THR PEMF helped with pain after THR surgery

FriesianRider

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Just wanted to share my experience with others facing THR. My surgery was last Wednesday on my right hip. Surgeon used a superior approach (4" incision) and a dual mobility joint replacement. Surgeon said everything went really well. I was given minimal supine PT exercises and sent home. Pain has not been an issue and I just used Tylenol for the first few days. Just a minor amount of swelling around the incision. Of course, I am lucky enough to own a PEMF (pulsed electro magnetic field) machine for my horses and I use the smallest attachment on myself once a day. They are amazing at alleviating pain and swelling as well as increasing bone growth to metal implants (several medical studies online are available). I elevated my leg for the first few days, but with no lower leg swelling, I stopped. I do ice a couple of times a day. I used the walker for a couple of days and then moved to a cane. Because of the approach and the replacement joint type, I have no restrictions. PT therapist is great and keeps the exercises limited and non-painful. At one week he said I was better than most of his hip clients at three weeks. Anyone looking to have a THR, I HIGHLY recommend the superior approach and a dual mobility replacement.
 
:happydance:
Happy to hear you are doing well!

I want to leave you our Recovery Guidelines.
Each article is short but very informative. Following these guidelines will help you have a less painful recovery.

Just keep in mind all people are different, as are the approaches to this recovery and rehab. The key is, “Find what works for you.“ Your doctors, PTs and BoneSmart are available to help, but you are the final judge as to the recovery approach you choose.

Hip Recovery: The Guidelines
1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now, they are almost certainly temporary​
2. Control discomfort
rest
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)​

3. Do what you want to do BUT​
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you​
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.​

4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these

5. At week 4 and after you should follow this

6. Access to these pages on the website


BIG TIP: Hips actually don't need any exercise to get better. They do a pretty good job of it all on their own if given half a chance. Trouble is, people don't give them a chance and end up with all sorts of aches and pains and sore spots. All they need is the best therapy which is walking and even then not to excess.

We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery.

While members may create as many threads as they like in a majority of BoneSmart's forums, we ask that each member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.
 
Sounds fantastic ...
 
Congrats on your new hip and the great progress you’ve made so far. It sounds like you’re on your way to a wonderful New Year, getting back to the things you love. Thanks for joining us and please stay in touch.
:merry-xmas-smiley-emoticon:
@FriesianRider
 
Happy One Month Anniversary!
Sure hope you’re doing well and enjoying steady progress. We haven’t heard from you since your initial post and would love to know how recovery is going for you. With any luck you’re feeling stronger week by week and steadier on your feet. Hope to hear from you soon. :)
Wishing you a happy healthy New Year!
@FriesianRider
 
@Layla
I am doing fantastic! PT kicked me out as I aced every exercise they gave me.:heehee: I'm driving, going up/down stairs without difficulty, cooking, cleaning my house, shopping and lots of walking. I go out to the barn to feed, clean stalls, and tack up horses. No restrictions other than they want me to wait until six weeks to ride. No pain, and I'm walking completely normal. I LOVE my surgeon. I'm having him do the other one (I've got hip dysplasia) either later this year or next. I've got a lot of horse shows this summer to get to!
 
Wow, that is all amazing! Please don’t push yourself though, if anything hurts, rather than struggle through it, stop and try again later. You’re engaging in a lot of activity in a very short period of time. Let your body guide you. I’ll bet you’re excited for the Summer horse shows. :)

If you’d like to let us know when you get your left hip scheduled, we’ll add the date to your signature.
Enjoy the weekend!
@FriesianRider
 
What a great recovery! You are thrilled with good reason. Wishing you continued good healing and lots of Blue Ribbons! :horseriding:
 
@FriesianRider what an incredible recovery-just wow!! After spending my career, caring for racehorses, I know just how much, hard physical work that labour of love is. It’s a way of life and not for the faint of heart, but oh, so rewarding! Miss those nickers, first thing in the morning:sorry:

I am so happy for you and wish you many more years, of doing what you love:)
 
@Layla Funny thing is, I hurt more when I take it easy! :shrug: If I sit/recline/lay down for more than 30 minute breaks, I get painful (except at night when I sleep). Yesterday I stood/walked around for two hours giving riding lessons and other than tired, I had no pain. The day before that I had to drive into town (45 min) and I hurt. My husband calls me opposite woman; I can eat ibuprofen like candy and it doesn't bother me, while Tylenol makes me nauseous. Narcotics do absolutely nothing for me. Drugs that make people sleepy make me hyper. I tried a keto diet to lower my A1C just a little (it was 6) and it went up! I can drink expresso and go to sleep 15 minutes later. I'm just weird I guess...:tada:
 
The day before that I had to drive into town (45 min) and I hurt.
I can certainly relate to this. For the first several months sitting in a vehicle with the restricted movement made me so uncomfortable by 30-45 minutes that I wanted to scream. :gaah: The confined space with the inability to move to change positions was just too much and I’d get very uncomfortable and even achy.

My husband calls me opposite woman; I can eat ibuprofen like candy and it doesn't bother me, while Tylenol makes me nauseous. Narcotics do absolutely nothing for me. Drugs that make people sleepy make me hyper. I tried a keto diet to lower my A1C just a little (it was 6) and it went up! I can drink expresso and go to sleep 15 minutes later. I'm just weird I guess...
Wow, opposite woman :heehee: interesting! Just don’t tell me when you eat all the bad things (that taste so good) but make us pack on the lbs….you lose weight! :wink: Many would be envious.

You‘re definitely doing fantastic. Keep it up and ENJOY! :ok:
 
Happy Two Month Anniversary!
I hope you‘re doing well, enjoying the things you love and feeling stronger and steadier on your feet, week by week. Stay in touch as time allows. We love updates.
All the best to you! :SUNsmile:
@FriesianRider
 
I am not a doctor, but I wanted to share some information about something that can help those with chronic pain after their THR. I had THR on the right Dec 2021 and am having the left done 9/27/22. As an equestrian with high level horse athletes, I always utilize unique modalities to benefit them. After my surgery in December, I used the PEMF (Pulse Electro-Magnetic Field) machine I bought for them on my hip. The results were amazing! No swelling, no pain, extremely fast healing and outstanding osteointegration. PEMF Therapy is an FDA-approved, non-invasive, safe technology that uses magnetic energy to recharge your cells. PEMF devices direct pulsed energy waves toward damaged or injured areas of the body. There are no side effects and it is considered extremely safe. While there are both human and animal machines out there, they are still very expensive for most people to purchase (the cheap ones on Amazon aren't very good), BUT there are many people out there who offer treatment services for a small fee and there may be someone in your area. If you want more info regarding PEMF and THR, here is a link to a published paper from the World Journal of Orthopedics: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7298453/
 
I have a BEMER PEMF machine - we bought it when my hip pain was escalating badly about a year ago, before we knew it was dysplasia / arthritis. It didn’t really help (unsurprisingly, as that’s not really what it’s for), so it has been sitting in a cupboard. I had my surgery on Saturday - I was wondering how soon it would be safe to use it? I asked my physio and she said she didn’t know….
 
@Tuppence71 I started using mine two days after my surgery. Ran it for 3 ten minutes cycles (30 min) once a day. I did it for the first three months of recovery daily. The sooner you can start using it, the better. If you are sore the next day, use it for a shorter period of time and then work your way back up.
 
Heading for another THR on the left on Sept 27th. Had the right done Dec 2021 (I have hip dysplasia). Superior approach, dual mobility replacement. No worries on my end... I have the best surgeon with the best approach and the best replacement! Was on a horse 9 weeks after my first surgery and then up to 6 horses a day by 14 weeks (and I'm 60 years old). Haven't had any issues at all!!
who is your surgeon? thanks!
 
@Gray Horse
I‘ve moved your post above out of the Monthly team thread as we reserve that thread for surgery date information, and so members can see who else has surgery the same month. We prefer all other comments and discussion to take place in a pre op or recovery thread, such as this one. Enjoy interacting with others who are on the same journey. :flwrysmile:
 
Wishing you all the best with your surgery tomorrow @FriesianRider
Let us know how you're doing once you're back home and resting comfortably.
I hope you're able to get some sleep tonight. I will look forward to hearing from you soon.
 

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