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Friday, my doctor told me something strange...

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cutter

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I was thinking I was going to ace this thing, coz I'm 52, and had talked to
80+ people that had done so well.
My doctor said, because of my age, my nervous system would send more profound messages of pain and discomfort to my brain than an older person. He said some surgeons don't want to work on younger patients because they were "harder" to deal with PO situations. He said that older people had "older" nerves, muscles, etc...that weren't as well engaged (if you will), and so they had less to deal with.
Does this sound reasonable?
 
Hi Cutter, Yes, I have heard similar things. I was 46 for the first tkr and definitely recovered slower then most but I did recover. Most of the older crowd at physical therapy had me beat. I was very determined and worked hard, too. Who knows why? It was very frustrating.

But, if you hang around here long enough, you will hear from other people from the "younger" crowd that will tell you they healed exceptionally fast. I would have to say that age can't always be the determining factor.
 
What I was told was that younger more active patients have issues because they push too hard. We are not good at sitting around waiting to heal so we end up with more swelling and discomfort. Your body will yell at you for doing too much but unfortunately it is after you have done it. ;)
I have been told I will have 0 restrictions, she said I can put my foot up around my ear if I so choose but that I will not want to.;) Kind of a good news bad news scenario. The Good news- You can do what you feel comfortable doing but the bad news- if you do too much you will pay for it.

donna
 
I was thinking I was going to ace this thing, coz I'm 52, and had talked to
80+ people that had done so well.
My doctor said, because of my age, my nervous system would send more profound messages of pain and discomfort to my brain than an older person. He said some surgeons don't want to work on younger patients because they were "harder" to deal with PO situations. He said that older people had "older" nerves, muscles, etc...that weren't as well engaged (if you will), and so they had less to deal with.
Does this sound reasonable?

So does this doctor want to do the surgery on you or is he laying some sort of smoke screen? I'm 52 as well, and I can sympathize with your plight. My wife is a PT and works with hip replacements day in and day out. She does not paint a rosy picture of the pain that I will go through to have this done. Just tonight we were talking because I spent the last couple of days working outside and my hips are in revolt. She is telling me that its between 6-12 weeks before I am back to most activities, but 6-12 months before I will be past most of the pain. But what are the alternatives? Live with the pain and reduced mobility or avoid doing anything that will aggravate the hips? Neither option is all that great in my opinion. At least if I have the surgery, I have a light at the end of the tunnel.
 
I'm 47 and had hip surgery about 5 weeks ago. I logged every pain pill every day.

Everyone is different, but starting at 3 weeks I was off the strong stuff and after approx. 4 weeks I haven't taken any pain pills at all. For about the week before I did take it after exercise or PT but not otherwise.
 
I'm 2 weeks out from TKR.
I had a horrible time with pain control while in the hospital. The nurses who "cared" (I use the word care loosely...) for me kept comparing the 82 yr old lady in the bed next to me (I'm 44) as my pain was horrible and she hardly requested any pain meds.
My doctor later confirmed this theory of old vs young... would love it if he shared the info with the hospital staff!

I'm hardly using anything now, maybe 1 percocet / day to take the edge off therapy...
 
I was 27 when I had my first hip hip done & honestly the post op pain was nothing in comparison to the pain I'd had before so me needed little pain relief. I was 51 on my last revision surgery in November last year - and I had no post op pain, only took paracetamol in hospital, and not sure I really needed that. Maybe it has reduced over the years, or do I now know what to expect, or is it the fisrt point I made - so much in pain prior to op, little pain after?

This goes to show we are all different and all our pain levels and expectations vary.

Karen
 
I'm a 35 year old active female, and had THR 3 months ago and feel FABULOUS. No trouble with pain, swelling or the recovery. I'm doing great. Ginny
 
That is fantastic, Ginny. I am so pleased for you.
 
[Bonesmart.org] Friday, my doctor told me something strange...
 
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