THR Craftdee's Made It Through

[MajorHeidi]

@craftdee Donna, liked your psoas stretch pic. That's useful. Will try it.
I still have need of it.
I am doing aerobics twice a week, which probably is enough; as it gives me an increase in
bursitis/tendinitis or whatever.......
But, I do have a good time doing it anyway. And, I think it helps.
Let's just keep on , keeping on.....

 

[alexthecat]

Wow, Craftdee! That's a very detailed update. I hope you will continue to keep us posted because we care and because your experience will be helpful to others in the future.

I can tell you that the pretzel stretch is tough for a lot of people post-THR. You're not the only one. Many people need six months or more to develop that stretch. If it's not working for you now, I'm sure the physio can recommend more gentle stretches to help you ease into that.

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

 

[Me2]

I think I'm just going to quote you above and move it to my thread for an update! Especially the part about:

and I'm bored of it... I don't want to be "different" I want to be stock standard, run of the mill, boring as batsh!t, beige

I have been trying those stretches -- they feel good to do -- but, just like the exercises I have been doing for my PT, other than feeling good they don't seem to offer much improvement.

 

[Kim22]

Hi @craftdee Sorry I have not replied to your thread earlier but we have had a very busy time of late.My daughter moved house on 3rd Feb and we had no internet connection for the whole time we were there.She also gave birth to our second grandson on 10th Feb so we stayed until after his arrival ( my daughter never does anything by half) We got home Wednesday but I ended up ill with a chest infection for which I am taking antibiotics.Our grandson Henry George is gorgeous and a really good weight at 10lb 2oz.

I can well imagine how annoyed you were when your dear husband woke you up from your precious slumber to tell you about the cool storm especially as sleep is not easy.Sorry that you are still having issues but good news that your ROM is improving.I also had psoas tendinosis but mine didn't really present itself until I was 7-8 months pots op.However I injured my groin 6 weeks post op just by turning awkwardly getting off the loo.After about 3 months this seemed to improve and I had a brief period when I was ok,not a forgotton hip but just ok.I increased the activity levels and I am talking about walking only but probably too much and the psoas problem reared its ugly head.I didn't do any strengthening exercises until I was 10 months as I didn't want to stress the hip but with hindsight I should have started them much sooner as by the time I saw a physio again my muscles were very weak so you are doing the right thing in keeping up with the exercises.Like you I found the quad and psoas stretches very beneficial and still do them unless house moves,new babies or chest infections get in the way of course.

I was wondering which psoas stretches you are doing ? My psoas did improve after some time and I now do Pilates under the tutorage of a qualified physio.One thing she insist on is that I only do the first stage of the pretzel stretch ie.just placing my ankle on the opposite knee and not to try to draw knees to chest.I still get a bit of discomfort in the area but I can live with it.My problem is the other hip which is very arthritic and I am on the list for a LTHR.

I know exactly how you feel when people say you have unlucky as I have heard that on a few occasions and it made me feel very alone as everyone else around me seemed to be doing so well and I had read all about the fantastic recovery stories before I had the surgery.I really admire your honesty and the way you tell it how it is.You still have lots of time to improve and It is more likely that you will be much better as time goes on.I know you have heard this before but recovery can take up to a year which is why your surgeon won't consider a psoas release until you are one year.I hope you will see the benefit of your new hip well before then.

 

[craftdee]

O-kay. Thought it was about time I "updated", sort of kind of

I went to the physio, we decided the tendinitis has settled in but goooood she gave me a few more variations on the stretches I had and tweaked the ones I had. I have a bit more strength in my leg than I had last visit, and it was already okay, so that's tracking along nicely she asked me if I wanted to keep going to her, I asked if it was just a case of "more of the same" she smiled and said "err, pretty much" so I decided it was a waste of resources and made that my last visit... I can do "more of the same" on my own if things get worse I can go back or if I stay stalled and think she can help me I can go back - so I don't feel abandoned, just sore and sorry!

The only real downer of the visit was when I was discussing my ROM, which is still considerably less than immediately pre-op in some planes... and NOT what I was expecting at all; she said that I may never get that range back, and certainly not the range I had before OA took it away... I was, well devastated is overplaying it, but pretty down about it as my limited range of movement is one of the things that drove me to have the surgery in the first place! The pain of course played its part, but as I am not as "pain free" as expected (because of the tendinitis) I was sort of counting on the improvements in my movement to make me "tick" the surgery-was-the-answer box,

Now, I don't want this post to be come over all "Poor-Me"... the bone on bone pain IS gone, if I medicate I can probably deal with the the discomfort from the tendinitis (obviously I don't WANT to medicate, but it IS an option, whereas medicating wasn't cuttin' it pre op ), the window for improvement in ROM is open until about 12 months post surgery so there's still scope and above all I HAVE done all that I can to improve my situation... I'm not going to die wondering

I had a couple of bad days, on a bad day I really can't walk that much - it just sets it off, the horrible tightness - the glutes/hamstrings are definitely worse than the psoas now - then I had a couple of good days, barely a twinge when resting and only a dull nag when walking. If I could just figure when it's going to play up I'd be okay. ish.

We're going into the city tomorrow, The Perth International Arts Festival has an event on... the story of The Giants; a 6m high puppet of a little girl and an 11m puppet of a diver are walking the streets of the City - it's pretty awesome here's a link if you're interested (the show has been in various cities of the world, the story is adapted for each city) The thing is the streets are closed, so we're going to park at my son's office in Northbridge and walk down into the city... 4 or 5 km walk, couple of hours on my feet then walk back... so it's MEDICATING time, methinks

Congratulations @Kim22 on the birth of your Grandson... GOOD weight indeed! It's great that you got to spend time with the family at such a special time Hope your chest infection is all cleared up now, I'm an asthmatic so I know how debilitating they can be... we're in a "good" time of year for asthmatics - and OA

here's a pic of the psoas stretch I've found the most effective... bad leg hanging; it's uncomfortable but works... if it's too uncomfortable you can hang both your legs over the end of the bed instead of the operated leg over the side like this. I only do the first part of the pretzel stretch, no way I can bring my knee up towards my chest. My other hip is on it's last hurrah too, my OS said "this year" but a) he's in Canada until next February and I'd like him to do it and b) I'm not sure it's bad enough to risk having another recovery that's less, shall we say fulfilling, than I'd like... I may just wait until it's dire just in case! If the tendinitis improves I may well reassess... but David's still "my man" so Feb would be the earliest.

That's it for today

Happy Healing everyone
Donna

 

[Kim22]

Thank you @craftdee for your update.I really appreciate reading them like so many of your other BS friends as they are very comprehensive as well as being totally honest.Thank you for showing me your most effective psoas stretch I have always done the kneeling one but I am sure that my body would appreciate a change so I will try yours. I have done it in the past but not consistently as it was more painful than the kneeling one.

It sounds like you have made the right decision regarding the physio especially as you were not doing anything new and having to fund the sessions yourself.As you say you can always go back if you need to.I was discharged from my NHS physio when I reached the same point but encouraged to start the Pilates by Physiotherapy classes to try and work on my core strength.Sorry that your other hip is objecting like mine is but the "good" hips take a lot of strain supporting the bad one through surgery and beyond.I can relate to you when you take comfort in knowing that you yourself have done all you can do to improve the tendinitis.I also think that by doing the stretches consistently and keeping up with the swimming to strengthen your muscles you will continue to improve.I love your pool by the way.We couldn't have an outdoor pool where I live as the weather hardly gets warm enough for outside swimming ! Has your surgeon given the go ahead for breast stroke ? Mine advised against it so I do the crawl which is a great cardio workout at least but I stick to 2 lots of 10 mins at the moment.Of course I only manage it once a week.We are members of a leisure club in a hotel.We also swim in the pool at our holiday park but as it is on the North Northumberland coast it is even colder so that is also indoors too.I would swim more often if I had one at home but no chance lol.

I hope you have a great time at The Giants performance.It looks like good fun ! It does sound like you will be on your feet a lot.I hope you are able to take a seat from time to time to give both your hips a break.My son had a lodger from Perth last year who was a nice lad.He was a cricketer who spent our summer coaching and playing for our village cricket club.Apparently they are recruiting a Kiwi for this year.

We were very lucky to spend so much time with my daughter, her husband and 2 boys.We also have a two year old grandson Jack who is adorable and we were able to care for him when she had Henry.They live in Cheshire which is about 130 miles away so not too bad.We will return when I am fully recovered from this rotten chest infection.

Thanks again for your update and it is great news to hear that you have a bit more strength in the leg.This is really positive for you.Keep us up to date when you can.

Kim

 

[HollyB]

Everything @Kim22 said and she said it so well! Plus thank you for the response on my thread about using ice. I've cut back a little and so far so good.

Got a question for you about physio. I looked back at your thread, which I've read through several times, to try to figure out exactly what type of exercises you were doing and how often you were doing them when you first got home. Believe I saw exercises three times a day but didn't find what they were. The reason for asking is that I'm at that early physio stage and would really like to avoid, if I can, setting up some sort of chronic pain issue. And, I'm so capable of doing that! You have mentioned several times that you thought those early exercises could have set you up for the tendinitis, tight glutes, tight hamstrings, etc. All of those issues plus groin pain and calf pain were part of my pattern before surgery. The groin pain has eased up but it's still there. Don't want to aggravate that puppy. The outside of my thigh feels o.k. so far but I'll be happy to keep it calm. I'm optimistic about the calf-- it is much better although I just have a sneaky feeling that I could mess that up, too. So, any advice you have for this stage in th recovery would be really appreciated. Thanks @craftdee for always being there with such great insight.

 

[craftdee]

Hi @HollyB thanks for your post, can't believe you waded through my thread! I just thought I'd let you know what my physio regime was... after getting the "wrath of Josephine" somewhat on your thread re the icing, I am a bit loathe to "share so I would just emphasize that these are the exercises that I did that may have exacerbated the tendinitis for me

I was doing Thigh Squeezes (bed), Hip/Knee bends (bed), Hip Abduction (bed), Bridging (bed), Seated Knee Bends, Seated Knee Extensions, Leg Lifts Forwards/Backwards, Leg Lift Sideways (standing), Standing Marches, Mini Squats, Hamstring Curls (standing) 10 reps of each, 3 times a day, which is when the "burning" first started. In an effort to address the problem I got a different physio who stopped some of the exercises, replaced the Sideways Leg Lifts with walking sideways... which was amazingly effective, didn't hurt and could be incorporated into everyday activities - like making a cuppa , added walking backwards (harder to incorporate, lol) and Step Ups....now THAT's the one I think did the most damage, and gave me a Glute/hamstring stretch that seems to have added to the discomfort too, she also gave me the psoas stretch above that I have found HAS helped that problem - at least it's stopped waking me up

In all I think it was the volume not the quality of the exercises that started the issue, the physio has said that it is just as common for rest to be beneficial as stretches... and vice versa so you (as in ME ) really do have to try each to see what works. She also has said that my glutes are a bit weak and building them up could help the tendon issues My take on it (and it is MY take) is that if you do the basics and they don't hurt, stick with that. If I were to have my time again I wouldn't add anything in for months... but that's just me and because of the tendinitis, which I am finding to be by far the hardest part of this whole thing to deal with - certainly the most painful part, the post surgery pain never came close over a 24 hr period to what this does. Building up my glutes will be done sloooooooowly

@Kim22 I am going to ramp up my core strengthening exercises too... I've always found them easy and have good abs - I am really lucky with that as I don't "hit the gym hard" by any stretch of the imagination My hubby has a sister living in Northumberland, I know the outside pool would be out of the question for you right now! When I said "I've done all I can to improve my situation" I meant having the THR in the first place, I am "better" than I was pre surgery, just not capital B Better so a bit disappointed... but like I said I decided that this was the thing to do to try to be as good as it could be, I've done it there's nothing more to be done... now I'll deal with what the solution has thrown up and wait for the capital B Better

I have a nearly two year old grandson too... and a nearly two year old granddaughter, twins whose birthday is on March 28. They live 4km (about two miles) away, they very nearly moved 200 km away before the twins were born... I think my daughter in law is VERY glad they didn't her Mum and Dad live around the corner from us, we get on well and are literally a few minutes away if needed. My son had a serious work accident (he has his own business) when the twins were ten weeks old, he lost his Great toe and its neighbour to a crush injury, was hospitalized for four weeks, in a hospital over an hour away from home... it was "all hands on deck" to help out with the babies so WE were glad they lived close! He was off work for 17 weeks altogether... this THR was a doddle compared to that experience

The Giants Experience was, tiring... it's estimated there were 600.000 people there I'm short and we placed ourselves in the "wrong" spot so didn't get a great view - and it started an HOUR late! So, we parked and walked, which was okay, stood in the HOT sun for an hour and a half, less okay, saw practically zilch, NOT okay, walked back, okay, drove to a favourite eatery and had a fabulous (albeit bit pricey) lunch with my youngest son which was LOVELY :cool: so a nice day in the end, but not for the reasons we were expecting. I took two lots of medication... just Panadol which is paracetemol or Tylenol (2 x 625mg in the morning 2 x 500mg at lunch) and my leg was pretty good. I had to have a sleep when I came home.... but that was probably the two glasses of rosé with lunch (I'm such a lightweight, I never have more than one drink!) rather than any Energy Drain issues

Feeling very relaxed right now, we've had a lovely long weekend - well there was no work for us on Thursday or Friday, so we had a "holiday in the house" weekend, with fancy movie visits, massages, lunches, trip to Kings Park for a twilight picnic tea with our lovely family .... don't worry, back to the real world tomorrow.

Happy Healing everyone
Donna :cool:

 

[Kim22]

@craftdee Hi Donna thank you for your reply.What a shame you didn't get to see more of the Giants Experience but glad that you enjoyed your lovely lunch and coped so well with all the walking and standing around.How lovely that you have twin grandchildren living 2 miles away and it must have been a Godsend to them when your so had his accident.I hope he is well recovered now.Your family have certainly been through a lot over the past couple of years.Where in Northumberland does your sister in law live ?

I agree with you that it is a good idea to work on the core as it is the core that helps to support the hips as well as the spine.I haven't made it to Pilates for a number of weeks as life, illness and snowy weather kept getting in the way but I hope to get back a week tomorrow if I can shake this chest infection off.I need to as unlike you my core is weak and I feel that everything is going south again and I have lost that awareness of my posture that I had developed.

Hi @HollyB Your recovery seems to be going really well but that like me you are finding a massive range of opinions regarding PT following hip replacement.It is getting on for two years since I had mine and I was unlucky enough to end up with psoas tendinosis.My other hip will be replaced this year so I thought I would just run through my plan for recovery which I have based on my experience alone.I think someone else has stressed that all hip replacements are unique and recoveries vary such a lot from person to person.

I plan to baby my hip for the first 3 months to allow plenty time for the soft tissues to heal.I will follow the forum's guidelines on activity progression and avoid exercise.I plan to walk only in those early days but here is the important bit I will NOT over do the walking like I did last time but only do half the steps I am capable of.At three months I will see my physio for assessment and for advice on strengthening exercises.I will take each day at a time and really endeavour not to compare my progress with anyone else.Oh and I will not use ice for the reasons you were given by your nurse and PT and because I didn't find it effective.Unless I have a huge amount of swelling in those very early days.I must add that I wouldn't do straight leg raises now never mind a few weeks after surgery.I have been advised against these by several health professionals who feel they are too aggressive after THR.The other thing that I have learnt from the past two years is patience.I had very little when I set out on this journey but I think I have mastered the art at last which hopefully will be of great benefit to me when I have the second hip done.

I should add that my leg muscles were very weak at a year as I left it too long to do the strengthening exercises and the walking in my case did not seem to be enough so that is why I have decided to see a physio around 3 months.This process of recovery is so hard to balance isn't it ? I hope this has not confused you further but just thought it may be of some benefit to you to share what I have learnt.I hope you have an excellent recovery.

 

[craftdee]

Hi @Kim22 My Sister in law - it's funny to think of her as that, I've never met her, nor has my husband as she was my Mother In Law's first child given up for adoption at birth and not "found" until she was 50! and not then until SHE registered with Jigsaw... my MIL begun the search 8 years before that. The reunion was some 16 years ago, very emotional, my MIL - who is 87 - goes to England to visit Gill at least every other year

Anyway, Gill lives in Thropton, near Rothbury (her address, as given to me by my MIL actually says Thropton, Morpeth). She used to work in the apparently-famous Three Wheat Heads Inn and lives a few doors away from there.... I think. Her daughter, son in law and kids (who live in Newcastle) came to visit us two years ago, they are really lovely people... even if we could only understand every other word they said I still find it fascinating to think of it being so cold there while so hot here. Interestingly we have MORE rain here in Perth than Newcastle does annually (850 mm vs 760 mm)... it's just over less days, and we get 3200 hours of sunshine a year versus Newcastle's 1350 :cool: The pattern has changed a lot since we came here in the early '70's, it used to be wetter in winter and very dry in summer, now it's drier in winter and still dry in summer!! We do have more "rain events" in summer now, dumping huge amounts of rain in a very short time (120 mm or nearly 5 inches in a few hours one February day some years ago, hailstorms that caused millions of dollars in damage in March 2010), things that rarely used to happen. My hubby's niece's husband was driving along the freeway when one such event hit... he'd never seen anything like it and actually pulled in to the break down lane and rang us to express his concern - at which point we expressed OUR concern about him being stationary on the Freeway

I'll be babying my next hip when I get it done too... I was walking A LOT from Day 1, because I felt able and thought it was the best thing, so I'll be pacing THAT better too.

Hope your chest infection clears up, as an asthmatic I've had my share of them and I have to say I've never enjoyed one of them

Bye for now
Donna

 

[Kim22]

@craftdee Hi Donna that is a very moving story.Both of them must have been so happy and emotional when they were reunited after all those years and they must have a good relationship now as they keep in regular contact.Of course your husband also gained an older sister and a niece with a family.Over here we have a TV programme called, " Long Lost Family " which traces and reunites family members from all over the world,usually due to adoption and it is so emotional that I cry through most of it.A happy ending for all involved in the case of your family.

Gill lives in a lovely part of the world.Thropton is in the foothills of The Cheviot Hills in the Northumberland National Park and is in one of the least populated areas of the UK.We bought a little holiday caravan nearby on the coast at Seahouses which is just down the road to Bamburgh Castle in 2009 as we loved the walking on the coast and in The Cheviots.I loved those hikes in the hills with beautiful views and such tranquility but my hip pain started the following year so the hill walking came to an end.I really hope that once the other hip is fully recovered then I will eventually be able to go hiking again.For so long the tendinitis ruled out inclines and then the other hip deteriorated.I don't mind how long it takes ( this time ) as long as eventually I will able to do it.At 6 weeks I felt so good, virtually pain free and the weather was warm and sunny after a miserable winter I was so glad to be out walking again so I did too much too soon.

Your weather does sound erratic and I think it is the same the globe over.We get very cold in the winter but the west of the country has more rain.We had a really bad storm in June 2012 With really bad flooding.There was a deep river flowing through our village instead of the normal small stream and many homes were flooded and evacuated.There were huge holes in our conservatory roof from giant hailstones.A really scary day.

The chest infection is hanging on and only marginally better.I have my last antibiotic tomorrow so may have to return to the surgery.I don't envy you being asthmatic.I have a whistling and wheezy chest which I have never had before and it is very unpleasant.I could kick myself as I didn't have a flu vaccination in the the autumn and I have had four viruses so far.My grandson was too young to get his and he has had one virus after another this year, probably because he is in nursery.We will both get those jabs come September to cut back on the number we get (I hope). Take care and I hope you see some good improvement in the hip very soon

 

[FiFi]

Hi @craftdee sounds like you have been very busy don't go over doing things as its easy to do sorry you didn't get to see a lot with the giants they looked very good you sound like you had a good time even if it was a bit tiring we will book a lunch when I come up love you fiona xxxxx

 

[craftdee]

Hi @FiFi Yup, the Giants were (for us) a GIANT disappointment No, that's not fair, it was a great feeling being part of the buzz... 600,000 people around Langley Park! It wasn't suffocating - you know I'm not a crowds person - but had a carnival atmosphere. The biggest problem was that we followed a map put out by the organizers that Chris had and it wasn't 100% accurate... so we were about 100 metres (perhaps less) away from the start of the route... in the wrong direction! so that's the closest we got; coupled with the fact that we picked a spot right behind the railings then people stood in FRONT of the railings, including a lady with a big hat and two people who put their kids on their shoulders when it started... that was it for Duck's Disease Donna We feel a bit 'ungrateful'... everyone on the TV and radio were gushing about it, ah well, they obviously didn't interview anyone on the Hill Street/Terrace Road side

It was an hour late starting too, and we got there before time so we were waiting for over an hour before it started... with the WORST didgeridoo music (what the?) and then BAGPIPES Chris wondered (loudly and many times!!) if they'd picked the world's most annoying instruments on purpose, he also asked what they could add to make it worse, I said "Adult Man Whinging", but I'm not sure he got it Look, it was a beautiful day, the city was traffic free for the duration so it gave us a completely different view of Perth and then we "did" The Brisbane for lunch - we paid, of course, Chris is goooood My butt held out pretty well, though I was more than ready to sit down by the time we got back to the car.

Talk to you later,
Donna

 

[copsham]

Hi @craftdee,
Lovely to read your post. Amazing that you had the stamina for the occasion, less than 6 moths post op.

Last night as part of my post op therapy I was reading about trips to the "Golder Outback" once again I feel as though I have been to WA and back all in a few hours!

All the best, Karen

 

[HollyB]

@craftdee and @Kim22 how in the world did I miss your posts re physio? Must have been doing Leg Lifts or something... Craftdee thank you so much for the detail on the specific exercises. I've been asked to do a few of the ones you mentioned and am familiar with the others. I'm starting to view this part of the process as being as important as the preop preparation and I'm not finding a lot of information out there about pros and cons of physio. The Physical Therapists who have come to my home have mentioned that there are protocols that they use so I'm going to follow up with them on that. I'll let you know if anything interesting comes from that. And, Kim22 I like your plan for the second hip. I actually had a Physical Therapist I worked with last year tell me that real strengthening for hips doesn't begin until at least 6 months after surgery.

The good news right now is I haven't been asked to do a lot of exercises. I've cut the reps by half and I'm not feeling any pain. I do get a little swelling in my ankle but even that is becoming less and less. I will heed your good advice on this and be careful. Right now I'm walking with my trusty walker about 200 feet in one session. Then, of course, I'm doing other walking but I don' time it or measure it. I'll start increasing that 200 slowly and see what happens.

Thanks to both of you!

 

[craftdee]

Good girl @HollyB Look, I was REALLY active from really early... I felt able so I "DID". I don't know what triggered the tendon issues, nobody really does but the one thing all parties are agreed on is the likelihood that it was overuse of those tendons... which does go back to doing so many reps of the exercises I was given in addition to the amount of walking I was doing (I literally went to the shops on the way home from the hospital, sounds stoopid now but I felt able at the time... and kinda euphoric TO feel able! I was killin' it this THR recovery thing.... mmm, I think it's called "20/20 hindsight

My physio said at the last visit that it may have happened anyway - especially the psoas as I have held my leg slightly bent for YEARS to protect the hip, so asking it to suddenly stretch to hold the leg straight may have caused it to complain AND to then do exercises... well, it's told ME I am a bit surprised at the hamstrings/glutes as I have always walked and swum a LOT, never had an issue, I did notice the other day that when I was pressing the paddle down on my mop bucket that the leg is weak up though to my butt, that was definitely NOT the case pre op so it's definitely related but how, I dunno

The thing that you just have to hold in the back of your mind is that each specialist only cares about "their" bit... when I told the OS about the psoas in the first day he just blinked at me and basically said "I do bones" So when a physio gets their teeth into you they can have blinkered vision too - especially if they are young and fit themselves, they don't really "get" that (never mind the hip) our bodies may not be up for it Like I've said before, when I was young I made other people's mistakes, now I'm older I only make my own... call me cynical

You're sensible, you'll be right, I really feel my situation is just bad luck - that is the thing with this THR lark; people really do underestimate the place luck has in it... it's often "I did this, so I got a good result" whereas you could "do this" and not have such a good result, there is definitely an element of luck in there - good and bad!

Gotta go, paperwork pending

Donna

 

[Aussie Jill]

Hi Craftdee - congrats on being on the other side. I hope you're going well now. It is a marathon! I'm looking forward to a month from now when I'll be 2 weeks post-op (23 March). I'll be in hospital for 5 days or so then a week in a rehab unit. Last time I found this to be the key for a great recovery for me. Stay well

 

[craftdee]

Thought I'd pop on here and give a bit of an update... at Five Months Out

Things are moving along, not at meteoric speed but moving! I still have the psoas problem, but it's definitely moved "down" to the realms of discomfort, I would no longer define it as "pain" so and YEEHAAA for that :cool: The hamstring/glutes "thing" is still a pain in the butt... though that's moved "down" a rung as well so little-letters yeehaaa for that

The Physio I've seen since my last visit is thinking it is more likely Piriformis Syndrome, though the symptoms of the hamstring/medius tendinitis and that are so strikingly similar I'm not sure it's not just a case of calling a rose by another name It was the tingling sensation I have and the fact that the pain radiates that seems to be the deciding factor... it's all semantics to me - I just want to know how to alleviate it, couldn't care less what it's label is I still tighten up after walking any "real" distance (for longer than about ten minutes, which really isn't far) not quite as much, but still tight. My masseuse still comments on my "velly tight" hip when she's massaging my bum :cool:

I have bought a TENS machine, I really think it's helped... though maybe it's coincidental either way I don't care, it feels good so DO IT I sayI do a couple of sessions a day, I find the one first thing most beneficial - perhaps that's because I lay down and relax for that one, and take time to put the pads in the right place, whereas in the 'lunchtime' session I just stuff the pads on under my shorts and go about my duties; must look a right sight with wires dangling from out of my shorts if you watch it while it's doin' it's thang it makes the muscle contract... so weird, it looks like I'm doing glute squeezes when I'm really doing NOTHING... if only it could tone me up that easy I'd be in clover

I can still "feel" every step, it's not painful, or even particularly uncomfortable, it just doesn't feel like the other leg/hip when I walk... which doesn't "feel" like anything if you know what I mean I don't know if it's significant, what it means at all, it's just something I've noticed and would prefer to not have to be honest - maybe one day, not the end of the world if it sticks though.

My ROM is improving it's still a way off "good" but it is getting to be close to the other leg (even though that hip's stuffed and probably isn't a shining beacon, it is still a readily available point of comparison and considerably better than the operated leg was before surgery) I actually managed to file my toenails yesterday without having the hamstring scream at me after ten seconds, so that's a step up, and I am finding that I can "twist" a bit better too... putting my operated leg out at 45 degrees sort of thing. I still struggle with the pretzel stretch for that leg, though I can now bring the foot up to just above the opposite knee without having to manhandle it there, so that's good, I just can't "lay" the operated leg out to the side - my famous number 4... so elusive

So, in short, generally good. Finally feeling it was worth it and accepting the reality of MY THR for the value it has brought, instead of seeing it's failings. Of course I do really wish it was a closer-to-ideal outcome, but I am in a better state pain and ROM wise than I was pre THR so will take that as a "successful" outcome... for the time being, it may very well improve some more; once the tendinitis or whatever it is improves I'm sure the whole thing will feel even more worthwhile.

Until next time

Happy Healing
Donna

 

[copsham]

Love the image of your wires hanging out of your shorts LOL - at least you can wear shorts rahter thn layers of winter clothes. ! I have a tens machine from a year ago when I was trying anything to avoid a hip op. Needless to say it did not help in that way. Where do you use it - either side of the muscles that need developing??? Sorry for my ignorance but I cannot find my instruction booklet.
Good to read of positive your developments in your post
Karen X

 

[craftdee]

Hi Karen @copsham. I've GOT my instruction booklet and it's not that much use All a bit "zen" if you ask me I'm not using it to develop muscle but to relieve the discomfort of the tendinitis... so "where" to use it is proving to be really easy to find... the bits that HURT I do shuffle the pads around the area a bit until it feels like it's "connecting" with the right nerves/muscles/tendons/WHATEVER once it "feels right" there they stay! The only instruction I was given when I bought it was to NOT put the pads on my spine. It has four pads so sometimes I'll do the front of my thigh/groin (for the psoas) and the back of my thigh/bum for the piriformis/glutes/hamstring thing Sometimes I just do "one" side at a time. There is a diagram of "pressure points" and what the perceived benefit of using them at those sites is, when I'm not psoas and bum obsessed I'll have a go at THEM... I'll let you know how I go

I am really glad to be wearing light clothing... I've been in "light" clothes since the op and it's been a godsend; taking minimum effort to get dressed and (especially early in recovery) being easy to go to the bathroom etc. I do think bad weather and the limitations that puts on you would make recovery more difficult, well it would for me. My swimming has been my saviour too, so that's another big plus for me having my surgery when I did... and it does make me think that it is the best time of year when it comes time to "do" the other hip... just hopefully NOT this year!

Happy Healing
Donna