New member with pain management question

[Carriemay60]

Hello and welcome from my chair sitting on ice. I am 17 days post-op and am now taking no more, if not less painkiller than the last 5 years. I wound up on the maximum doses of Tramadol and Tylenol with Codeine for several months prior to surgery but it barely took the edge off. (No NSAIDs for me due to previous ulcer) Keep in mind they will take NSAIDs away 2-4 weeks before surgery. Pre-op, ice made me hit the roof. Now, it's better than cake and sex put together! Heat was soothing but didn't help with pain. I might take more now than some because of other arthritis and back issues but am sliding by doses both afternoons and evenings. If I then get sore, I generally try ice first. You will get there with a little help from all your new friends here

Happy Easter

 

[Ptarmigan]

Hello and Happy Easter, CarrieMay60!

Thank you for such an encouraging report! Day 17...very exciting...hope you will enjoy it.

 

[beachlily]

Every single person here emphasizes ice, so I’m going to look into ice management, too.

“Ice Ice baby”.... who sang that????

 

[SE Florida]

Vanilla Ice sang ice ice baby. And ice management is the best! Helps with swelling & numbs the pain. A must for my recovery even at 7 weeks!

 

[Carriemay60]

@SE Florida I see people still sitting on it at 7-8 months!

@beachlily I totally hate being cold and ignored the advice here for my last op for quite a long time. I guess I must have hit a wall one day and tried it, Amazed!!! I now ice after any activity, before bed and when relaxing. At least 5 or 6 forty five minute sessions. I still get that pain in the middle of my butt that feels like I am sitting on a large rock. Morphine doesn't touch it but ice does every time!

 

[Eman85]

I think you took my post incorrectly. I don't mean using your brain to overcome the pain. What I mean is using your brain to accept it's a long recovery and you have to accept that and go very slowly. As most will tell you it's a boring job recovering and your mind will think you should be further along or that you should be doing more. This is what gets you onto the pain.

 

[Ptarmigan]

Eman85

It’s great that you clarified this. I understood what you said both ways, in fact. I don’t think it will be a small challenge, by the way, to summon up long haul patience, but I really appreciate the heads up so I can think creatively now about keeping myself happily occupied while I wait for my body to heal.

 

[Elf1]

Haven't had my surgery yet but have gotten great advice and tips from everyone here, stick with them! While heat has always been my go to when I hurt, you best believe after my surgery I will be ice, ice baby! And probably watching me some Vanilla Ice Project on DIY tv!

 

[gertie]

I'll just tag on with everyone else to say I don't think it will be a problem. Keeping in mind that every surgery and recovery is different, I didn't need anything stronger than acetaminophen and ice once I left the hospital. I was a little sore but nothing severe. I was also surprised at how quickly I was mobile. The biggest issue I faced was the energy drain.

 

[inthebeginning]

@Ptarmigan Like many other have said, the post-surgical pain is soooo different! For my first THR, I was taking Tramadol with Tylenol leading up to the surgery so I could work up until the bitter end. They had me on Oxycodone out of the hospital and I think I was able to wean off that completely in 5 days or so and take Tylenol occasionally.

This go around, same hip Revision, same pain mgt leading up to surgery, but have only needed Tramadol and Tylenol at home. They started me on Oxy in the hospital, but it was messing with my stomach, so I said screw it. Because we are so used to the ‘before pain’, many of us find the post pain easier to deal with!

Good luck and I think you will find a similar feeling about the post-op pain. Again to reiterate, ICE, ICE Baby!


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[Layla]

Hi there
I hope you're having a nice day. Wondering if you have a scheduled date for your August surgery and which hip you're having replaced. Please leave the info below to be applied as your signature. Thanks in advance.
Wishing you peace and comfort as you await your August date.
@Ptarmigan

 

[Ptarmigan]

Hi, @Layla!

We’re still waiting on dates from the surgery center. I will update you as soon as I know. It’s my right hip.

Update: Just confirmed August 5!

 

[Josephine]

I am taking 1000 Tylenol 3 times a day. The Tylenol doesn’t “relieve” the pain, it just makes it better.

I know the FDA has ruled that 3,000mg acetaminophen is a safe maximum but that would be assuming that the patient is taking another medication that also contained it and thereby inadvertently take an overdose. Assuming that this is not the case, the maximum safe dosage per 24hrs 4,000mgs.

My PT has suggested I give TENS a try on my inner thigh

Oh yes - yeah for the TENS! Here's a useful article TENS machines for pain management

supplemented with a heating pad on the outer thigh.

I don't recommend heat. It encourages swelling which is, of course, a form of pain!

You know, back in the 1960s when the hospital I trained at was the only one anywhere doing hip replacements, patients were only ever given paracetamol (Tylenol) after the op.

 

[Cecropia]

I'm hoping I dont need much more than that, but only time will tell. I hate that Morphine makes people nauseous, I just dread that, but if it helps the pain....

 

[Ptarmigan]

Thanks, Josephine for all this useful information! Much appreciated

You reminded me to clarify that my PT recommended the combination TENS/heating pad specifically for preop. He finds that most preop hip patients have an imbalance between their inner thigh muscles (which often go “offline”) and their outer thigh muscles (which compensate and get overworked). His recommendation was designed to gently contract the inner thigh with TENS and gently relax the outer thigh with heat simultaneously.

Definitely agree with avoiding heat for pain management post-op.

 

[Elf1]

@Ptarmigan that's good information, might give that a try myself. Have used the TENS and a heating pad but never together.

 

[julesglass]

After reading the suggestion of TENS I just order one. I didn't know about this gadget, thanks!

 

[J-nice]

I just go my TENS and using it on inner thighs and right below sit bones. Love it.

 

[ahipgma]

I am 8 days out from RTHR with another hip to go--- ones as bad as the other WAS.
That said my doc sent me home with a multimodal approach to pain management which is a Celebrex daily in the am with 1 gram of Tylenol.
The tylenol is taken every 8 hours around the clock so I have a mid day and a bedtime dose.
On as as needed basis I have oxycodone 5 mg. Every 6 hrs as needed and tramadol 50 every 8 hrs as needed.
When i counted out my meds when i got home i realized i was given just enough for the 2 weeks till i see my OS again.
I guess we revisit it when i get my staples out on 5/16.
Heres my personal issue.
Icing and elevating help. But 8 days out I still have postop pain, muscle pain, stiffness, incisional pain with my staples.
So to get up.and go I still take the opioids.
I take them as prescribed, somewhat less than prescribed, really.
Also I have arthritis everywhere that was not cured by a hip surgery for which I was getting along ok with aleve and tylenol pre op.
I am learning with this, my first surgery in 63 years that no ones recovery is the same, and there is danger sometimes in feeling bad because you are not cruising along on just Tylenol a week out, or being afraid when you read about horrible complications that arise.

 

[SE Florida]

I am 8 days out from RTHR with another hip to go--- ones as bad as the other WAS.
Heres my personal issue.
Icing and elevating help. But 8 days out I still have postop pain, muscle pain, stiffness, incisional pain with my staples.

@ahipgma You're now at day 10 (congrats!) and the pain, stiffness and incisional pain is not uncommon this early on. You'll read a lot of hipsters on here with different pings and pangs even further down the recovery road. And not everyone is cruising along just on Tylenol at a week out either . The icing and elevating are the best for pain control along with your meds. I just read your post in another thread that you were outside enjoying some fresh air today; that's great! I hope you enjoy your Mother's Day with your daughters!