is everything but the hip joint... that's solid... it's the surrounding area where I can feel that I've done too much.

Go easy,no hurry, it's not a race. I've slowed down but still keep moving.

Improvement in increments is great.

 

[Clairebella]

@benne68 the penguin shuffle yup, that’s it exactly! Reassuring to know it can go on for a while.
@CricketHip thats also reassuring that no one hip is the same! I might look into massage. They tend to be really expensive where I am but I’d love one!

I’m also at that female age and point in time that I clearly have dropping estrogen. I have lots of muscle aches even on my good leg which are coinciding with other symptoms so I’m pretty sure I’ve reached that point. I wonder how much that’s actually impacted my recovery and what kinda research is out there about it!

 

[benne68]

I have lots of muscle aches even on my good leg

This happens to many of us. I struggled with pain in the opposite hip and thigh up into my buttocks during my hip recovery.

I think a lot of that pain has to do with our body learning to adapt to its new alignment. Prior to surgery, as our hip deteriorates, we unconsciously make adjustments to ease the pain. These changes are subtle and we don't even notice that we are favoring the leg or limping or splaying our foot out to the side until it gets extreme.

We live with that bad alignment for so long that, when the hip replaced and our alignment is corrected, all
the surrounding soft tissue has to "relearn" what to do. You are probably more active now, which is why it's showing up for you.

Be patient; it does improve!