THR 19 Months Out - Adhesions in Hip Joint?

Our predictions are for that blowing snow for about 6 hours beginning Thursday morning. I think we could get as much as 5-8 inches, but you know the weather guys......they never really know for sure. But the snow is definitely going to be followed by bitter cold for quite a few days. So whatever we get will be with us for a while.

I had planned a nice Christmas dinner out at my favorite seafood restaurant with my granddaughter and her husband for Thursday night. Fortunately we were able to change the reservation to Wednesday so we won't have snow issues. I did a bunch of errands today to get a few groceries I needed and mail a package. So Miss Toodie the Snow Dog and I will hunker down and turn on my new electric fireplace to cozy us up a little. I absolutely LOVE my new MagikFlame fireplace. It has 3-dimensional holographic flames that look pretty real and it puts out enough heat to warm up the two rooms where I spend most of my day when I'm inside the house.

I went to my second therapy session today and told Katie that I was kind of sore for a few days after the first session.....muscle soreness and nothing with the hip joint itself. We both felt that part of the problem could have been the 8 minutes she had me do on the NuStep machine to warm up the muscles before she did the massage last time. So instead of that, she used the gun for about 10 minutes to get the circulation going in my leg. Then about 20 minutes of pressure on different points around the groin and even down the top of my leg (the quad muscles are tight too). She says she can feel the tightness and also feel when a portion of a muscle releases a bit from the pressure. It's all pretty amazing to me. We talk about what I feel when she applies that pressure. It's a very odd feeling. I can feel the pressure where she pushes and at most it might be a little uncomfortable. But no real pain. But....I get a feeling that radiates from that point both up and down my body from my glut area clear down to the knee. It's not really pain, but just a feeling that something is going on. When the pressure stops, so does that radiating feeling. Katie says that's the muscles complaining that they aren't used to being loosened up and it's a very positive sign. She does believe we'll be able to get things loose again, but because it's likely that these muscles have tightened up over an extended period of time, it may take 2-3 months to fully release them. She's suggested that, in addition to the stretches I'm doing at home each day, I also use heat on the area. It's definitely a process.
 
Hopefully working with, Katie, slowly brings the relief you're dreaming of, Jamie. Your three dimensional holograph fireplace sounds so interesting! It will provide the perfect back drop for the weather that will be rolling in. We're on target to get hit here also...again, after it's snowed for days already. The trees are heavy laden with snow and while its very pretty, I wish the temps weren't in the single digits. It makes it all the more difficult to want to get out and wrap up the Christmas shopping procrastinators like me are still facing. I guess I don't live and learn well! :wink:
Have a great Wednesday and stay safe and warm tomorrow!
@Jamie
 
Happy Four Month Anniversary! :banana-santa:
I hope you're faring well if you're affected by the cold and snow today. Stay indoors and stay safe and warm!
@Jamie

:merry-xmas-smiley-emoticon:
 
Thanks, @Layla.....it's still bitterly cold here today and I had to go out for therapy. Brrrrr......but it's worth it. The therapy is helping.
 
@Jamie glad you are feeling better. Agree cold weather stinks but as they say in golf ‘we play the hole we are on’:heehee:

On your therapy: I’ve had this done as well. massage release / trigger point therapy can be effective in activating dormant muscles. Your brain has to wake up and remember the muscles work! Also a fan of gentle, low setting massage gun on non operated areas as you describe. My only advice with this approach is to progress slowly as your body needs time to adjust to changes in muscles released and also to reinforce ‘awakened range of motion’ through ADLs or some exercises. Too much too fast was something I experienced and body didn’t have enough time to incorporate the new range and caused additional issues.

Glad this approach working out for you…Now off for a walk in the cold! Lol
 
Thanks for the personal experience, @Charlie33. I appreciate your insight. I have discussed the length of time it may take for this therapy to "fix" my muscles. My therapist is in total agreement to go slowly and let the releases happen very gradually. She has given me stretches to do at home in between sessions and I try to do some walking when I can. I can feel some positive changes, even though I've just had a couple of sessions. But, the results are up and down. The therapist explained that the muscles will want to revert back to their "normal" tightness at times, and I've experienced some of that. But she assures me that slow and steady work with them will get the job done. I'm expecting at least a couple of months with her and maybe more.
 
Your therapist sounds wonderful! That's great that she believes in taking things slow and steady. Thinking I might try to find something like this. I know my muscles have tightened up terribly and not just the IT band and bursitis.

So happy to hear that your new electric fireplace is just what you were wanting. You and Miss Toodie stay warm and enjoy your Christmas Eve in front of the fireplace. :xmas-wave-smiley-emoticon:
 
Therapy again today. The results from last Friday's session were not as good as the one right before, so I have had some muscle pain over the weekend and Monday. The therapist identified specifically the Tensor Fasciae Latae as the problem (at least for now). When she started the massage (pressure primarily), Katie was able to go right to the area of pain in the muscle. She explained that she was able to locate it because the "tight" part of the muscle felt more like gristle on a steak rather than the normal softer muscle tissue. She put her finger pressure right on the point of my pain. It was slightly uncomfortable, but not what I'd call real pain. After she pressed for a while, she asked if the pain disappeared. You know, it had gone away. She said she felt the muscle relax and release from the pressure. And the area does feel looser even tonight. Of course, it may go back, but at least it's comforting to know she can target the problem areas. She gave me some new exercises to do (a type of side leg lifts that specifically work this muscle to strengthen it) a couple of times a day.

This whole process is very interesting to me. I am amazed at Katie's knowledge of each of these muscles and how they contribute to your orthopedic alignment and function. Evidently it doesn't take much for the alignment to go wonky and that results in pain. I'm glad to be testing out this treatment and have hopes that it will make a difference for me.
 
A learning experience with relief to boot! Double win.:thumb:
May that muscle pain take a permanent vacation. :yes:
 
Thanks for the good wishes about muscle pain, but it's still around today to some degree. So far it doesn't go away for very long at a time. I'm starting to get the feeling that it's going to take lots of time and probably more activity to move the legs more once spring gets here. I get about 3,000 steps a day puttering around the house, but it's not like being outside. Tomorrow I'm going to not even take my cane to therapy. I believe it's time to start walking without it if at all possible. I only do a little limping for my first couple of steps when I stand, so I think I'll be fine.
 
I've continued to improve with the pressure point massage therapy, but it is very slow. This week is the first time I'm able to walk with very little pain in my groin area or quad muscle. It's a wonderful preview of what's to come! My therapist assures me that all is going well and my progress is acceptable. After all, I'm sure the muscles didn't get this way in just a few months, so it's surely going to take at least that long to get them back into shape. I've been supplementing her twice a week sessions with some stretches. It feels good and helps loosen things up as well. I can see that if a person was into yoga, it would be helpful for this type of situation. But, even without it, I'm pretty confident that my full mobility will finally be restored with another month or so of the pressure therapy.
 
Just think how good you'll be feeling by Summertime sauntering around in the backyard paradise you created with that new hip! :swim: Where's the girl in the itsty bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini emoji when you need it?:shrug: :wink:
All good news, Jamie. I'm happy for you!
@Jamie
 
Ha!! I gave up that bikini look many years ago. My 74-year old body just doesn't have it anymore even in the privacy of my own back yard. But I will be happy to saunter this summer and maybe even get back to a little swimming. When I was at my last therapy appointment, I had Katie measure my knee ROM. It was the same on both knees - 126 degrees flexion and 0 degrees extension with no assist. I think summer will be time to see if I can get my quads strong enough to actually squat down and get myself back up. It would be wonderful not to have to do the "toddler tripod" stand maneuver to get up from the floor.
 
Sadly, 20 years later, my getting up from the floor is still ugly - even for a toddler!:rotfl:
 
@Jamie , thank you for your posting reminding me that you've experienced difficulties with atrophy and gait. Having read your thread now from the beginning, yes, I think I've "hit the wall" on my recovery unless I get some help with my nonoperative hip and thigh muscles. For over 15 years, I limped on the nonoperative leg and as long as I was on the walker or, as I am now, two poles, it wasn't obvious. But the minute I tried walking for a full day without poles, I sustained a severe setback. The soft tissues around my implant are in more pain than at any other point, and my nonoperative leg throbs. The limp is worse.

So I rested for a day, iced, etc., then went back to one pole. But that only made my zingers worse. So now I'm back on two poles. I'm walking more stiffly and it's clear to all who see me that I "was doing better" before I came off my poles.

I've also had to go back on tylenol 3 times a day after a good month of that not being the case. I throb at night, which has not been the case since a week or so after my surgery. Both knees are stiff and sore now, too.

I would get an Rx from my doctor for PT, but I had PT preop and two weeks postop, and continue to do those exercises. Other than that, just walk, my OS said. He also encouraged riding a stationary bike, but my operative thigh is not there yet. Instead I use a floor cycler.

I'd be gung-go about massage therapy if I weren't afraid of being hurt. The therapists are young here, and into sports rehab. After I had knee arthroscopy, I vowed never again...my PT bullied me until the pain was so bad, I gave up. Came home, bought a recumbent bike, and slowly brought back my knee ROM at my own pace. But I was in my early 50s then and went into the arthroscopic surgery in very good shape.

Sorry to be so long-winded, but I'm anxious at this point. All I can imagine for myself is not getting better because I've hit a hard wall at weeks 10 and 11. And been knocked flat, it feels like.

Re: stair-climbing...I live in an old house. My stairs are high and steep. I cannot yet step up with my operative leg without femur pain. So I still go up with the good, down with the bad. As I do it, I want to cry. Not from pain but from realizing I'm just too far postop to still be doing it.

I went into hip replacement because I had no other option. I was bedridden and in level 10 pain. My pain is manageable now if I walk on two poles. And I can drive now. But I'm very stiff and easily worn out. I could walk up stairs better before surgery than I do now.

I know this can be a slow recovery, but I feel stuck and much older than I did pre-op. Before I felt as if my disability was temporary. Now I feel like I'm just disabled.

Again, I'm sorry to be so down and not have better news to report. Maybe I'll feel a bit better at some point and muster the courage for massage therapy. I'm pleased to hear it's helping you! Thank you for sharing your experience with it!
 
@Merrimay .... I've copied this post over to your recovery thread so I could offer some advice to you about seeking therapy. Most of the time with hips we'll tell folks that just walking is adequate and to give it time. But in your case....given your history.....I believe you really do need this particular type of therapy. I'll help you find someone that won't hurt you.
 
I'm with you Nightquilter, it's not pretty getting up even from a kneeling position to upright! LOL!
Wasn't even before my hip surgery.
You know those low beach chairs?? OMG, I'd drop onto my knees then use arms of chair to get me upright on the beach...not pretty. No more low chairs for me!
 
The pressure point massage therapy is continuing twice a week and there is definite improvement in my leg muscles. I no longer feel that "tight" muscle feeling and I'm able to walk without a cane most of the time. I still have to walk more slowly than normal and I can feel that I need to build muscle strength. But I'm very happy with the result.

I've also learned that I still need to take an Aleve each morning to keep whatever swelling I have have going on minimized. My therapist was not surprised at that, even though I was. She said not to worry and continue with it for at least a few more weeks. My walking without a cane will help strengthen the now-loosened up muscles. I'm actually able to start with side-step exercises with no pain. It feels really good to stretch those muscles out again.

Even knowing what I know from working on BoneSmart for years, I was a bit worried that things might not improve. It's easy to have those doubts when it's your body and not someone else's. But I actually can feel enough progress now that I believe my hip will be strong and better than ever come summer and warm weather. How exciting that is!!
 
@Jamie , so glad PPT is helping! I'm finding great benefit from it as well. :cheers:
 

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