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alexthecat thanks! I did forget to say, I plan on giving the running shoes a fancy funeral LOL. I was buying that type b/c they had SO much more cushioning than other major brands that I tried on, much to my surprise. Shoe shopping, here we come!
I didn't know you could do the elliptical with no hands-- will try it out for sure! :)
 
alexthecat

Here's a broken link removed: https://www.ubersense.com/video/view/8lvGBb25 shot at PT in the beginning. Note: I don't take walks barefoot, but he wanted to see how my feet worked I guess... See how uneven my two sides are as evidenced by those creases in my back :boohoo:

My shoe "script" says that I have Neutral foot function (as opposed to over or under pronation). He suggests a "firm medial midsole and heel area with arch reinforcement". The running shoe store did show me a few shoes that would meet his description. My problem was those nike free shoes are only 5 months old and really don't have much wear -- I am not a runner and don't put much mileage on my shoes, so I was having trouble justifying the cost... I will say that they are annoying shoes in that they have deep crevices in the soles and pick up pebbles all along the back half of the shoe!! :rolleyes:

Before my surgery I definitely had a wear pattern on the outside of the soles of my shoes. I still do a bit on the left side, but not on the THR side and that may be due to the hip impingement and not fully striding with that leg any longer... I'm supposed to be shortening my stride when I walk, which I find very difficult to do especially when walking with someone else or trying not to be late someplace!

Yes Poppet I have had time, two years worth and sometimes it seems like it's been soooo much longer...

Hi zauberflöte and Dee205 thanks for checking in on my shoe issues :)
Take care,
Cardie
 
Okay... :what: I'm not clear on what you're asking me.

Your video doesn't play on my mobile device, so I can't comment on that. PTs observe people walking barefoot because shoes affect your gait and can mask or exaggerate problems. So, your PT analyzed your natural gait and recommended a particular type of shoe, to compensate for the weaknesses observed, in order to help you develop a better gait.

Consider the situation we sometimes see with recent post-ops who want to give up their walking aids ASAP after THR, regardless of how dysfunctional their gait is. Unfortunately, they need the support of the cane until they have attained a proper gait or they risk developing a chronic habitual limp.

Similarly, you need an appropriate shoe (and not the Nike Free) to support your body's efforts to walk correctly. If it were me, I'd at least want to give the PT's recommendations a try. If you're not willing to do that, I'm afraid that I have nothing to contribute. Sorry.
 
C Mac Cardie, your feet do like mine! Right straight ahead, left turned out slightly! Did they used to both turn out before new hip? Mine did.
Interesting that you're working on shortening your stride-- I wonder how that feels to you-- "right" or "wrong"?

I'm with you on shoes with deep treads-- my kids sometimes had those, and the dog poo was impossible to get out:yikes:
I would maybe say that a new pair of shoes might serve you better in the long run? :)
 
alexthecat just "showing" you how I walk... I don't know what I'm asking, just sharing what my little script from the PT said. I got cut loose from PT earlier than I'd expected and have been left with a lot of confusion and some dashed hopes.

zauberflöte I'm not sure if my THR foot turned out before surgery, I'd never seen a video of my walking. My legs are two different lengths and always have been, so the turn out of the normal leg may just be compensatory for my lopsidedness.

The pain management specialist directed me to this particular PT and clinic and in the beginning I'd thought he had a plan for how to unfurl my twisted spine. This lasted a couple of weeks and then one day he announced that he thought I needed a lift as the answer to my problems. This recommendation has also impeded me in the shoe department because it means going back to the elderly walking shoe in order to have a simple sole to strip and add on to -- plus my stubborn denial that some how I was done with external shoe lifts!

When I'd asked the OS many years ago after my surgery if my spine was going to untwist and my pelvis level out his response was "who cares" what matters is how you feel. I tried to adopt that philosophy until mentioning it to my chiropractor (the wife part of the team) and she said that my rotoscoliosis was setting me up for disc degeneration and those back problems all the OSs use to warn me of when I was young! My yoga teacher has degenerative disc disease and has had half of her spinal column fused....

Anyway, sorry to be so glum and stuck on the dang shoe
Cardie
 
zauberflöte

Oh, and trying to shorten my stride feels *very* odd -- like I'm a little cartoon character with legs that go real fast but hardly move forwards at all.... I also have to tilt my tailbone under really hard because I have a high degree of lordosis which seems to be caused by my short IP muscles.

It is good for me to be done with PT again. I told my yoga teacher that it's so reassuring coming to her class where she tells us that it is normal for one side of the body to stretch further than the other and normal to have differences between sides -- whereas in PT it twice a week's worth of berating me for my abnormalities and geometric challenges/deficits...

Cardie, crabby for it being too hot to do anything useful or enjoyable...
 
awww (((Cardie)))) C Mac You have every right to be crabby. I wish your back could take itself to a PT I had 20+ yrs ago for my back. She was a miracle worker, but then I didn't have anything but a little flute-playing induced twistedness...she's still in practise, at a location near you LOL but only does hands now.
I imagine it's prohibitively expensive to go to PT on your own, right? If money were no object, you could search the region for the perfect match...I feel for you, and I wish that an end of pain was in sight, with a gain in activity to match.

:)
 
Hi Cardie,
Just to say that I wear Asics trainers as I was told they are very good. I have had 3 pairs, 1 pre-op and 2 since and they are all walking shoes. I have a raised heel on the right of 1.4cm and I find them very comfortable. They are more expensive but I feel they support my feet well.
Jyoti
 
Interesting video Cardie, I have similar back creases... Mmmmm... On my operated side... Don't recall having them immediately after surgery...

Sorry it is so hot for you... Send some our way please :)
 
Poppet I think I've always had those back creases, I think it's just a natural way that muscles and fat are placed in the back. I don't know if they are exacerbated by lordosis -- did your degree of lordosis change after your hip surgery and when you became upright and off of the walker? I'm sure that alexthecat could more intelligently explain what those creases are in the anatomy of our bodies. Mine are uneven because my THR side is shorter/lower than my other side so my muscles in my back on that side are in a state of hyperextension compared to the normal side.

Thanks for the shoe info. zauberflöte and Jyoti!! I haven't made a move yet. Most of the shoes that I find in my area seem to range from $90 to $125 and then it costs about $50 for the exterior lift. I find that a full sole lift seems to work better for my leg than the heel cookie type of insert.

Hoping for a cooler week and trying to send the warmth down to Poppet in OZ!! :)

Take care,
Cardie
 
Welcome, Cardie. Recovery is a long, slow process. My surgery was over 8 months ago and my incision is still sore, I'm way off balance and find it very hard to put my weight on the operated side. That said, I can walk--no cane, no nothing, just me. And the awful bone on bone pain is gone. I can even walk around Disney World--which I love to do. So hang on, be really nice to yourself and realize that it will get better even though you're frustrated now. Oh, and don't let the PT people make you do anything that doesn't feel right.:kittykiss:
 
Cardie, as I said, I can't view the video, so I don't know what creases you're talking about.

Giraffe44 Cardie is more than two years post-THR. I am sure she realizes that recovery takes time. However, at this point it is reasonable for her to be somewhat proactive in pursuing her goals.
 
The creases are sort of like this person's. Mine are a bit like the ones on the left -- uneven.
I guess it's really just back fat, as that's what I had to google to finally come up with images of what I was looking for...

alexthecat



Thanks Giraffe44 sounds like you are doing well and off to a great start! I'm done with my 4th round of PT and no one makes me do something that I don't want to do... :thumb: Glad that you made it to Disney World and had an enjoyable time. We did that in 2007, four years before my surgery and it went pretty well. I can't imagine being able to do it now though -- but, oh well, it was really a once in a lifetime kind of event for me!!

Take care,
Cardie
 
Well, I just don't know. Human bodies are not perfectly symmetrical. I would see that as being a normal variation for that person's body. I wouldn't worry about it.
 
Hi sharonslp for me it depends upon the exercise and the problem that I know it will exacerbate. If it is a one legged type of activity i.e. one legged squats, I will tell them that I have a torn meniscus and I cannot do a movement like that on my one leg as it will possibly exacerbate or further damage the meniscus. If it's a core exercise and I know that I will arch my back too much and further injure my SI joint I will say -- how do I do this so that my back remains flat and I don't tweak those muscles. There have even been a few times this last round when I was having too many other problems to be able to do the exercises and I just told him -- I can't do the exercises today.

My body is very reactive and often times I can tell if a certain position is going to cause a problem -- too much tension in my neck because it is arched -- this was an old exercise on a stability ball, relax my neck and look at the floor. It's much like in yoga class when you need the teacher to modify something -- or you just stop doing something because it hurts or doesn't feel good.

I'm a big fan of DOM (delayed onset muscle soreness) however, I rarely experience that any longer I go directly in to paralyzing spasming and week long pain that impacts my functioning so I have to be more mindful. I have a lot of anatomical anomalies and even though the PT will say "all my clients are different" they don't seem to have my kind of different!

I see that alexthecat doesn't think the foam roller is good for you yet. That thing has been my saving grace for a multitude of sore and tight things especially when I was in a place that true exercise was not really an option. I'm sure your PT person has a good handle on what you need to do and will get you functioning better, you seem a whole lot more normal than I am!!

Take care,
Cardie
 
Thanks Cardie. I am laughing at your use of the word "normal." Is anyone normal anymore? But yes, you have a lot more complications to your situation than I do.

But thanks for the pointers on how you "manage" your therapists. I work with a main...and very experienced...therapist, plus her assistant. The assistant is the one who said do the 30 leg lifts, and then he wandered off. When they started to hurt, I should have just stopped right then and there....I know better!! But I am by nature a people pleaser, so I stupidly plowed on through.

Yesterday I saw the main person again, and when I told her I felt like the session had set me back, she fully addressed it and it felt much better. So I'm just gathering some scripts to use to be very proactive for myself from here on. Your methods definitely help.

Yes, Alex was anti the foam roller, and I would agree. There is a lot of incredible tenderness just under the surface...both in the bursa area, and it the middle of the lateral thigh area. It takes very little pressure to stir everything up. So the (mostly) gentle stretching and manipulating they are doing so far feels helpful, but anything too aggressive is going to hinder rather than help. The foam roller feels agressive!

We soldier on!! :)

Sharon
 
I am not "anti foam roller". I use it myself quite frequently. It certainly has its place, but I don't think it is the right tool to help with your current situation, Sharon. Not right now, anyway.
 
C Mac said:
I have a lot of anatomical anomalies and even though the PT will say "all my clients are different" they don't seem to have my kind of different!
Click to expand...
Oh Cardie, I so agree withe the frustration you must feel! I sent one of my boys to an elementary school where "each student is an individual", but my son was a bit too individual for them.:heehee: Just goes to show that often the true experts are the possessors of the "different-" or "individual-" nesses. Sigh....

Thank you for the little script for the S-I joint, as mine is vulnerable too, and of course the first thing they want to do is have you hang your leg off the table to stretch the front of the hip or something. I can't even lie on the table without S-I pain LOL.

sharonslp it really sounds like you have a gem in your main PT!
 
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