THR My thoughts on THR after 7 weeks

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IaDave

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I had a my RH done in 2011 @ 56 and my LH on 6/2/2015 at age 60.

- Recovering at age 60 is harder than 56. I guess 4 yrs at this age is different than 4 yrs if you are in your 20's or 30's.
- I have come to agree that PT may do more harm than good. My first surgery no PT just bed exercises and walking and was w/o cane at 4 weeks. This surgery they set up a PT apt at 4 weeks
and I'm still with a cane. I cancelled all my PT apts on Monday because I think they were too aggressive on what they had me do. They added ankle weights last week and Sunday I was really hurting at the joint itself. I have not done any exercises since then and am walking and icing when I can. I can tell the difference already in the pain and strength. If you do PT please don't feel bad if you tell them NO on certain exercises that is probably where I made the mistake. I can see PT after you have had sufficient time to heal but not right away.
- Everybody recovers differently so when reading other posts about folks recoveries don't feel like
" Why can't I do that". I think I fell into that and pushed myself too hard in PT. It may have been the recovery about someone shooting baskets at week 4.
- I think the experts on this site are spot on when it comes to recovery.
 
I am certainly not having PT for the next hip either! Two years out, and still with the tendonitis all around the groin area!
I had home PT, for three visits-- and then I discovered that my insurance didn't cover it, so I had to let him go. We had not gotten too far, and I never did anything that hurt, but I believe he would have been pushing me too hard in future visits. My out patient PT happened at 6 months, and consisted solely of deep tissue massage to get rid of trigger points, and softening up the scar. I'll know what to do next time round!!


My phone sent this using BoneSmart Forum, clever phone!
 
I am two weeks out of anterior right hip surgery. Do not plan to do any PT this hip. Last September I replaced my left hip and found PT just a waste of time. My hip healed fine and did not need exercises.
 
Almost 10 weeks out with no PT and OS said there was no reason for me to go now. Only doing walking and some biking and trail hiking but going very slow. If and when something hurts, I stop. I have had an uneventful recovery thankfully. I hope I don't have issues down the road so to speak. I constantly remind myself to not overdue things as most days I feel,very good.
 
@IaDave - you're entirely correct...all recoveries are different, for many reasons.

One big advantage I had was that my leg muscles were still in pretty good shape pre-op, with only 1.4 years of hip pain before the BTHR op...I hear that some folks have several or even many years of pain so get muscle atrophy.
For the 2 months pre-op, I worked out even harder thru 8-9-10 intense pain to increase my strength and decrease my weight. My PT guy told me that he never sees anyone attacking it like that...but I think it's paying huge dividends for me now.

I was the one shooting baskets early, and that started in mid-week 2. In mid-week 3, I felt normal with foul shots, then went for 3 pointers...they were still a struggle as the leg force that drives the shot must go thru the hips and it wasn't so fluid yet....making me exert more arm force than is normal. It'll be better this weekend if I can get out there in between rain.

You'll get where you want to be, whether it's 4 weeks or 4 months makes no difference! Keep plugging and take care of business as your particular body and system need!
 
They added ankle weights last week and Sunday I was really hurting at the joint itself.
Now this is just stupid! Ankle weights are definitely not needed. What where they thinking?

Not sure it's the age difference that is making this recovery a bit harder. Each and every THR is different - even on the same person. I had my LTHR in May 2010 and the recovery was very difficult and long. Part of the reason was I waited too long. Over 5 years later I had my RTHR and it was like night and day. Very easy recovery this time.

You'll get there @IaDave ! Just don't push yourself and yes, never compare your recovery to any other.
 
I too had my second hip replaced on 6/2/2015. The first one (right anterior) was done on July 22, 2014. I had a speedy and miraculous recovery. This one was a bit different. From the onset, I had muscle pain and continued to use a cane until about 2 days ago. Walking any distance would make my muscle sore and using the cane would relieve that soreness. I went to PT and she gave me exercises to do to strengthen the muscle. I do them sporadically. Each day brings progress and I can now walk 1.2 miles without using a cane for relief. I am walking 2 miles a day in segments.
I expected this hip surgery to be exactly like my first hip. Not so! Once I got my brain around that, I was ok.
Hang in there. Don't do anything that hurts.
 
People often fall into that trap! But as I always say - two different hips, two different surgeries = two different recoveries!
 
8 week update- weaning myself off the cane but still walk like Frankenstein. I feel like I'm not really improving but on one of my 15 min. walks in the warehouse at work I had 2 co-workers tell me they thought I was moving faster. That made my day. Still have that swelling at the bottom of my incision but goes away a little after icing. Sleep still is crappy but I think once the swelling is under control it will get better. All I want is to get rid of the cane by Sept 5th because I'm heading to NW Ontario on a fishing trip with 3 other guys that are close to 70 and I don't want to be the old guy at 60. No PT still but I may start back on a few of the exercises they showed- no ankle weights.
 
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