Become an Insider

THR Hip replacement March 22

It can also be called trigger point therapy.
 
Thanks @Jamie . I phoned the hospital just now and they are arranging a follow up appointment for me with the surgeon. Not sure how soon that will be.
 
I am sorry you're hurting, IndigoKnee. I wish you luck in getting an appointment scheduled soon and a plan that brings speedy relief.
Lots of comfort to you. :console2:Please keep is posted.
@IndigoKnee
 
Hi @Layla I've now heard back from the hospital but unfortunately the appointment isn’t until September 24 as my surgeon is now away the rest of August and most of September. I have asked if there is another Dr on the team I could see any sooner but haven’t heard back yet.

@Deni444 - I tried you suggested exercise of tensing and relaxing my leg muscles when I awoke in pain last night and it definitely helped. :sleep:Thank you :)
 
Sorry for the late reply... Busy day! I do the stretch sitting or laying but with the leg out straight. The stretch is really into the heal if that makes sense? Imagine the whole leg getting longer by gently pushing the heel as far away as you can. The toes come towards you in response. The back of your leg from buttock to heal lengthening. It's slow and gentle but long, you hold a few seconds and then gently but fully relax and repeat. It should feel nice or at least it does for me. It seems to relax the tense leg muscles. I feel pain float away. As I mentioned, I'd experienced terrible leg pain in the night for a long time and it was severely effecting sleep. This little stretch fixed the pain and completely transformed my sleep. Also making sitting in the evening pain free.

I'm glad it helped you a little :loveshwr:
 
@Deni444 Thanks for your detailed explanation. That is slower than I was doing it, mine was more like the foot flexing I did whilst bed bound.

I went to my philosophy group today, the first time since the accident, and I did your exercise a few time whilst sitting there (under the meeting table, so no one saw me ) and it really helped. Thanks so much for this
. :loveshwr:
 
Hi Indigo Knee,
I am sorry you have to wait so long for an appointment. With any luck you're able to get in sooner with someone else. Hopefully the appointment will bring clarity and some next steps to get you feeling better. In the meantime, take good care and know we're here for support.
@IndigoKnee
 
Just had another thought. I have a red light, knee massager... I call it robo knee. It has light, heat and massage. I can't in all honesty attribute any great healing power to it. I've heard some people make fantastic claims, I couldn't agree with. What I can say, it does a great job of easing pain temporarily. It's a nice thing to use for a relaxing sit and a bit of relief. I used it a lot before surgery on my knee. I'm getting stomach issues when I take naproxen and so am considering stopping it at least for a few days. I anticipate, my knee flaring up and so I'll be using 'Robo Knee'. I tried all sorts over the years trying to avoid surgery (silly me). Another thing I found really useful was a TENS machine. I have one that has a heat setting. Being uncomfortable can really drag you down when it is prolonged. These kind of things can bring temporary relief and at least give you a welcome rest. I found evening a great time to use them. Kind of drawing a line under a difficult day and being in a better place for bedtime.
 
Last edited:
@Deni444 Thanks for these suggestions. I do have a Tens machine, fairly basic one, that I bought a couple of years ago for back pain (long term arthritis) and it didn’t help but I hadn’t thought of using it on my leg so can certainly give that a try. I also have a massage machine that sometimes helps with my back so I’m intrigued by your 'Robo Knee' I assume that’s not it’s real name? I know it’s often no acceptable on here to quote product names so I'll try finding it through Google . Thanks for thinking of me.
 
It's just called a knee massager... Not Robo Knee :heehee:. Black and white thing. Really loud but it is quite soothing. The dog runs a mile when she sees me get it. I actually used it to keep her from jumping up on me when I came home from surgery. Just plonked it next to the chair.
 
@Deni444 I tried the TENS machine yesterday evening on my glutes and was surprised that it really helped! The reason I was surprised as a couple of years ago I tried it on my back and it had no effect. So thanks for reminding me about TENS. I was able to sit and watch half a National Theatre play for over an hour without significant pain, though I did move around a couple of times. Hope to watch the second half tonight. This was at NT @ home - didn’t go off to the theatre.
:yes!:
 
That's fantastic news! I'm no expert but I am wondering if it's a good indication that a lot of your pain issues are related to soft tissue tension. I was reading about fascia, the connecting tissue and apparently it's more active than previously thought in terms of sensation. Unfortunately, the reading is too advanced for me to fully understand but fascia, like all soft tissue post surgery needs time to heal and settle down, TENS, massage, heat... have a read up. The evidence is a bit sketchy when it comes to TENS helping in the fascia healing process but to my mind, if you get some relief and are able to relax, maybe get a better night's sleep. The better sleep alone must surely help promote soft tissue healing. The more comfortable you feel the more exercise you can contemplate. Hopefully with everything you're doing, you will start to see some improvement soon.
 
@Deni444 Thanks so much for your encouragement. I'll certainly have a read up about fascia.
Simply being able to sit for a while before bed without so much pain so I can read or watch something is marvellous. It’s been hard when I’m tired late in the day to not be able to sit and relax before bed. The effect of the TENS stops as soon as I switch it off so still need the codeine when I go to bed. I have been doing some massage of the leg (I used to work as a massage therapist so I know what I'm doing) before bed using anti-inflammatory oils and that also helps, though the pressure and angle not quite as good as someone else doing it.
 
I finally got to see another physio today - the previous one had gone off sick. She was extremely thorough - watching how I moved, stood etc as well as manipulating my leg. She said there is a lots of muscle wastage around the incision, my pelvis is tilted and one of the knee ligaments is damaged making the knee unstable. Lower leg is swollen and is painful if pressed and she said the oedema is probably due to the muscles not working hard enough to move fluid back up. I have now some more exercises including the bridge. I was pleased that she was so thorough but a bit upset that this has gone on so long without anyone really looking carefully at me previously.
 
I'm so glad you found a physio who actually looks at your whole leg and not just the hip and then recommends exercises accordingly, @IndigoKnee. It makes a big difference.

Can you continue to see this same person for future visits?
 
@benne68 I hope I can see her again but she is covering for the person who is off sick so I'm not sure what will happen when he returns as it may be that normally she is based elsewhere. It is of course so important to look at your whole body, not just one area as obviously tis all connected and moving poorly in one area effects everything.
 
I really hope that these new exercises will help! Did she have anything more to say about your knee? Will the ligament damage respond to physiotherapy? I was told that those 5 seconds glute clench exercises were very good for getting the fluids moving. Did she give you those to do?
 
Hi Deni @Deni444. It was a bit unexpected to be told about the ligaments so didn’t have questions prepared. Having looked up about ligaments it does seem that all but the worst damage will respond to physio. It’s the inside (MCL) one and reading about damage that can happen after a heavy fall onto the outside so does tie in with my accident. I have a phone appointment tomorrow, booked some time ago, with the physio based at the Drs surgery for a follow up so I can ask her more.
She didn’t give be the glute clenching exercises but I'll add those onto all my others.
 
I'm so sorry... Been distracted with me, me, me :driver: How did the telephone appointment go? My surgeon who is a top knee specialist seems very optimistic that my knee will resolve over time as the hip recovers despite how badly it presents. Made me think of you because it involves ligaments. I guess I'm hoping it's still very early days for your overall recovery but given time, it will balance out. Just difficult when the knee and hip get out of whack.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Active Antimicrobial Hydrogel
Corganics CBD

Staff online

  • Layla
    Layla
    Staff member since November 20, 2017

Members online

Total: 695 (members: 1, guests: 694)

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom