THR 19 Months Out - Adhesions in Hip Joint?

I made it home from my Texas trip. I seemed to do okay with the traveling. I used the wheelchair assist going to Texas and at the Austin airport on the way home. When I landed, I had the wheelchair gal roll me up the jetway and to the nearest restroom. I figured i could manage from there and I did. It was freezing and I had to stand out in the cold for probably 20 minutes waiting for the shuttle. The stand is across the street from the terminal on an island and it wasn't possible to wait inside. I'd have never been able to get across the street with my bag in time to wave the driver down. I don't know if that impacted my hip or not, but two days ago it started hurting.

The pain increased each day and rotated between the upper groin area and the top of my leg where it bends I believe it's a problem with the illiopsoas muscle. It's been tight anyway for a long time and I'm thinking maybe I strained it. The pain started two nights ago in bed as it hurt to lie on either side and have my knees touch. I had to resort to little wedge pillow between my legs to be comfortable. After the second night of that plus some difficulty walking without my cane during the day, I decided to take an Aleve to see if it helped. It did, thankfully. Yesterday and today I've been walking much better without the cane with no real pain. I'm going to try sleeping without the pillow tonight and see what happens.

I see my GP tomorrow for a regular checkup and will discuss it with him. I'm thinking maybe some PT would be helpful. When I had my shoulder replaced the therapist I hooked up with did these great muscle massages to help release and extend the muscles that were shortened and tight. I'm thinking maybe I need that in my hip area from all the years of having things out of alignment there. At any rate, the one Aleve made things noticeably better and I'm taking it easy for now.
 
It is a bit of a challenge to get into Paul’s truck, though. I have to put my good foot up on the running board and then pull myself up to get both feet on the running board. Then I kind of maneuver around to be able to sit down. Not pretty, but it works. My surgery leg isn’t strong enough yet to put it up first like I would normally do.

@Jamie
BAHAHA! I started singing James Brown's 'Get on the Good Foot' while reading your post!
That's exactly how I have to get in my pickup! I make sure to open the window first so I can get a good grip on the door with one hand and the other one in on the steering wheel, then I get the good foot (tee hee) on the running board and pull myself up. I turn and sit down on the seat, keeping both feet on the running board, then carefully get both legs in the cab. I used my cane to pull the door closed so I didn't have to stretch.

I'm sure a lot of the wear and tear on my knee was from lifting me up onto the running board. No, it's not pretty, especially since I park up front now that I have handicapped plates. People have come up to ask if I was ok after they hear a muffled cry escape my lips but that was way in the beginning....I'm good at getting in now.
 
@Jamie Oh Jamie, sorry to hear your hip started acting up like that. Like you told me, rest up and take care of yourself. Sounds like it's getting better already!
 
I'm thinking maybe I need that in my hip area from all the years of having things out of alignment there.
I found a PT post LTHR who did this deep muscle massage. I had the same issues with alignment. The massage really did help. Hurts like the dickens if the muscle is very tight. But once released - feels great!
 
I'm sorry, Jamie. I hope either PT, massage, or both brings you speedy relief. The inability to get comfortable in bed is no fun as we all know. You need restorative rest to run this ship! :capn:I hope the pain eases soon!
@Jamie
 
Congratulations, Jamie, on your successful hip surgery. I'd not been here in a bit and wondered if you had scheduled your ankle surgery--sounds like the hip decided the ankle could wait.
Glad you're doing well.
 
@Jaycey.....this is what I'm hoping. My GP was more than happy to issue an order for some therapy, so I'll be calling to schedule an initial meeting in a few days. It looks like the great gal is no longer with that company, so I'll have to see if I can find someone who will agree to try massage in addition to stretching.

The pain and weakness is creeping back in today, so I'm thinking I need to take some NSAIDs for a whole week to see if that will help any inflammation that's there. This is a bit frustrating since my early recovery was going so well. The logical part of my brain knows this happens sometimes, but the emotional side says...."just knock it off and let me be normal again!"
 
I know it seems like you have been recovering for a long time. But making that major trip at only months out of major surgery is a big deal. I know I could not have done it that early post op.

Hope you find a good PT!
 
I'm sorry @Jamie, that you are in pain. But maybe the freezing cold started that. Try to keep warm. That always helps me. And maybe the physiotherapy, too. Best Constanze :SUNsmile::flwrysmile:
 
I do think that some guidance from the right PT could help .... identifying weaknesses or tightness that could be contributing to the pain.
I know I still had a lot of icing and easy does it type walking that helped keep things going upward.
Hope this week is an easy does it week!
 
Thanks to you all for helping me keep my hip in perspective. Jaycey....I did wonder if the trip may have been a contributor to the increase in pain. It seems logical even though I tried to minimize the activity as much as possible.

I was able to set an appointment with a therapist who is supposed to be very good with massage therapy as well as recovering hips. They were pretty booked, so I won't see her until next Tuesday. I am finding that one Aleve during the day enables me to walk around the house without the cane and I don't limp. I do have to get my body "together" when I first stand and the first couple of steps may be a little rocky, but after that I can walk slowly and with a pretty good stride. That is a real mental boost! I'm going to continue taking an Aleve each day through the weekend to see how things go. I no longer need the small wedge pillow to sleep at night and that's a good thing too.

It does seem like I've been in recovery f-o-r-e-v-e-r. I don't know why this is the case for my hip when it wasn't for either knee or my shoulder. I'm sure glad to be in recovery during winter, though. At least it's not preventing me from doing things outside in the yard! But I do hope there is more improvement before our weather gets really cold, icy, and snowy. January and February can be pretty miserable here in the Midwest. Fortunately the city I live in has a snow program where volunteers will come shovel your driveway and sidewalks when it snows at least 2 inches. The young man I had doing that last year was so sweet. They don't take money for it and so I provided him with some homemade chocolate chip cookies. I have heated rubber stair treads so both the front and back steps stay clear with no shoveling.....that's really great too.
 
Hi @Jamie. Volunteers, shovelling snow on driveways and sidewalks! Wow, that's cool (as they say in slang).:rofsign:. Maybe they should introduce that "custom" in Germany. In Germany, it's compulsory to shovel snow. to the effect that, you may even get fined if you don't and an elderly or vulnerable person has a fall due to not shovelling. However, I don't like to see my over 80-year-old friendly neighbour snow-shovelling. They say, if you're elderly, you can get a heart-attack from the effort. I tried to do her path and drive as well, but I had trouble with the breathing, doing that, and I'm quite athletic :).

If I had someone like your friendly volunteer, I'd certainly give him some tea or coffee, and maybe cake and chocolate.

I hope you will soon be back to normal, hopefully before Christmas Eve:presents-under-xmas-tree-smiley-emoticon:, and won't be needing the Aleve anymore.
 
Jamie,
Just catching up with your travel and recent hip pain.
I was doing great almost 100% fine and then decided I was Wonder Woman over Thanksgiving and week following. We had company staying here as well so between getting apartment ready downstairs and cooking, shopping plus we took in 25 dogs at rescue kennel...well You know what happens next.
So this past week-10days I've really limited my activities and dedicated an hour to relaxing and watching a show or two.
I'm dreading the snow, even though we have a guy who plows the driveway (super long driveway here) and my partner clears all the stairs and pathways but just thinking about slipping and sliding outside makes me nervous.
I have appt with OS 1/4, probably don't really need to be checked but I'm going to go no matter, always good to get reassurance that all is fine.
Keep us posted on your PT/therapy and I wish you pain free days ahead.
 
I had my first session with my new PT today and it was VERY eye-opening. I don't know much about massage and how it works to improve muscles following surgery (or probably any other time muscles get tight), but I'm learning now.

After some gentle pokes into the muscles in my upper leg, she agreed that some of the muscles there were in fact tight and knotted. When she reached a spot like that it felt "tender" but not really painful. Then as she moved her pokes on down the body of the muscle, gradually the discomfort would go away until there was none. This diagnostic effort allowed her to specifically identify which areas were tight and needed work.

For my first treatment, the massage wasn't what I expected at all. There were no movements of her fingers on the muscles other than gentle pokes. Somehow she knew exactly how much pressure to put in each spot so that it could feel it was doing something, but there was no pain. She worked on the muscles for about 30 minutes and then I got to rest. I was ready for it! Who would believe that just pokes could work a muscle, but it did.

Katie explained that the pressure was placed on the fascia of each muscles and her finger made a small indentation in the body of the muscle. By keeping the pressure in that spot, it allowed the muscle fibers to stretch back out slightly. She would be working on the areas of the muscles closer to the surface for a while until they remained loose following the pressure. Then, as the surface fibers loosen up, she will be able to go deeper into each muscle to get the complete release. She indicated this process was slower than a deep tissue massage, but much more comfortable for the patient. I can definitely agree with that concept!

I intend to ask her many questions as we go along so that I understand exactly how this will work. After today's session, I can feel improvement and I walk better without my cane. Following the massage, she used one of those massage guns on the muscles in my thigh all the way to my knee. It felt amazingly good and I think I may become a fan of those guns! Previously I wondered if they were really helpful or just a bit of a gimmick.

I'm very hopeful this will take care of a problem I may have had with those muscles for a very long time. I'll be seeing the therapist twice a week for a while until we decide that the muscles are loose. She also showed me some stretches to do several times a day at home. They felt good too. Really gentle stuff, but effective.
 
That is a good follow up report! I love how she began your treatment. Sounds like she was able to relax some of the connective tissues. Let the increased circulation to those areas flow!

So pleased you were able to find a good PT with no fear of doing hands on. :banana-santa:
 
Such great news, Jamie! Especially since it didn't cause pain and you felt results afterward. Sounds like just what you needed! :thumb:
 
What a difference a little time makes. My first treatment did end up causing the muscles in my upper leg to be quite sore for days! Fortunately I was not able to schedule another appointment with the therapist until this coming Tuesday, so I'll have to be sure and tell her we need to go a little slower. I'm doing okay now and I'm sure there were some benefits. I suspect my muscles have been this tight for quite a while, so I don't think this is going to be a quick fix.

I'm able to walk around the house and even outside (up and down stairs) without my cane now. I just have to walk a few steps when I first stand to get loosened up. I remember that with my knees too. There is progress. If I think back to before my trip to Texas almost a month ago now, I was definitely not able to do this.

I dread the weather coming up the next week or two. It's supposed to be VERY cold and snow. Lows at night are going to be dropping down as low as -15F. No warm muscles in that kind of weather! And I'm sure I won't be spending much time outside getting exercise out in the yard. Ugh!
 
Cold weather can play games with your body that's for sure.
As previously mentioned we had about 3-4 inches of snow last week, fortunately big rain storm came and washed it all away and I felt confident once again heading out in the yard to fill all the bird feeders.
My original injury last January was a quick slip on a dusting of snow that had covered smallest patch of ice in the driveway. Down I went and rest was history.
I find it interesting that I've been walking dogs for miles through woods that were covered in snow and never had a problem but that one little patch in my yard was my undoing.
So now this winter I'm staying put if it's snowing or icy.
Happy to hear you are feeling better after initial massage therapy.
My Texas clan arrives Wednesday for Christmas, they will be here for a week.
 
@Jamie glad to hear you're feeling better, sounds like you have an awesome therapist. I could really use a goid one that could help with my muscles and such that are tight. Hoping you got the treads on your steps, saw a weather update for my old area of Kansas and they were talking blizzard like conditions with the wind and then that freezing cold. I know you'll stay put if it gets bad, you and the fur baby just curl up and stay warm.

We're looking at some seriously low temps here as well so planning to do whatever I need to tomorrow so I don't habe to go out the next two days when its supposed to be really cold.
 

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