THR Making six weeks

[musamoses]

I am making 6 weeks post op, posterior. I have been progressing well, doing a lot of the recommended exercises. I used pain pills, narco, for just a week after surgery and have had no pain again. My only challenge now is tightness of front hip muscles, so I cant stretch to make a long, full step which leaves me with a small limp and faint numb pain. My review is for Tuesday, Aug/1st. I hope the surgeon can clear me for some stronger exercises to help lax some muscles. I am thinking of cycling, ......stationary.

 

[Mojo333]

Good for you..sounds like you are doing well.
Don't know how you're hip situation was prior but I know mine has alot to retrain after years with bad gait and posture.
Best to you

 

[Irish Joe]

Well done so far @musamoses
6Wks still very early in recovery. This is the point where you can get the proverbial ' rush of blood to the head'. Have a wee read at these here ( especially the BIG TIP at the end ) and best wishes over the coming weeks.
Keep us posted.
Joe.......
At week 4 and after you should follow this
Activity progression for THRs

Pain management and the pain chart
Healing: how long does it take?
Chart representation of THR recovery

Dislocation risk and 90 degree rule
Energy drain for THRs
Pain and swelling control: elevation is the key

Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

BIG TIP: Hips actually don't need any exercise to get better. They do a pretty good job of it all on their own if given half a chance. Trouble is, people don't give them a chance and end up with all sorts of aches and pains and sore spots. All they need is the best therapy which is walking and even then not to excess.

We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery. While members may create as many threads as they like in a majority of BoneSmart's forums, we ask that each member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.

 

[Grannyhippy]

Muscle tightness seems to be fairly common after hip or knee surgery. I guess it is something we just have to work at slowly to regain our mobility.

 

[cpollock]

HI, I'm also 6 weeks out on Monday and have stiffness and still need aids to walk. @musamoses
@Irish Joe can you clarify with more detail what you said about the proverbial rush of blood to the head. Thank you. Cheryl

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

 

[sharonslp]

@musamoses and @cpollock Tightness at 6 weeks is a normal occurrence after this kind of major surgery. Your surgeon did major carpentry work and disturbed every millimeter of soft tissue in this area. You aren't tight because your muscle is underused and needs to be stretched and rehabbed. You're tight because your tissue is healing...and full healing takes a full year OR MORE. If a long full step right now is causing pain and limping, don't take long full steps. Take smaller steps. Take a short walk several times a day, instead of longer walks. Use your cane. Use ice. Rest a lot. Yes. Still.

I'm thinking Irish Joe is referring to the fact that at six weeks or so, we are past the initial surgical incision healing, and generally are starting to feel reasonable again. People are itching to get back to their lives....to get on with their lives. To be active. And a lot of us are so driven to be active again, that we promptly overdo it as soon as we start to resume some activities. Once we can walk a quarter of a mile without pain, we figure we're good for a mile or 2. And a week later, why not 3 or 4? We get on a cycle...stationary or otherwise....and instead of ten minutes, we do an hour. Or 2. We go out to run an errand, and end up shopping for 3 hours. We return to work and then go to PT and then stop at the grocery store and then go home and work in the garden.

I'm getting tight hip muscles just thinking about it.

So really, this isn't the time to do anything to excess. Baby steps now, and lots of patience, pays off big time later. Recovering from self-induced tendinitis can end up taking weeks or months. Or you can consider yourself as still recovering from surgery and structure your return to your life as a slow, gradual process where you introduce very small increments in activity, and then give yourself time to see how your body reacts to it. Your body is in charge of healing, not your mind. You can't will yourself to heal faster. But you can stay out of your own way to let the healing happen.

Hope this helps. We all go through it.

Sharon

 

[MyAussieGirl]

Hi you're very new to the healing process. I agree with all short walks short stride ....biking is OK just not lots...yet. Huge forum healing hugs Soon enough this will be you. No rushing.

 

[Irish Joe]

"A Rush of Blood to the head" ( with reference to my mother).
@cpollock.
The condition (of course its not medical) is exactly as described by @sharonslp in her post above. Well done sharonslp, I couldn't have explained it better myself. Many people who join the ' Over Did it Club' do so after a rush of blood to the head.
Have a good Sunday everyone.
Joe.......

 

[Mojo333]

@sharonslp Been said many times, many ways by administrators and forum advisors...but said so well this time by you.
Very succinctly..I also giggle when I hear people say 'I was able to do 40 heel slides, 30 minutes on stair climber, and walked approximately 5.3 miles, but ALL OF A SUDDEN I'm experiencing pain in my quads??'
We sure are hard headed.

 

[hoppy Mary]

Hi @musamoses. Good luck with your recovery. I'm also hitting 6 weeks post bilateral hip next Wednesday. Think all you described in your post normal. Let's know how you get on with your doctor on Tuesday I'm back with my guy on Thursday. You have youth on your side you will be more than perfect soon. Think all our patience gene was removed with our old hips.

 

[musamoses]

Thanks everyone. You always keep good advice flowing. As I stated earlier I had my second review with the surgeon. Everything seem pretty much as he expected...or actually better. He actually cautioned against trying so hard, while working on improving range of motion. He cleared me for light gym exercises. So I started to some cycling, doing just over a mile once in the morning then evening on addition to the other exercises I been doing. I am now just over 7 weeks, no pain, no cain...loving it.

 

[zauberflöte]

@musamoses it sounds like you're doing really well, I'm happy for you! Did you have the anterior approach? That front-of-leg stiffness is very familiar to me! Also, I speak as one of those whom Sharon mentioned, with "self-induced tendinitis" that's been going on for 4 years because I haven't taken the time to get it worked on. I am doing everything within my power to prevent that this time around!

Keep up the gentle exercises, and success will be yours!

 

[1nan]

I'm about 7 weeks post-op, double hip replacement...Did we all have surgery at the same time? I had the anterior approach. I too have really tight front of thigh stuff going on with pain... My physical therapist is awesome and knows a lot about joint replacements and has been really massaging and moving around the tissue in the tight areas and does seem to it feel better after she does it.

I just had my follow up with my surgeon and he said that's exactly right. He advised to keep massaging the skin and soft tissue in those tight areas as much as possible. My surgeon also constantly says keep moving. He's quite successful in his field, and says studies are showing more and more the importance of movement and strengthening after these surgeries. He and his team even advise taking the pain meds before physical therapy, if needed, to help with my ability to do exercises. I just keep learning it's the fine line between pushing and increasing the pushing, but not overdoing it. Then, I'm supposed to still be icing and resting after lots of movement. If anybody thinks I'm thinking any of this is easy...just know it's not and I'm really losing it. Just so anxious to get my life back, as I assume most of you are. If I hear "everyone's different" one more time I may start wearing permanent ear plugs So, as of today, since I'm a double, the doc said it should be at least three more weeks before I get off the pain meds, possibly up to 6...Ugh! One day at a time I guess.

 

[Gone again]

I'm also at 7 weeks Doc said no PT needed just keep moving and increasing activity. If something makes me sore then give it a day and see how I feel.your doing great it just takes time.

 

[musamoses]

Lol, looks like we all had surgery in the same month. Anyways, for the record, I had posterior approach for my surgery. And so far, I am not complaining. The job I was working is a bit physical with lots of bending (auto workshop) so for now I am trying to look around as I recover more. I may be gi back though. It all will depend on how well, safe and comfortable I will feel doing it.

 

[musamoses]

I realise we all seem to have issues with tightness of some muscles somewhere. I hope we exercise towards doing away with it. But a few people have told me, that scar tissue always feels a bit tight or number if you don't exercise regularly or even just after sitting for long. So except for scar tissue, the other muscles should start to feel normal at some point.

 

[a0167913]

I'm a few weeks ahead of you on my June 8 RTHR with anterior approach. Until just the past few days I felt a burning sensation on the scar area whenever I stood up. My PT person said to push down along the scar area top to bottom a few times a day - so I don't know if that is what helped or if it just took 60+ days to get past the burning sensation. Good luck to you @musamoses on your continued recovery!

 

[zauberflöte]

@musamoses I think once you're recovered you can go back to any job that pleases you! The first time I was on here, there was a firefighter who went back to work, and that is a tough profession to stay in shape for! Until the second hip went bad, I had no problem lifting and bending and everything else I'd always done. You're doing really well!!

 

[musamoses]

Thanks everyone. Thanks @a0167913 and @zauberflöte . It's been good encouragement. And I hope to get back to working auto because I love to.

 

[dougie0216]

@musamoses I can see you've been receiving advice. As a member of the ODIC I would be a poor source of useful information.

However, I have found that "The Swan" yoga pose helps with tightness in the upper leg. It also decompresses your spine. My surgeon knows I am doing the pose, and he does not have a problem with it. Look it up, and if you don't think you can do it yet, don't. I was not doing the pose when I got out of the hospital, for sure. I will be at ten weeks tomorrow. It isn't advanced yoga and it wont make you sweat. If you can't do it with your arms extended, you can do it with you forearms resting on the mat.

I also massage the incision area a few times daily. I am not digging into it, a la deep muscle massage. I do press firmly using my palm and fingers. I usually apply cocoa butter with vitamin E when I do it. It can be uncomfortable, but so was surgery, lol. best of luck. doug