THR Bad move two years after dislocation

motogirl

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I had my surgery on 8/27/19 and although it was a lateral posterior and not the anterior I thought I was having, the only restriction I had was to not cross my legs. I did very well afterward...my recovery was perfect until this past Sunday, 10/13, when I bent down and found myself experiencing the indescribable agony of a dislocation. Fortunately, they were able to put it back in place at the emergency room with no difficulty. I am now under the usual precautions and have little pain, although there is some slight swelling.
But my mental anguish is brutal. I am in terror of it happening again and am so afraid that I won't heal properly and make a full recovery. I wonder if anyone else has recovered fully and regained complete quality of life after a dislocation and, if so, what they had to do to achieve it? Please excuse me in advance for this...I don't want to seem heartless, but I am experiencing severe trauma and am in need of reassuring information only. I am receiving therapy for pstd due to this incident. I was alone in the house when it happened. Thank you so much for understanding. I had looked at this site when I was initially recovering and saw how caring and helpful everyone is, and and am grateful that it is here.
 
Hello and Welcome to BoneSmart. Thanks for joining us!
I'm sorry to read of your dislocation incident and resulting high anxiety that it will occur again. Please try to relax and have confidence that you will make it through this.

You can heal properly after dislocation, making a full recovery and regain complete quality of life. You can't live in fear that it will happen again. All you can do is follow precautions to the letter for the allotted time prescribed. I can only imagine how frightening it was being alone when the dislocation happened and the resulting trip to the ER to have it manipulated back into place. My heart goes out to you in this, but please realize this isn't a pre-cursor of things yet to come, but most likely just a blip on the screen.

I'm leaving the Recovery Guidelines and ICING is one of the suggestions I'd begin following as it will help with pain and the swelling you mentioned.

You will find a lot of support on the forum through encouragement so please don't be a stranger here. Stop by as often as you need to, someone is always around.

Sending hugs and wishes for your comfort and peace of mind. I hope today is a good one!


Hip Recovery: The Guidelines
1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now, they are almost certainly temporary
2. Control discomfort:
rest
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)​
3. Do what you want to do BUT
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.
4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these
5. At week 4 and after you should follow this
6. Access to these pages on the website

Pain management and the pain chart
Healing: how long does it take?
Chart representation of THR recovery

Dislocation risk and 90 degree rule
Energy drain for THRs
Pain and swelling control: elevation is the key
Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

BIG TIP: Hips actually don't need any exercise to get better. They do a pretty good job of it all on their own if given half a chance. Trouble is, people don't give them a chance and end up with all sorts of aches and pains and sore spots. All they need is the best therapy which is walking and even then not to excess.

We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery.

While members may create as many threads as they like in a majority of BoneSmart's forums, we ask the at each member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice. @motogirl
 
Hi @motogirl and :welome: to the nicest group of hippys I know.
I'm sorry you had the dislocation and all the anxiety it must have and still has caused you.
Layla said all the best things and I agree with her.
I hope things are all smooth sailing from here on out.
Take things slow and easy and one day at a time....
We will be rooting for you.
 
Thank you so much, Moji333! I feel much more at peace already. Plus saw physical therapist today and he assured me that as long as I follow precautions, I will heal and then I'll recover fully.

I had looked at this site after my surgery to see if muscle pain in the nonsurgical leg was common. I wish I had taken note of following precautions then, and not relied on the surgeon's assurance that I only needed to avoid crossing my legs. They really CAN'T be dispensed with. I was lucky that my incident wasn't worse. I can see how easily it could have been...it could have been tragic. Everyone about to have these surgeries should be made aware of this site so that they are aware of this, and all the other goid common sense info it provides.
 
Hi,
I'm happy to read you're feeling better. Sometimes talking
through fears with others helps relieve our anxiety. When you're feeling anxious, stop by and we'll try our best to offer encouragement
and help cheer you up. :)

Following are a couple of articles from the BoneSmart Library you may find interesting.
I hope you have a peaceful evening!


 
@motogirl :hi:

What a horrible thing to go through, and I can't even imagine how you handled calling for help when you were alone when it happened. That tells me you are strong and will get through this. I believe.. :)
Isn't it amazing how just finding Bonesmart helps ease the anxiety and worries??
Hopefully you've had time to read through some of the recovery articles that Layla left for you.
It will be very interesting to follow your journey to a strong, healthy hip!!
 
We are so vulnerable following a major surgery where we are in uncharted territory in terms of the recovery process and what we should/shouldn't/can/can't do. We also are dealing with surgical pain, having medication we aren't used to in our system, and a host of other challenges. This is true to a certain degree in everyone I've known following a hip replacement. Add in your dislocation and it's no wonder you are worrying.

But as Layla mentioned, it's unlikely it would happen again. Continually worrying about it may actually delay your healing because our frame of mind affects us in so many ways. I have noticed a wide variation in terms of what our surgeons, and the research says in terms of many aspects of recovery, and complications seem to be rare, but when you are the one they happened to, it must feel overwhelming. I'm glad to hear you are talking to someone about your stress. I really think by taking it easy, pampering yourself, and not dwelling on that mishap, you will slowly, and steadily make gains.:flwrysmile:
 
Wow! I could almost feel your pain on reading at what took place. I cringed just thinking of what you would have experienced. Sounds like your one tough cookie! I believe that you just have to think of this as being day one of your recovery and know that each ensuing day you will be better. Like the guidelines mention, "take it slow and easy". Unfortunately you were given, what I would call "bad advice" regarding post-op precautions, but that's in the past and you now good advice moving forward. All the best in your "new recovery".
 
:hi:@motogirl
How are things going for you?
I hope you had a nice weekend and the week is starting out on a pleasant note. Would love to hear how you're doing next time you're on the forum.
Until then....all the best to you!
 
Hi @motogirl and :welome: to the nicest group of hippys I know.
I'm sorry you had the dislocation and all the anxiety it must have and still has caused you.
Layla said all the best things and I agree with her.
I hope things are all smooth sailing from here on out.
Take things slow and easy and one day at a time....
We will be rooting for you.
 
@motogirl

My thoughts are with you. I'm just a few days behind you (9/6 op date) and I'm worry so much about a dislocation as I try to resume normal life. I'm glad to hear that ER could get your hip back in place but I can only image how scary and painful it must have been for you. I hope you have no further incidents and that it didn't set back your recovery.

It's kind of frustrating how quickly the people around you expect you to just get back to normal, at least that's been my experience. So, I do some things that I often am wary about doing just because if I don't, no one else will. Please try to take it easy and not push too hard....I'll try and do the same.
:)
 
Hey @motogirl
Already two weeks tomorrow. I hope you've had a good week.
We'd love to hear all about your progress when you have a minute to share.
With any luck your pain is minimal, well managed and you're resting comfortably.
Best wishes for a peaceful relaxing weekend!
 
To Layla, Mojo333, CricketHip, Debru4, RMJD6, pumpkin, and kfisher119.

Thank you for all your kind words and encouragement. I had trouble replying to messages when I was on my iPhone, but am on the desktop now and hoping that this will reach everyone. Your support has meant a lot to me.

I am not feeling encouraged after interacting with my surgeon, who I saw in person on Monday and have exchanged emails with both before and after our visit. It seems that I have to follow precautions for the rest of my life, or risk another dislocation. Is this the same protocol for others, even those who have not dislocated? Or are you allowed to move freely after a certain point? He also is not particularly sympathetic. I wouldn't care, if healing means that I can put this behind me but when it's coupled with how I was not told to avoid certain moves (which I gladly would have done, had I known), it's super distressing. My instructions specifically said that I had no movement restrictions.

I am encouraged by @pumpkln's message about her friend's experience. May I ask, Pumpkin, does he still have to monitor his movements or is his hip stable enough that he can just live his life? Are there any other people who dislocated who can share their experiences? I feel like I'm doomed to be nearly an invalid, who can't ever bend over again to pick up something off the floor, or tie her own shoes or put on socks, etc.

Am sorry to be so blue. I wish I had better news. He said that if I move that way again, at any time for the rest of my life, I will likely dislocate again.

Also, does anyone know what happens to the soft tissues when a dislocation occurs?
 
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Hi @motogirl
I'm sorry you're feeling discouraged with the direction you received from your surgeon on Monday and for your inability to establish a good rapport with him due to his approach. I'm sure you didn't feel reassured after your meeting.

Lifetime precautions for a single dislocation sounds a bit excessive to me. As you would expect, the risk is highest for the first several weeks but tapers off over the first half year. However, there's never a time when we're totally free of dislocation risk and that applies to a natural hip also.

I'm tagging @Pumpkln for you since you accidentally tagged an old member with the forum name (Pumpkin) Pumpkln may miss your tag due to the misspelling. No worries, I've made this mistake with her name several times myself. Let's see if she or others have any consolation to offer you.

Wishing you comfort and peace!
 
Also, does anyone know what happens to the soft tissues when a dislocation occurs?
I suspect it is both stretched on one side, and pushed against on on the other. In any case your soft tissue will need a bit of time to settle down.

It has been over 5 years since my friend had his THR/dislocation, so far as I know he is living life. I have not talked to him in awhile, so do not know if he is following any precautions.

Your best outcome will be following the precautions for a year+, letting the healing scar mature and reach it's maximum strength. Then revisit the question with your OS, right now he is being cautious so you can heal.

Bending over to pick something up, use the Golfers Reach here is a link to some information about the Golfers Reach. https://woman.thenest.com/golfers-lifting-technique-2404.html

You can ask for a referral to an OT who can help you with tying your shoes and other activities of daily living.
 

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