THR LTHR - Dysplasia & Legg Calve Perthes Disease

[JT56]

Thank you. I am doing really well. Leg still feels very different to the other one though. It feels very stiff and I have a significant limp. I had leg lengthening so curious if the limp will eventually settle

 

[Layla]

curious if the limp will eventually settle

Here’s a tip -
Try heel-toe walking when you're limping.
This involves striking the ground with your heel first, then rolling through your heel to your toe, and pushing out of the step with your toe. It takes a concentrated effort, but I believe you'll notice a difference. Give it a try.
I am happy to read you're doing well. It is still very early into recovery for you and should get a lot better with time.
Hang in there!

Here is a visual of heel-toe walking.

 

[JT56]

curious if the limp will eventually settle

Here’s a tip -
Try heel-toe walking when you're limping.
This involves striking the ground with your heel first, then rolling through your heel to your toe, and pushing out of the step with your toe. It takes a concentrated effort, but I believe you'll notice a difference. Give it a try.
I am happy to read you're doing well. It is still very early into recovery for you and should get a lot better with time.
Hang in there!

Here is a visual of heel-toe walking.

Yes, I am very consciously walking like this but it is very difficult not to limp

 

[myglasshalffull]

Are you using an assistive device when walking (cane, walking sticks)?
I think if you are limping best to use assistive device sure helps with walking better.
All my best.

 

[JT56]

I am 6 weeks post surgery tomorrow and I am starting to get deep hip pain. This has got steadily worse over the last few days so I am feeling stressed about it. I had very little pain for the first few weeks. I am now worried that I have damaged something as this is worse than pre-op

 

[JT56]

As others have said 6 weeks is still VERY early in recovery. For me pain came after activity and usually hours or a day after not during. At 6 weeks as we start to feel better we think we're ready to do anything. That's usually when we gain our membership in the ODIC, that's the other club you join after THR.
Always have to ask because you mention work and swimming. What activities are you doing? Any PT?

What’s the ODIC?

 

[cold_brew]

It’s still early times. For me, 6 weeks in, it was tough to make it thru a day at work at a desk, now at 9+ months things feel 99% good. Hope your path is slow n steady upwards from here…

 

[Rich75]

I am 6 weeks post surgery tomorrow and I am starting to get deep hip pain. This has got steadily worse over the last few days so I am feeling stressed about it. I had very little pain for the first few weeks. I am now worried that I have damaged something as this is worse than pre-op

I'm 7 weeks tomorrow and I'm in exactly the same position. From everyone's comments on here I'd say try not to worry too much. Load up on ice and painkillers. Its hard going i know but its going to take months for it to settle down. If you're worried something is wrong go and get it looked at.

 

[myglasshalffull]

ODIC is the Overdid It club.

 

[JT56]

I am 6 weeks post surgery tomorrow and I am starting to get deep hip pain. This has got steadily worse over the last few days so I am feeling stressed about it. I had very little pain for the first few weeks. I am now worried that I have damaged something as this is worse than pre-op

I'm 7 weeks tomorrow and I'm in exactly the same position. From everyone's comments on here I'd say try not to worry too much. Load up on ice and painkillers. Its hard going i know but its going to take months for it to settle down. If you're worried something is wrong go and get it looked at.

I have my follow up appointment on Tuesday. I went back to wearing my leg brace for a couple of days and the pain eased off. I just have to keep remembering that I was told my surgery could be complex and my recovery would be much longer due to my complications. I am still using a walker or cane but was told by my doctor that I would probably need these for 3 months. I keep reading how people are doing so well after just a few weeks and comparing my progress but we are all different. Two surgeons told me that with my hip they didn’t even want to operate. My surgeon is excellent but told me to expect 3-6 months to get back to my activities and 12 months for full recovery so I know I shouldn’t worry. Every so often I do though. I also had almost 2” of length added so that is an adjustment for my brain and soft tissue. I have had a leg length discrepancy and a limp for 51 years. I guess 6 weeks is short time frame to fully readjust to that!! I know I am being silly but still worry that I might be doing the wrong thing and causing damage in some way when I get new pain that I haven’t previously experienced.

 

[JT56]

It’s still early times. For me, 6 weeks in, it was tough to make it thru a day at work at a desk, now at 9+ months things feel 99% good. Hope your path is slow n steady upwards from here…

Thank you! This board is great for reassurance - I know we are all different and you can’t possibly know my recovery - but hearing that people at the same stage experience similar symptoms but then go on to (almost) fully recover is comforting

 

[JT56]

I am 6 weeks post surgery tomorrow and I am starting to get deep hip pain. This has got steadily worse over the last few days so I am feeling stressed about it. I had very little pain for the first few weeks. I am now worried that I have damaged something as this is worse than pre-op

I'm 7 weeks tomorrow and I'm in exactly the same position. From everyone's comments on here I'd say try not to worry too much. Load up on ice and painkillers. Its hard going i know but its going to take months for it to settle down. If you're worried something is wrong go and get it looked at.

Thank you! I have my follow up appointment on Tuesday and if that goes well I know it will be very reassuring- I haven’t seen the doctor since I was discharged so sometimes I worry that I have done something/ not done enough to cause a setback

 

[JT56]

@Rich75 - sorry!! I just realised I replied twice to your message

 

[myglasshalffull]

JT56,
I was on walker for 8 weeks, I had a small fracture that was detected at my first post op appt and OS put me on light weight bearing for next 4 weeks and hoped fracture would heal (which it did).
So don't worry about still needing a walker.
Even once I went on cane I kept my walker next to my bed for bathroom trips at night.
It's so interesting once you have to use walker or assistive device how many people you see in your day to day travels on walkers, canes, etc.
Better safe than sorry.

 

[djklaugh]

@JT56 Wow 51 years of limping with a leg length differential! I can understand why you feel frustrated but it is going to take quite a bit of time for you to get all the muscles, tendons, and ligaments in your leg - indeed in your whole body - to a place where all are functioning as they are supposed to. Every bone and muscle is connected even remotely to every other bone and muscle. Slow and gentle will get you where you want to be.

Just to put things into a bit of perspective for you ... I limped for about 3 years with my bad hips. I could walk and climb stairs fairly well right after surgery (though quite slowly at first). But it took about 4 months of PT to get left foot onto right knee. And nearly 9 months to get right foot onto left knee.

You may have already done this and if so I apologize for being redundant - if you are wearing shoes that you wore a lot before your surgery, get new ones ASAP. When one limps for a long time the wear patterns on shoes reflect that not good gait. And continuing to wear them keeps you in the old limping pattern .... and is NOT good for new hips!

One thing I noticed after my BTHR was my center of gravity shifted. It took me a while to notice this but once I did and made adjustments to how I stand and move that did seem to help me heal faster. Long ago in an exercise class I was taking the instructor said one's center of gravity was where, if you stuck a pole through your body and spun around that pole, the top half and the bottom half would spin smoothly. Sorry for the sort of graphic image. For men the center is usually at their belly button as they tend to carry more weight in their chest and shoulders. For women the center is usually about 6" below the belly button as we tend to carry more weight in our hips. And it's in the middle of the inside of your body. Finding that center can be a bit of a challenge - stand as straight as you can with shoulders over pelvis. Think about your body and where that center might be. Mentally feel around - when you find it, in my experience, there's a sort of internal "clunk" as if something as has found it' s proper place.

Best of everything to you

 

[cold_brew]

I am 6 weeks post surgery tomorrow and I am starting to get deep hip pain. This has got steadily worse over the last few days so I am feeling stressed about it. I had very little pain for the first few weeks. I am now worried that I have damaged something as this is worse than pre-op

I'm 7 weeks tomorrow and I'm in exactly the same position. From everyone's comments on here I'd say try not to worry too much. Load up on ice and painkillers. Its hard going i know but its going to take months for it to settle down. If you're worried something is wrong go and get it looked at.

I have my follow up appointment on Tuesday. I went back to wearing my leg brace for a couple of days and the pain eased off. I just have to keep remembering that I was told my surgery could be complex and my recovery would be much longer due to my complications. I am still using a walker or cane but was told by my doctor that I would probably need these for 3 months. I keep reading how people are doing so well after just a few weeks and comparing my progress but we are all different. Two surgeons told me that with my hip they didn’t even want to operate. My surgeon is excellent but told me to expect 3-6 months to get back to my activities and 12 months for full recovery so I know I shouldn’t worry. Every so often I do though. I also had almost 2” of length added so that is an adjustment for my brain and soft tissue. I have had a leg length discrepancy and a limp for 51 years. I guess 6 weeks is short time frame to fully readjust to that!! I know I am being silly but still worry that I might be doing the wrong thing and causing damage in some way when I get new pain that I haven’t previously experienced.

Ow, boy it sounds like you’ve had it rough. Give yourself some extra time compared to us “lucky” ones who only had it bad for a couple years!

 

[KittensMom]

I am 6 weeks post surgery tomorrow and I am starting to get deep hip pain. This has got steadily worse over the last few days so I am feeling stressed about it. I had very little pain for the first few weeks. I am now worried that I have damaged something as this is worse than pre-op

Best of luck with your appointment tomorrow For what it's worth, at around 3,5 weeks, I got this horrible deep pain in the hip, as well as stiffness. I thought for sure I have done something to the hip, but it turned out it was due to me starting to move around a bit more, and aggravating the soft tissues. It got worst day 2/3, then slowly subsided as I allowed myself (or was told by my PT) to rest. I hope that this is the case for you too, and that you get some relief soon.

I have had greatly reduced mobility in my hip joint for 20 years. Nothing compared to 51! This is still a huge adjustment for our bodies. The whole skeletal and muscular system has to recalibrate, and this will come with some "growing pains".

How are you feeling today?

 

[Layla]

Hi JT,
Stopping by on this two month anniversary to extend best wishes...but wondering how your appointment went and how you're doing? We'd love to hear from you and are here for support if you need us.
Hope to hear from you soon.
@JT56

 

[JayP]

@JT56 hope you are doing well. Perthes here as well - bilateral (right was significantly worse). Had oseotomies at 10 years old. Also had a clean-up of the right hip around 18 years old (loose bone/cartilage fragments floating around and labral tear). Had the right hip replaced at 45 years old. Osteoarthritis got bad enough. Left seems 'about' 10 years behind - hopefully longer since I now have a good right hip.

 

[JT56]

I am actually doing really well. Still have precautions in place for another 6 weeks due to the shape of my hip joint and the fact it was a more complicated surgery but despite that I am feeling really happy with where I am at the moment. I am starting to walk a little better and I am getting used to the extra leg length on my new hip. It still feels stiff and a bit odd but so much better than it was just a few weeks ago so I am confident that another couple of months down the line I should be walking reasonably well. Considering I have had a limp since I was 5 years old I think that is pretty positive.
Thank you for all the support - I was on here every day for the first few weeks and now I only check in very occasionally.