THR Hip hip hooray - Jane's new hip story!

[bellaroma]

Glad there was nothing serious. Good Luck on going back to work on Friday, try to pace yourself if you can, and have your house and cooking undercontrol so maybe you can just relax when you first get home

 

[JaneyGS]

Now at almost 15 weeks since my operation and five weeks since I think I overdid it at pilates. I am still needing to use the stick for any decent length walks as I still lurch slightly when walking. I'm not sure now if this is from weakness in my leg or the fact that my legs are now the same length which they weren't before. I seem to have a permanant ache along the front of my hip / thigh where I think the hip flexors are. It is less when I take pain killers (diclofenec and paracetamol) but I'm not taking them all the time - should I be when I am this far out? I've not really been doing any specific exercises since I hurt myself at pilates and I think the muscles have got better but the pain is still there so I'm wondering if I should start to go back to the exercises anyway and maybe add some specific ones to deal with the hip flexors. Any advice woudl be great.

On the bright side, I went in the sea yesterday for a bit of body boarding (New Years Day in the UK means full wetsuit!) and it was great to be out there doing something for the first time since the operation and feeling really good! The waves and the cold meant I hardly noticed my hip. Most difficult thing was getting in and out of the wetsuit!

Jane

 

[C Mac]

Hi Jane,

Maybe alexthecat could give you some exercise/stretch suggestions for your hip flexors and also to help with crossing the foot over on top of your leg (I saw you mention having trouble with that in Ann's thread).

Sounds like you've been doing well between pilates class and surfing at 4 months!! I had a long period of adaptation to the change in the angle of my hip after THR and a lot of muscle rebellion. At 4 months I don't think I'd been thrown out of physical therapy yet...

Take care,
Cardie

 

[JaneyGS]

I only had 3 physio appointments in the first 6 weeks after the op but I phoned and went back last week as I was worried about the soreness in my hip flexors and the slowness in the ROM coming back. She said that I just need to work on my strength to improve the hip flexor pain and that the ROM should come back with time. I need to be careful on the crossing legs type stretches as it is movement in two directions at once so I'm focusing on getting the flexion back with things like prayer stretch and forward bends and getting the outward movement with things like cobblers pose. Then every now and again I just carefully see how close I can get to cross legged! It seems that patience is the thing...

Jane

 

[Anniepops]

Wow Janey, body boarding eh.....you are a supergirl It must have been freezing brrrrr you were very brave to go in the sea. I can imagine the struggle with the wetsuit, a difficult thing even if you haven't had recent surgery.

Cardie wrote that you have posted on my thread, I haven't seen that yet but there are some great exercises to improve ROM. Patience is a necessity, I am 11 months out and still haven't seen that much improvement but there is some which I am very happy about.

Looking forward to hearing about any improvements

Take care
Ann

 

[alexthecat]

Maybe alexthecat could give you some exercise/stretch suggestions for your hip flexors and also to help with crossing the foot over on top of your leg (I saw you mention having trouble with that in Ann's thread).

Jo's article about the hip flexors can be found here. It's very comprehensive about I don't have anything to add to it unless you have some questions after you have read it.

I'm not sure what you information you are looking for as far as leg crossing. I haven't read the post in the other thread where this was discussed. Sorry.

 

[nanal]

Hi Jane- I don't know where my first message went so I will start over. Such good reports you have given. I came home today and sure do miss the hopital bed. Tried working on exercises as PT is coming tomorrow. I walked stairs and several steps down the hall. Wasn't too terribly bad just have to remember to take meds. I didn't this morning andx napped a little but when I woke up I had some pretty intense pain. Hubs is doing okay but he does not completely understand the limits I have. Trying to control my emotions with him but not working so goo. Keep up the good work and enjoy your evening.

 

[Poppet]

Hi Jane, great progress... I am with AnniePops... not too keen on cold water or crossing my legs... I have never forgotten a chiropractor telling me Mmmmm... that many years ago... don't cross your legs, it is not a natural position... was he right or wrong, I have no idea.. but I did stop doing it back then and never have the urge now.. made my restriction easy

nanal it is hard for other other half to understand our limits and our own emotions are pretty raw and we are vulnerable... better days ahead

 

[C Mac]

This is a post from Dee205 thread a while back when she was working on tying her shoe laces -- I'd thought there were a bunch of ​

pictures of stretches, but this was really all there was that might be helpful, it was written by alexthecat.​

​

To develop the ankle-on-knee position: ​

​

​

Start with this stretch: ​

​

​

Do not use your hands to press the knee toward the floor. Just relax into the stretch and let gravity do the work. ​

​

When you have mastered that one, this is the next step: ​

​

​

​

Start with the drawing labeled 1. You may need a little less bend in the bottom leg to achieve this position and that is fine. If drawing 1 is easy for you, try drawing 2. Be careful that you are not lifting your head or hunching your shoulders though. If you can't get position 2 without straining your neck and/or shoulders, it's better to stick with position 1. Actually, position 1 may give you as much ROM as you need for shoes and socks anyway.​

Alex recovery journey

 

[C Mac]

☝ That post is a quote from Alex the Cat but my signature line is shown at the bottom -- couldn't get my regular signature in above it... :rolleyes:

Take care,
Cardie

 

[JaneyGS]

Thanks for that! I've been doing the top one but my knee is much further away from the floor than I used to be able to get it. I can just about get my foot onto my knee in the second one but it's really not comfortable yet so no grabbing the leg and pulling it towards me yet. I hope it will get easier as I really like that stretch along the outer part of the thigh.

I think I just need to be patient and wait until my body is ready. Much easier said than done though!

Jane

 

[JaneyGS]

Foam Roller Question
I know that a lot of people here are fans of the foam roller. I got one at the weekend and I have been using it to try to reduce the pain that I have in my hip flexor area and it has been working a treat! So simple - bit painful when you do it but feels loads better afterwards.
My question is - can I roll on the incision area? (I am 4 1/2 months since my op) I can feel a lot of tightness on the side of my thigh, by the incision, but I'm not sure if I should try rolling on it yet - any opinions?

Thanks for the help
Jane

 

[bottomshollow]

If you can tolerate the discomfort, no reason not to. Certainly won't hurt the incision area.

Take care and keep us posted. We care.

 

[C Mac]

Hi Jane,

You know some people cannot tolerate to cross the top leg over the bottom on the foam roller, like the picture above. You can also just pile one leg on top of the other -- "plank" and it won't pull at your groin/adductors.

It it's too much to have your weight on the incision, on top of the roller you can do some massage and kneading with your fist & knuckles instead.

Take care,
Cardie

 

[Anniepops]

AT first I couldn't tolerate the roller on my scar area. Now it is a lot better but I still have some days where I tend to avoid it as it is sometimes still tender.

I still find other areas are more painful some days too. It is really just finding the most comfortable position for you. It take a lot of twisting and turning to get to certain areas but it is really worth persevering with as you can feel the benefit.

Let us know how you are getting on

Ann

 

[JaneyGS]

Very annoyed with myself today. Been lovely weather here in Chester. Hubby and I have spent the day building a little wall in the front garden. Carried bricks, cleaned them up, laid a few bricks and all going good. Started to tidy up and did "something" - not sure what and now I have a very sore outer thigh! Was planning to go to yoga this afternoon but instead I'm on the sofa with my ice pack on my leg. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow. Been doing so well - the foam roller has made such a difference to my hip flexors and I'm gettin more ROM every week. Hopefully this is just a little blip but I'm cross!

Jane

 

[bottomshollow]

Probably just used some muscles a bit differently than they're used to, and maybe overdid just a bit, too. I'm sure it will sort itself out.

Take care and keep us posted. We care.

 

[C Mac]

Hi Jane,

How lovely, that the weather was nice enough to spend what must have been a few good hours building your garden wall. From your description of lifting, cleaning and toting around plus tidying up afterwards I am not surprised that your hip feels a little sore. I hope that the ice helped and that you are feeling less soreness today -- may still be a bit sore given all that work!! Sorry you missed the yoga class, next time don't do the big project on the same day as class...

Good to hear that the foam roller helped the flexors and that your ROM is improving. If you still have a lot of soreness on the side of your leg maybe it is IT band related?
Take care,
Cardie

 

[JaneyGS]

5 month update

Thought I'd do a bit of an update on the progress so far.

The good things
Bone on bone pain gone from day one!
Feeling of one leg longer than the other has faded
Scar has healed nicely
Back at the gym now doing toning classes, pilates, yoga and excercise bike with no issues
Range of movement is coming back slowly (can touch the floor now, almost get into a prayer stretch, can just about sit cross legged for a short time)
Able to work in the garden / allotment for short periods
Can walk as far as I like with no problems
Ditching the stick at 14 weeks instead of the expected 6 seems to have had no longer term effects
Foam roller really helps with sore muscles
Really enjoyed my 12 weeks off work which now seems like a distant memory!

The bad things
Still lots of achyness from the muscles around my hip - eased when I move, worse when resting ( I don't think I was expecting this at all by 5 months but maybe I was unrealistic)
Occasional sharp pains when move or twist in an awkward way - seems it is easier to pull a muscle when still healing.

All in all good but would really like to get rid of the low level pain / discomfort when I'm in bed but hopefully this will come in time. I go back to see the consultant in a month and I will ask him about it if is still hasn't resolved itself by then.

Jane

 

[bottomshollow]

Great update, Jane. The good things really outweigh the bad. And the bad are mostly a matter of muscle adjustment and strengthening---seems like muscles take only seconds to atrophy and weaken but takes months to recondition and strengthen.

I'm willing to bet it took a lot longer than 5 months for that hip to get in the condition that made surgery necessary. So relax, it will be 100% in far less time than that.

Take care and keep us posted. We care.