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THR On the other side and now in the right forum

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Maeve, I saw your post on Elizak's thread and wasn't quite sure what it meant.. pleased you posted it here.

I believe you are moving to rehab today - is that correct?

I am sure they will have heaps of answers for your questions... You will get to go on your holiday.. August is still a few months away :)
 
Hi Maeve, not quite sure what you mean by deliberately lengthened. My hip joint was virtually fused before surgery and my legs were definitely uneven. My OS asked me if I had noticed this, and of course I had, and said he would be able to correct this and make them the same length. I haven't been back for follow-up visit yet to find out what the difference was, but they seem to be even now. I am having more muscular pain down the thigh as I begin to move around more, and of course as I begin to walk "normally".
 
Maeve and Allycat

I had a significant LLD prior to my surgery, with a severe trendelenburg gait, the worse my surgeon had seen!

He was able to fix some of my LLD by lengthening and the intention is to even it when I have my left hip done..

I found for months that it was such an unusual sensation feeling the LLD especially walking barefooted around the house, but fast forward 17 months and I don't notice it too much, although I know it is still there..

I will wait for hip two to be fixed and hopefully all will be corrected.

My biggest issue is that I have severe OA in my spine and that impedes me walking too far, even with my Nordic Walking poles..

I have so learnt to be patient, as I often get strange muscle aches and odd hip pain on the operated side. I found that around 12 months when it seemed that recovery was well on the way, then suddenly there were more unaccountable aches and pains...
 
Thanks@Poppet.
I sort of thought you had an issue with LLD.
Pre surgery I had a built up orthotic in my right shoe as the leg was shorter ....I guess by the same 3 cms! So really the leg lengths are now the same. It is just the perception that the right leg is too long. It isn't. It's now the right length hut the muscles and nerves on that leg are now stretched and very tight so I need lots of PT and practice walking correctly. Otherwise my natural inclination is to bend that right leg and tilt my pelvis like it has always been. In fact it's of course easier to revert to that rather than straighten the right leg and stretch those tight muscles.
I have been in rehab since last Tuesday...posted about what it was like earlier here. I am keen to know how others with the same issue have progressed. You've obviously been battling the same thing...and doing well by the sounds of it. I guess the you will have another adjustment when the left hip,is done. You're right about strange in bare feet. Previously I limped significantly and tilted my pelvis. Now it feels as though I am dragging my right foot! All in good time I guess! I need to learn your patience!!
The physios say I am doing very well so that is comforting. I am now using crutches. Moving to one crutch by the end of the week.
You are working with the same adjustment too @Allycatband seem to be progressing beautifully! Guess we all cross our fingers and work hard at Physio as well as lots of walking. :flwrysmile:
 
Maeve

I have written an article about Nordic Walking, it is in the social room.

It is a fabulous activity to help correct one's gait..

Heaps of Orthopedic surgeons have taken up Nordic Walking and my OS was very thrilled that I am doing it..
 
Maeve
Hi dear
You will be in good shape every passing week
The difference between my operated leg and the other was 3 cm post surgery and now (post op 6 wks) it is hardly 0,5 cm.
The week before ı was worried whether ı will be able to walk without limping and without the cane.
This week ı am walking without a cane (outside) and without limping, after all those years of bad hips and operations...
Dont worry, slowly and surely everything comes backin order and you will be in perfect shape )))
Cheers from istanbul
 
Love getting Cheers from Istanbul! What great progress you have made @ sansabosa!
Thanks for being here to cheer me on!
Today is the day of the crutches! Off the frame.
Am staying here in my cocoon which is the Rehab facility until Dunday but making progress every day.will go home with confidence. :martini:
 
Maeve
I'm so glad that you are in such a professional post op care unit
I do believe that the early days in rehab helps a lot in the recovery process.
The FRench say: "profitez" as maximum as you can :)
 
Hi Fran, great to hear you are doing so well in the rehab unit. Exiting times moving from walker to crutches, I much preferred the crutches and took to them no problem, I am sure it will be the same for you too :)

I had a LLD of 2 inches pre surgery. I had no socket at all so my joint moved up as far as it possibly could and stayed there for 47 years until my surgery..I think we talked about this in your pre op thread....my OS said he wouldn't be pushing it to get the legs totally even ( he was concerned about nerve damage if he overstretched...as was I)but would try his best. It was a bit of panic stations in the early days when my operated leg was much longer but then it settled down and now it is still slightly shorter but better than it was. I wish I had been aware the time they were exactly the same just so I could enjoy the experience.lol

I wore a heel raise inside my shoes for over twenty years and it is so lovely to not have to do that now. I am loving my flip flops. Could. Ever wesr them before so I went mad buying a good few pairs along with many other types of shoe/boots.

I will be seeing a biomechanic lady next week to get my leg measure properly but I am hoping that I can get away with not needing the raise now.

Take care

Ann
 
Anniepops

Hi Ann
I love the way you articulate "ı wish ı had been aware the time they were exactly the same...to enjoy the experience..."
I'm sure when the mechanic lady (who is that???) measures them, you"ll be happy.
My physioterapist mentioned just after the surgery that the body tolerates up to 2.5 cm of difference in leg length without a limp as long as the muscles are strong enough she said. 2.5 cm would be around 1 inch ı guess.
Cheers
 
Hi Selin, hope things are still going very well for you :) sansabosa

One inch seems quite a lot doesn't it, you would think even that would make for quite a limp but then they say that Marilyn Munroe had one inch choped off just one foot of all her heels to give the that sexy sashay she carried so well so perhaps not eh :)

The biomechanic lady...not sure if she is classed as a 'doctor', is the person who used to measure and provide me with the heel raises when I needed them. I have googled it but am still not sure exactly what they do, something to do with the body structure I think. I figured as she obviously know her stuff regarding LLD I should get an appt as nobody else has bothered to actually measure my legs since surgery.
 
Hi Anniepops and sansabosa,
You two ladies are founts of information!
I need to work on the muscles now so they are able to to tolerate the longer length until the body adjusts. Interesting part of the journey!
My muscles and nerves are so tight thst is's hard to walk erect...they grab.
Afterbthe physio they are very bad. Still as we all say....early days!
Anniepops, I will really try to be aware of when there is equal length so I can enjoy the moment!
And also question my OS about the biomechanics. Thank you both so much! You really are a lifeline...much appreciated!
,
 
Very sore and stiff today! So much work yesterday ( actually every day)...hour of challenging exercises in the hydro. Same in the gym. Plus I went onto crutches. This morning I feel battered and bruised. Took my endone and 5mg oxycontin just now 7.45 am so it pain relief kicks in before hydro at 9.
Do I up my meds so I can do the hard work twice a day every day while I'm here? Or do I wk less and rest more? So hard to know. I have so much work to do to loosen the tight, stretched muscles and in the right place for that with excellent physios. I am frightened they will just tighten further if I don'd do the work now
I leave here Sunday and will come back for half days twice or 3 times a week.
At the moment I am either exercising, hobbling back or icing. :sos:
 
Hi Maeve

I know you are keen to get as much out of your fabulous rehab facility and the programs with the PT however, it really needs to be balanced with rest, elevation, icing and pain meds.. We have had several members go hard at it in the early weeks and then fall into a bit of a heap.

The 'no pain, no gain' theory didn't work with my THR recovery. For the first six weeks I didn't leave the house much, just moved around and went for a walk, with my walker with hubby down the street, got to the end 200 m, sat down and then walked back and gradually increased the distance. My OS was a fan of the go slow and concentrate on building up my walking and ensuring my gait was correct.

I would give yourself a rest and recovery, have a chat with your Physio.
 
Posted this on a thread I have been following but realised I should post on my own thread!
Yes@Poppet, home is looking pretty good to me now.
Took it easier today. Lots of walking and stretching and stair climbing and sitting and standing!
Yesterday by the end of the Hydro session I was completely stuffed. Physio put weights on my legs, got me to lean back against the side of the pool and then, standing on one weighted leg, lift the other one out in front to stretch it.
So lifted the leg and the other one shot up too leaving me upside down clinging to the side of the pool...happened twice -needed to be physically turned back up the right way. What a sight it must have been.
I had no petrol left in the tank! The trials and tribulations of rehab.
There's a fine line between maximising the exercise sessions and doing just too much which then leaves the hip tight and spasming (?)
I'll get there eventually. Today the Dr said it would be a long haul and that I was doing extremely well compared to some who can't even lift their leg after the lengthening!
At least when I questioned him further about what he meant by a long time, he said it will be weeks rather than months and the best exercise is walking....and walking...and walking. Preferably in a hydro pool for maximum effect.
 
Maeve said:
Pre surgery I had a built up orthotic in my right shoe as the leg was shorter ....I guess by the same 3 cms! So really the leg lengths are now the same. It is just the perception that the right leg is too long. It isn't. It's now the right length hut the muscles and nerves on that leg are now stretched and very tight so I need lots of PT and practice walking correctly. Otherwise my natural inclination is to bend that right leg and tilt my pelvis like it has always been. In fact it's of course easier to revert to that rather than straighten the right leg and stretch those tight muscles.
Click to expand...

Hi Fran,

I also wore a built up shoe on my THR leg before surgery.

Try to remember that often times people that had osteoarthritis that lead to THR, but did not have the complications of long standing congenital issues, do not necessarily have the same experience with LLD and with the lengthening that we experience as dysplasia patients after our surgery. Some of those folks may have had LLDs going in to surgery because of the deterioration of their hip socket/femur over time -- but their muscles and nerves are not of an abnormal length due to a true difference in the length of their femurs from congenital issues and/or surgeries that may have affected the growth of those leg bones during childhood.

It is ok to take it slowly as you graduate from your Rehab program and venture back home. It is ok AND very normal to want to bend at the knee as your body is healing. It will take some time to get a full and true range of motion going in your hip during these early months and while that is happening you may feel some fatigue in your low back and in your knee joint as they work a bit harder to compensate. You may also find, especially as you come off your crutches and get on to the cane, that your other hip feels stress/fatigue/pain and this is normal too. It's ok to honor these sensations and take a break or rest.

All that stuff that feels stretched needs to be allowed to adapt and settle without a whole lot more force and additional stretching. The "tight muscles" are already stretching, they have been stretched with the installation of the specialty hardware that your OS installed to eliminate your LLD. Maybe it would be helpful if Josephine said those pearly words of wisdom about hips that has reassured so many of us all around the globe and allowed us to spend more time resting and feel less pressured to behave as if we were training for a marathon...

Take care and I hope the trip home on Sunday is a good one!!
Cardie
 
@ CMac,
Hi Cardie
Thank you so much for YOUR pearls of wisdom. You truly understand the special issues with congeniatl "hippies".
Your info re the stretching that has already happened helps me to understand . I was not clearvon WHAT exactly the operation had done. My OS is no communicator. He feels it is sfficient to comment that he has written booksbon cases like mine. I haven't read them Lol so am none the wiser! Also have only seen him once post surgery on day two. He is now overseas lecturing in South Africa.will see him at the six week point.
You must bebon the medical field to know so much? Or have done lots of research!
. Whichever it is I am so grateful for your advice.
I am going to cease my marathon efforts, do the day sessions each week....2 days,Wed, Fri back here at the rehab centre butbuse the rest of the time to heal. Walking and stretching but not too much.
Good news is I am going home later today. It's raining so my husband's golf is cancelled. He would have been happy not to go but I insisted as I had a hydro session this morning. Can't wait to get home and start my real life...even if it is life in the slow lane.
Once again thank you so much
Cheers
Fran :thankyou:
 
Maeve just catching up here-- going home, are you! very good! but that resort you were staying at? May I have your leftover time there? I'll do any physio abd a$$-over-teakettle-in-hydro that they ask for!!!!!! Vino! Lush surroundings! but you are right, home is the best :)
 
Great news Maeve going home... Enjoy your first night at home tonight :)
 
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