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Finally had enough pain

@CricketHip Spot on and thank you for this reminder about new shoes! My old shoes already feel all wrong - I would guess from the PT - and I haven’t even had surgery yet! I appreciate your thoughtful feedback:)
 
Just finished surgery pre-op testing and was told that I will not need blood thinners, just aspirin, and best of all - NO TEDS!:happydance: My ekg was normal, just need the blood test results and it's a green light. There were two other THR candidates in my joint class today who had never heard of Bonesmart - well they know now!
 
Another issue that arose in pre-op was the use of icing machines. I have reserved one for a month post-op, but the nurse who ran the joint class was very much against them. She claims that there is a higher incidence of infections when those are used. I told her that I will be buying a new cuff, so that the area that touches my leg will never have been used by anyone else, but she was still very negative. She insisted that regular ice packs would be enough and that I would have no trouble going to the freezer and back to replace them. My freezer is on the main floor, my bedroom 12 steps away on the second floor and my doctor does not want me doing stairs more than once a day for the first week. While my husband will be home, he is a very deep sleeper and will not hear my calling him or his cell phone ringing. Any advice/opinions?
 
On behalf of BoneSmart, thank you for spreading the word about the site. It's greatly appreciated!
Great news on the pre-op. It sounds like you're ready to roll :yay: once you get the word on your labs.

A small cooler bedside to hold some extra ice packs could work in a pinch, or for when hubby is napping.

No TEDS is awesome. You'll have other peeps jealous over that one.
Happy Monday....have a great week!
@enoughpain
 
@Layla Thanks for the quick response. The only thing that concerns me is the nurse's comment on the higher incidence of infection with icing machines. Do you know of any studies on that?
 
Hi again,
I have never read that until you mentioned it. Let's see if Nurse @Josephine has ever heard that...
I've tagged her and will look forward to her response.
I'm going to look online also, out of curiosity.
 
Could the nurse you mentioned be confused by what she's heard, or read, and mistaking ice machines
that make / store ice we use in beverages with cold therapy ice machines?

I can't find anything online to back up her comments. Possibly others will offer some commentary on her
warning. If it were me, I'd do what you've suggested, buy a new pad, or cuff, or whatever it's called. I'm not really familiar as I only used frozen gel packs, but many here use the ice therapy machines.
@enoughpain
 
@Layla Thanks so much, Layla. I'm encouraged that you couldn't find anything online to back up her comments. She knew I was talking about the ice therapy machines. Do you recall how many gel packs you had at hand? I have three, but wondering if I should get more.
 
I had 3 or 4 gel packs. But I had a favorite that I used most often. The surgery center sent me home with it.
It was large and that's why I loved it. It consisted of two blue gel ice packs that were about 10 x 5 each.
They each fit into a separate pocket of flannel fabric sewn down the middle, with a Velcro closure at the top. You could leave it wide open to cover a very large area, 10 x 10 or fold it in half which I did while falling asleep because it stayed cold longer due to the thickness when folded in half. If you sew, or know someone who does, you could easily make one.

I loved it and was an icing fanatic. I really believe in icing. I was thankful the surgery center I went through provided it from the beginning. Hope this helps!
@enoughpain
 
@Layla Thanks so much for the guidance. After everything I've read on the forums I was hoping to be an icing fanatic as well. Just not sure the logistics of my house will allow for that without the machine.
 
I think you'd be fine with an ice therapy machine. :thumb:
Let's see what Jo says...if what the nurse said has really confused you, I'd call the office of your OS and ask to talk to his Pysician Assistant, or someone on his care team.
 
enoughpain said:
the nurse who ran the joint class was very much against them. She claims that there is a higher incidence of infections when those are used.
Click to expand...
What absolute tosh! I've never heard of anything like this and never seen any research about it either. Some of these nurses do have a tendency to just give an opinion right off the top of their head without any backup whatsoever. If you ever see her again (or your surgeon) ask if there are any scientific/research articles they can give you links to.
 
Never heard anything like that about an icing machine. I was on one at the hospital right after surgery and it was my parting gift for participating in the hip replacement game. I don't see how people do it without one. I could ice around the clock continuously. It doesn't come in direct contact with your skin, just like an ice pack. Mine is a Breg Polar Pack and 4 frozen bottles of water in it worked for hours.
 
If Josephine says it's "tosh" then you better believe her, @enoughpain! I am no medical expert at all, but it sounded silly to me, too. So, I'd say check with your surgeon and then if no problems there, get a machine and use it as much as you can. I am too cheap to buy one, and did okay with rotating ice packs (four of them in the freezer and one in constant use for at least the first week or so.
 
@Eman85 and @Barbaraj Thanks for your comments. I want to be able to ice as often as needed at night without trying to wake up my husband or attempt 12 steps down and 12 steps back up to retrieve a new pack. I'm not buying one Barbara, I'm renting it for a month. The only part I will buy is a new sleeve so that the part that touches my leg will not have been used by anyone else. And of course I believe Josephine!
 
My physical therapist talked to me at some length about the healing role of inflammation. So, I asked him to comment about the value of icing to reduce swelling and deaden pain, and how to balance those two priorities. He encouraged me to alternate periods of icing with periods away from icing. This is very consistent with BoneSmart’s instructions for icing. I am not a medical professional, either, but I am having trouble figuring out a reason why ice packs would be acceptable but icing machines would not...
 
@Ptarmigan Thanks for sharing your PT's comments. The nurse running the joint class was adamant that icing machines lead to a higher infection rate. When I suggested that it shouldn't happen in my case as I was purchasing a new cuff which no one else had used she "dug in her heels" and insisted that she was right. Now that I have had the benefit of comments from those here on the forum, I have decided to get the machine and just be grateful that she will not be caring for me during my recovery.
 
I’m not a medical person either but the whole ice machine thing doesn’t seem to make any sense to me either. I didn’t use one but I did ice a lot. I had about 4 or 5 of the gel packs and kept one on almost all the time during the day the first week or two. I took one to bed but didn’t replace it during the night. I never did have a super lot of swelling but whether it was just me or if the ice helped, I have no idea but if I had to do it again, I’d still ice just as much and if offered a machine, I’d probably take it. My husband is retired so he was right there to get me ice packs and it worked just fine. Wishing you well....
 
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