THR Equestrian's recovery with Ehlers Danlos

[Layla]

Great update!
I hope the groin pain eases, or icing at least brings you some relief.
I‘ll bet you notice a lot of progress over the next three weeks and you’ll receive an encouraging assessment from your surgeon on the 21st.
Keep up the good work, No crutches, YAY!
@PolarIce

 

[Mojo333]

Great to hear you are doing well...Onward and Upward

 

[Hip4life]

This is wonderful. Before surgery, it seemed hard to believe you’d get to this day, didn’t it? I know it’s hard to be patient, but continue to try. As you are finding, our new hips have no problem reminding us that they’re still healing. Ice is still your best friend. Blessings for continued good healing!

 

[CricketHip]

Yay for you! It's a big deal when you experience some pain free days and movements. That darn groin pain was never shy about letting me know that I overdid things.

Loved hearing about your new saddle, too.. that is huge!

 

[Layla]

Happy One Month Anniversary! I hope you’re feeling stronger week by week.
Have a wonderful Thursday.
@PolarIce

 

[Elf1]

Hope you're getting better everyday @PolarIce

 

[PolarIce]

Doing incredibly well! Today marks 6 weeks!

That deep groin pain that really worried me is gone. I remember I was so worried about that deep groin pain. It went away completely about 10 days agp, when I started being more used to walking without an aid.

I literally have zero pain now as far as living life, however I can definitely tell I am still VERY weak in that leg which is ok. I know that now these are things that will come with time. I introduced dog walks today which one lap to the dog park is almost 1.5kms. I cannot believe all this to be honest.

I have sat in my saddle on a rack at home a few times, sitting cross legged(don't kill me, surgeon did say I had no restrictions), and can now lift my leg to put on pants without using my hands and arms for support. I can also tie my shoes now, socks without issues, though at this point I have a lot of work to become more flexible still LOl!

I have my surgeon follow up on Monday next week. Dying to see the xray. I have not seen it yet.

 

[Layla]

Sounds like you’re coming along nicely at six weeks post op. I hope you feel stronger and steadier on your feet, week by week.
Best Wishes for your appointment on Monday!
@PolarIce

 

[Mojo333]

Getting over the humps of recovery.... definitely a process.
Glad you are feeling encouraged... Lots of better times ahead.

 

[Giddsy1]

Excellent update Polarice, Brill stuff.
Happy 6 weeks anniversary.

 

[Elf1]

@PolarIce Happy 6 Weeks! Sounds like you're doing well, just continue to take it slow and steady!

 

[newguy]

Sounds just like I was at 6 weeks. It gets so much better in another 6 weeks!! Oh the xray is so KOOL!!!!

 

[PolarIce]

I had my 6 week follow up. He said I am doing amazing, however there is indeed a LLD happening. It's relatively minor, and he said he wants to see how another 6 weeks or rehab will do with it. He said there is a chance we may have to look at a small insole(but I'm not worried. Small life requirement compared to the agony I was in before).

He said I have a great range of motion BUT I did get the third degree a little bit, because I am doing a little too much for the stage of recovery I am in. He said I REALLY need to settle down and be VERY GENTLE to the joint at this stage. I have to wait another 6 weeks before I can start riding. All I am doing right now is gentle physio exercises and lots of walking which I increase daily to build more and more stamina in that leg. Right now 1 lap at the dog park is all I can handle before I start getting tired enough to bring the limp back(1.3km roughly).

They did not do an xray at this appt but will be at the next one. He did give me the in-operative xray which shows the permanent ball, but the surgical stem he was using to create the placement of my permanent stem(you will notice the jagged edges in the xray that my permanent stem does not have). I was super thrilled to see this. To me it helps picture in my mind what I have to work with, and why I have to behave at this stage.

 

[Layla]

Great report! I’ll bet you felt good afterward. It’s always comforting to get a nod from the surgeon that all looks well. If you don’t mind me asking and for the benefit of others in early recovery, I’m wondering what you’re doing that your surgeon feels is too much at this stage of the healing process?
Thanks for sharing, I hope you have a great week!
@PolarIce

 

[PolarIce]

My goal is to be able to get back on a horse and start training that way. I asked him if I could resume strength exercises to get ready for that or attend the gym-and thats where I got in trouble.

The only thing I should be doing is walking and treating the joint very gently in these early stages of healing instead of already shooting for a strength workout program that is not physio guided. He then re-enforced that I should be treating the new joint very gently right now, and not push it while it is still healing.

...something I am not good at, as it's feeling better and better all the time. Hard to stick to that when you went from extreme pain to essentially nothing(other than the normal occasional rehab stiffness etc).

 

[Giddsy1]

happy 7 wks polarice.

your recovery is coming on great.

 

[PolarIce]

Happy 8 weeks and 4 days @Giddsy1!

I thought I would share the beginning portion of my exercises with my physio. Not sure if anyone else will find this helpful. She made a huge point to say that I need to really massage the incision and the muscles around it, to help it heal with by increasing circulation, and help soften the scar tissue.

 

[Giddsy1]

Quality

Happy 8 weeks and 4 days to you too.


Anything to aid safe recovery is brill for me.

Thanks Polarice.

 

[Mojo333]

@PolarIce
You sound to be doing So Well.
I'm glad you are finding physical therapy helpful and I also had a great PT that I began after 3 1/2 months.

I actually dropped these exercises early days when they were too much too soon and were causing discomfort.
Especially the ones with bands.
Just as a caution for other new hippies... that not all benefit from the same protocols.

With PT, I realize there are criterion based phases of rehab through which patients can progress based on their ability to master exercises within each phase.
Often what I find difficult to understand about exercise protocols, as we are all different, is which patient will benefit from the exercises and at what stage of healing?
The confusion lies not in the protocols themselves, which seem to be consistently generic, but often the lack of connection to individual recoveries.
There is a huge degree of variability in conditions that result in hip pain or progress to arthroscopic procedures and I struggle with the idea that all can wake from the anaesthetic and embark on the same clinical pathway.

 

[PolarIce]

I actually dropped these exercises early days when they were too much too soon and were causing discomfort.
Especially the ones with bands.
Just as a caution for other new hippies... that not all benefit from the same protocols.

Thank you for posting that, because that was the best advice I ever got before I had surgery, and I followed it in the first few stages of healing-and it was the BEST ADVICE that I ever got. I think it's really important to bring this up with anyone reading any of the posts on this forum.
I also was given some exercises that were just too much for the hip. I stopped them immediately and would go back to the range of motion exercises. I am now just over 2 months and only now am I finding it possible to do strength exercises finally, without feeling in agony the next day. If anything it's normal, light stiffness from the progression of my recovery.

Always progress on your own healing scale. Not 2 people are the same, and I am so grateful that I followed that advice, because you can see a clear difference in your physical health as you progress.