NewCreature
new member
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2020
- Messages
- 4
- Age
- 59
- Country
- United States
- Gender
- Male
I am new here but am thrilled to have a place to go to talk about my THR issue. First a little background.
I had my right hip replaced when I was 49 (anterior approach). I spent two nights in the hospital and I was about 75% after 4 weeks and good as new with no complications after 6 months. I would go weeks at a time without even thinking about it.
Fast forward to February when I got my left hip replace, also via anterior approach. This time, I did my surgery on an outpatient basis. Surgery at 8am, home by 5pm. Pretty incredible. I started up PT after 4 days and was as strong at two weeks as I was after 6 weeks of PT my first time around. COVID hit, so my PT said that because I was doing so well, I could just continue my exercises at home. At two months, I was back to full strength, though still trying to take it a bit easy. I am a computer guy, so I spend 8-10 hours per day at a desk, so I probably didn't get as much exercise as I did the first time around.
At about 4 months, I started getting some bone pain mid-thigh, about where the stem tip is. Over the course of 3 weeks it progressively got worse, to the point where I need to go back to a cane. Fearing loosening of my implant, I went to my OS. Xrays all looked normal. ESR and CRP were completely normal, so there is very little risk of infection. Because the pain isn't getting any better, my OS is suggesting a bone scan, cat scan, and aspiration to check for infection. Seems like overkill given studies have show that ESR and CRP are very sensitive and diagnostic for implant infection.
The best way I have found to describe pain, and what makes me think it is an "end of stem" issue is this...I can balance with 100% of my weight on my troublesome leg just fine, with little or no pain. However, when I shift my weight off that leg to my other leg, the pain is 8/10 for about 2 seconds. It radiates down toward my knee and up into my pelvic region.
I am inclined to wait out the pain for a few months to see if it is just a combination of a nerve coming back to life and the bone growing around the end of the stem. I figure if it is an infection, it will get worse and the likely outcome is a revision. If it is something else, it will stay the same or improve. I am wondering though, if it is just end of stem pain and/or micro-movement, is weight-bearing exercise good or bad for it. I read somewhere that if it is micro-movements, the bone won't grow and resolve the problem as long as the micro-movements are happening.
Thoughts?
Mike
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I had my right hip replaced when I was 49 (anterior approach). I spent two nights in the hospital and I was about 75% after 4 weeks and good as new with no complications after 6 months. I would go weeks at a time without even thinking about it.
Fast forward to February when I got my left hip replace, also via anterior approach. This time, I did my surgery on an outpatient basis. Surgery at 8am, home by 5pm. Pretty incredible. I started up PT after 4 days and was as strong at two weeks as I was after 6 weeks of PT my first time around. COVID hit, so my PT said that because I was doing so well, I could just continue my exercises at home. At two months, I was back to full strength, though still trying to take it a bit easy. I am a computer guy, so I spend 8-10 hours per day at a desk, so I probably didn't get as much exercise as I did the first time around.
At about 4 months, I started getting some bone pain mid-thigh, about where the stem tip is. Over the course of 3 weeks it progressively got worse, to the point where I need to go back to a cane. Fearing loosening of my implant, I went to my OS. Xrays all looked normal. ESR and CRP were completely normal, so there is very little risk of infection. Because the pain isn't getting any better, my OS is suggesting a bone scan, cat scan, and aspiration to check for infection. Seems like overkill given studies have show that ESR and CRP are very sensitive and diagnostic for implant infection.
The best way I have found to describe pain, and what makes me think it is an "end of stem" issue is this...I can balance with 100% of my weight on my troublesome leg just fine, with little or no pain. However, when I shift my weight off that leg to my other leg, the pain is 8/10 for about 2 seconds. It radiates down toward my knee and up into my pelvic region.
I am inclined to wait out the pain for a few months to see if it is just a combination of a nerve coming back to life and the bone growing around the end of the stem. I figure if it is an infection, it will get worse and the likely outcome is a revision. If it is something else, it will stay the same or improve. I am wondering though, if it is just end of stem pain and/or micro-movement, is weight-bearing exercise good or bad for it. I read somewhere that if it is micro-movements, the bone won't grow and resolve the problem as long as the micro-movements are happening.
Thoughts?
Mike
<><