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Limping

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YoungM

YoungM

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Hi All-

Sorry for the many threads and posts I have been adding. I have a lot of questions and this board is so helpful.

Of those of you who are recovered, do you have a normal stride now? Or is there still a visible limp? My cousin had a THR 10 years ago and he still walks with a limp. I'm concerned this will be the case for me. Could it be because he never fully regained strength in the hip and finished physical therapy properly?

If I contine with outpatient therapy and work hard on it, will the limp improve? Right now at Day 13, I'm walking with a cane (and of course a limp). Just concerned that the limp will not disappear.

Thanks
~Melissa
 
I think that may well be the case, Melissa. A limp is not inevitable, expected or usual. But it does happen. You should talk with your PT about it and get get their input as they can watch you walk and tell you if they think it will be temporary or not.
 
Young m ...i am 3 weeks out of my surgery and i am walking with a bit of a limp but this is because my left hip , the one operated on, made my leg .25" higher but i am having my right hip replaced in 2 weeks and my dr said this will even me back out. But for right now i put some dr scholls in my right shoe to even me up some and it seems to work, you may want to try this.
 
Melissa......You have the distinct advantage of
Being young & athletic so that will definitely
Help your recovery! As far as limping, I think we've
All limped for so long, its become second nature to us, I
Think there are times, I may start to limp, just outf
Habit, but as soon as I realize it, I correct myself...Its easy to lapse
Back into the bad habit!
My PT always reminded me.... Heel. Toe...so when I'm coscious
Of that, I automatically follow right through the
Correct and proper way!
You're still so early out,,,,let yourself heal first! :)
 
M,

Don't worry too much this early in the game. I limped for 3+ wks my first hip and 5+ weeks with the second one. You essentially had a severe hamstring, groin and quad muscle tear all at the same time and there's an incision in your iliotibial band to boot. Any one of those injuries would take weeks to recover from, much less having them all at once. In a few weeks, I suspect you'll be walking just fine.
 
Hi Melissa, I agree with judles. I limped for so long and my leg had been shorter--all did not make for a pretty picture. Now I am much more "level" and if my gait is off it is only a little. When I am tired I do find that I am tempted to go back to the bad habit of bending my right leg inward as I go up stairs.

You are so young that I bet you have the great possibility of no limp. Heal toe is what I got in PT too. Also I find that the treadmill helps me with an equal stride---that is for when you are much further along in the recovery process.

Curious, are your legs the same length??

Have a great evening, I am at work hammering out a draft of a letter then outa here,

Laurie
 
I'm approaching 4 months post-op and I limp just a tiny bit when I get tired. When I'm fresh, no one can tell anything is different.

When I went to my 6 week checkup, I was still using a cane just a little bit, it was around week 10 or so before I was walking where the limp wasn't noticable.
 
I forgot to ask - are you limping while using the cane? If so, you may want to go to one or two crutches for a while more. Your PT can be instructive there.

BTW - nice blog! I liked the picture of you trying to sit cross-legged. A picture is worth a thousand words! When people would see me attempt to sit like that, it was downright embarrassing! I think they must have thought I was horribly uncoordinated or something! Oh well, better now.
 
M......EVERY little bit helps. I bet you've ALREADY
Noticed lots of little positive changes in your
Life! The milestones will be coming fast and
Furious from now on in! :)
 
Dave -I'm not so much limping using the cane, but I do need to apply a lot of pressure to the cane to avoid the limp. It's when I try baby steps on my own with no cane is when I feel the limp. I will ask my PT about the option of using crutches maybe -thanks!

LOL about the cross legged position! I'm hoping to have an updated picture a few months from now with much better form.

Judles -I love your encouraging words -always :)
 
Melissa, Your cross legged pose before surgery was amazingly good compared to mine. I hadn't crossed my legs since I was about your age. Now I am awkwarding trying that position again but right leg still very tight. Of course, it was stiff and inflexible for a good 20 years so you are way ahead on that one!!!!

Laurie
 
I was also wondering the same thing! Without the crutch, I have a really bad wobbly limp/gait. Will PT help?
What is the best way to determine if your legs are equal in length or not? I can't figure out how. When I stand with a crutch flat on both feet, they feel equal in length, but when I walk like a penguin without the crutch, I wonder???
 
Hop, I would think the best place to start would be a discussion with your physical therapist. They do work on gait as part of therapy if it's a problem.
 
I'm 5 months out & will still sometimes limp when I've overdone something--like 6 hours of yardwork! But I really believe that's muscular and has nothing to do with the new hip. It happens every time I do some "weekend warrior" thing--just like it did when I was years younger!

On the other hand, months--sometimes years--of inactivity or compromised movement to mitigate pain all contribute to muscles/ligaments/etc. being totally out of practice. Unlike the awesome magic of curing the star overnight (that would be Ms. Hip Joint) getting the supporting cast back to where they once were takes a lot of repetitive rehearsal!
 
-I was wondering if there are percentages of
Patients that STILL limp after THR? Is it a successful
Surgery if the pain is gone but the limp remains?
I wonder! Any thoughts on this????
 
Interesting question. I would suppose it would be on the list of 'unacceptable outcomes' (never say failure!
[Bonesmart.org] Limping
) but I have never really looked into it.
 
Hi there,

I stayed with one crutch for weeks and weeks after my left THR and very gradually eased off until I could walk a mile or two without it and without limping. I was determined to walk without a limp and sometimes felt that it was almost a habit to walk as I did before surgery - especially when first getting up out of a chair after sitting for a while.... I have no leg length discrepancy and by three months out had a normal stride, but I still need to concentrate a bit on "walking properly", (now nearly seven months out) especailly on longer walks or if I am a bit tired...

Monica
 
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