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THR Pain in hip after nine years.

Post op day 9. The day isn't over yet, but I'm a little bored, so here is my update. The days are becoming somewhat uneventful. I continue to improve on a daily basis. My incision pain is so much better. As of yesterday, I am taking 1 Norco 10/325 very 4-5 hours during the day and 1 Percocet 10/325 in the evening about one hour before bed. I still am the most stiff and sore at night, so this allows me to get a good nights sleep. I woke up about 3:00 am and took a Norco. I am going to experiment with longer times between Norco doses during the day and hope that the pain doesn't get away from me. But, I do think I've turned a corner on the pain. However, I am aware that there can be setbacks, so I keep that in mind. This site has been wonderful that way, letting me know what could happen and to be prepared for it.
Today, I got up, got coffee, got breakfast and did my dishes. Then, got dressed, did hair and make-up. Then, I took my morning pill. At that point, I sat down for about an hour and rested. Then, did my pt exercises and walked outside for the first time. I went to the bottom of my driveway and back, about 200 ft. My driveway has a slight incline, so coming back up was a bit of a challenge. I am still using my walker. I am moving a lot better, but still can't put full weight on my hip without support. After that, I assumed I would be a little sore, so I went to bed with ice and took a 1 1/2 hour nap. I am loving my naps! I woke up, and guess what? Still only minimal pain and stiffness. Yay! So, lunch time. I made my lunch, ate, did my dishes and now I am sitting here icing my hip again. I ice a lot! It definitely helps. I plan on doing my pt afternoon exercises in a few minutes. We have friends coming over tonight to bring us dinner and that will be my big day. All in all, I am so pleased with my progress. Everything is getting easier. My incision looks fantastic with just a small amount of bruising. I have staples that are going to be removed on April 4. I still have not ventured out of the house and probably won't until that appointment. I still get very tired quite easily and I always make time for my sleep. I believe that is when recovery happens.
 
Debbie you sound wonderful...so happy..Well I know what you mean with being a little bored. I have so had it with TV and reading,,,who knew i would miss the daily household chores and... WORK...lol I think I always dreamed about laying around all day but not like this tee hee:heehee: ,,So had it with this. I truly hope next week is an awesome one for me..I am going to get in the car and see if I feel comfortable. Do yourself a favor and don't venture out yet. I did that and paid dearly..omg so DON'T. My biggest accomplishment has been climbing in an out of my claw foot tub. And I can do it with no problem. Prior to this hip thing I was dealing with severe pain in my knee. Xray showed my knee was fine and the Doctor said it should correct itself with the implant of the new hip. Well My knee kills:hairpulling:. I think if that pain was good I would stop complaining LOL...Hopefully it will get back to normal...You sound really wonderful and It sounds like your recovery is right on course..Keep resting and icing...Ahhh nothing better than that:happydance:
 
Hi @Dmcfad2 type sound like you are going really well. Keep up those naps they help so much.

@Hoppy Nanny I remember being sick of TV and reading and missing work. Who knew?

I had friends who would take me out for coffee or lunch and this was a great diversion. I think about 3-4 weeks was good for this. Don't do too much too soon. You'll regret it.

I was also lucky enough to have out patient PT where I got in the pool and I loved chatting and comparing my surgery and recovery with other people in the same boat. I didn't know anyone who had had a THR so it was great for me and also gave me something to look forward too.

Your doing great....keep doing what your doing.....
 
Post op day 10 Well, I guess my little experiment with cutting back on my pain meds worked. I found out I shouldn't do it yet! LOL. I had a bad night last night. I woke up about 1am and my leg had gotten more stiff and swollen. I noticed swelling around my knee, too. So, I propped my leg up on a pillow, got some ice for my hip, took a pill and tried to go back to sleep, but it was a fitful night. Plus, I have a throbbing headache this morning. I upped my activity yesterday and the combo of more activity with less pain medication was my downfall. So, I have a question. I'm going to tag @Josephine to hopefully answer this one for me. How often should I be elevating my leg? Do I do it every time I am sitting or lying down? I am a fanatic about icing. I do it all the time, but I admit I have been lax on elevating.
 
@Dmcfad2 . When I was 10 days post-op I was still spending most of my day on my sofa. I had made myself a little nest. It's an L-shaped sectional and I was right in that cozy little corner. Pillows behind me, blanket next to me [all that not moving much made me feel cold]. I did not elevate in a real sense, but I had both my legs on the sofa stretched out in front of me. And most of the time I had an icepack on my right hip, especially after my walks. I had my phone next to me, as well as my laptop, a book, my knitting, the newspaper, the remote control. I also took in a lot of fluids which made me go to the bathroom a lot more often. At times I experimented with increased activity [longer walks] and reduced pain meds. I don't know what made me think that was a good combination.

Obviously, like you found out as well, that was not a good combination. Increased activity, walking, PT exercises should come before taking less pain meds as it will help make the hip stronger again. That is my thinking, anyway.

I wore stretchy yoga pants for at least 4 weeks. They were very comfy and I did not notice any swelling in my leg. So I was not worried about that. When I put regular jeans on for the first time, however, I was concerned about their fit, but they felt just fine after 5 weeks [I think it was around 5 weeks]. I weaned my self slowly off the narcotic pain meds. I let pain be my guide. Then I only took acetaminophen for 2 weeks or so, and then I was off those as well. It's almost 8 weeks now, I am back at work [since last Monday] and I am completely off pain meds. :yahoo:Life is good:flwrysmile:.

You wrote that you are lax about elevating. What do you do instead? Sitting on something with your feet on the floor? Sitting like that for extended periods of time made my hip feel bad so early in my recovery.

I hope this helps a little bit.
 
@Briggieride I, too, sit on an l shaped sofa in the corner, just like you did. So, when I say I am lax about elevating, I mean that I don't have my leg up on pillows. They are just out straight in front of me.

I ice all day long. I have all my stuff next to me, too....water, ipad, grabber, meds, phone, magazines, books. Right now I am sitting here with my leg on pillows, "toes above nose" and an ice pack on my hip.

I did a lot more yesterday than I had been doing; specifically, I walked my driveway, which is on a slight incline. So, I think my hip/leg got a little angry and decided to swell up on me. Last night was the first time I noticed an increase in swelling/stiffness. It is actually better now. I was trying to go longer between meds, but I've decided I will stay on my 4 hour schedule for now. I have cut my dose from 10mg to 5mg, though, and I am going to continue that today.

By the way, I have been practicing taking smaller steps like you mentioned in a previous post, being careful to roll heel to toe, stand up straight, and am trying very hard not to limp. This morning I walked a few feet without my walker that way, too.

I know you were quite active before your surgery. So was I. I have worked out at the gym almost every day for years, either spin classes, treadmill, elliptical, or body pump (I had to give up running about 18 months ago, which killed me, but that's another story!) So, I went into surgery in pretty good physical shape. It seems you recovered from your surgery relatively quickly, and I am hoping my physical condition will allow me to follow in your footsteps! My yoga pants are my best friends right now. I hope I fit back into my jeans at 5 weeks!

Thanks for your input. I appreciate it.
 
At least you have learnt from your experience @Dmcfad2. It is very much trial and error when reducing the meds and upping activity levels....probably best to do one or the other? Mind you at only 10 days it's quite soon to be doing either. Know how you feel because all you want to do is get back to normality...it is tough!! Sadly I didn't elevate or ice until I found BS at 7 weeks post op but what a difference it made to me because like you it was my knee that swelled quite a lot...even then!! Hope you grind that happy medium soon....Chrissie xxxx
 
Dmcfad2 said:
Post op day 10 Well, I guess my little experiment with cutting back on my pain meds worked. I found out I shouldn't do it yet!
Click to expand...
It's a little early to be doing that. Stick with your regimen for about 4 weeks minimum before you start testing out less. What meds are you taking anyway? And what dose and how often?
Dmcfad2 said:
How often should I be elevating my leg? Do I do it every time I am sitting or lying down?
Click to expand...
Not necessarily for hips unless your legs are swollen. It's just that elevating does help with swelling which as you all know (or should if you've been paying attention!) is a manifestation of pain! Along with soreness, burning, stabbing, throbbing, aching and stiffness
 
@Josephine For the first 7 days, I was taking oxycodone 10/325 every 4 hours. Then, I talked to my home health nurse and asked her if I could try taking norco 10/325 every 4 hours during the day and oxycodone 10/325 at bedtime. She said that would be okay and I did that for two days, but did notice I was feeling a little more stiffness, but thought I could handle it. Then, yesterday I stretched out the time between doses to 6 hours and that didn't work at all. Today I am back on oxycodone, 5/325 every 4 hours, with a oxycodone 10/325 at bedtime. I admit I do feel better. I am so worried about getting dependent on the narcotics.
I did elevate all day today and am feeling much less stiffness and swelling this evening. Thanks so much for you knowledge! I have learned so much from reading your posts.
 
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@Briggieride I was wondering if your quad was really tight after your surgery and if you are able to do a standing quad stretch yet? My quad is SO tight. I am hoping that will get better over time.
 
@Dmcfad2 . Hi, yes, my quad was really tight after surgery. I expected that as I had the anterior approach. It's not really surprising, is it, since the OS did a whole lot of messing around inside your hip joint, regardless of how small the incision is.

My incision is 2.5 inches and I also had an incision towards the upper side of my hip which is 1.5 inches. That incision has given me no tightness or anything else. That location was simply for access to put the femoral component in. The anterior incision on the other hand? The incision is nice, but feels a bit lumpy underneath when I press on it. It's adhesions and my PT told me to massage that with cocoabutter/vitamin 2 cream. Obviously that is too early for you. Wait until the incision is completely healed and your PT or OS says it's okay to do.

Back to the quad tightness. I found that walking would stretch it simply because of the length of my stride. As you know, I started with smaller steps in order to even out my gait. Due to the tightness in my quad I could not make a longer stride on that side. Over time my stride increased in length and my quad lost some of the tightness. All the while I developed a very nice, non-limping stride. Awesome!

For about 2 weeks now I have started stretching my quad and it is definitely not as tight any more. [Before I finished the last sentence I checked for my quad flexibility.] It's still not the same as my left side, but I am not concerned about that. It's still early in recovery and with my exercises all will be well eventually.

Debbie, don't worry yourself about things. You being a fit person who knows her body should let her rational mind take charge and truly understand what has happened to your body. Did you ever have a look on the internet to see what this surgery entails? It's a very big deal, but not as big a deal in regards to recovery as the approach from the side. So, count your blessings, let your body heal and be reasonable.

I bet your straight leg raises are dismal at this point, right? And painful, right? Don't worry. After 3 weeks I started doing those leg lifts as my PT instructed, without weights. They were so hard. I could hardly lift my foot of the ground at all at that point. At 6 weeks I was able to do straight leg raises with 2.5 lb weights strapped to my ankles. Only 5 at a time in the beginning, but now I can do 15 reps at a time, do 15 side leg raises, do the same on my left side, then do it all over again for round 2.

At 10 days it is absurd to expect much of your hip. Take it easy. Let is your body heal. Don't worry. You know how to get back in shape when the time is right.
 
@Briggieride Thanks! I know it is very early in the game for me, but I love to hear what I have to look forward to. Onward and upward. Is it raining up there? I am in San Diego and we are supposed to get some rain tomorrow. We need it. Have a wonderful day.
 
Hope you are having a good day indoors on your rainy day.
Its beautiful on the east coast with mid seventies. A nice change.
 
:happydance:Post op day 12. I'm getting a little stronger every day. This morning, I switched from the walker to a cane and I am concentrating on standing up straight and taking small steps to minimize a limp. I can feel the difference in leg length now, but it doesn't really bother me. I know it will feel better as time goes on. I am able to do more things for myself. My pain is well controlled. Still resting most of the time, icing constantly and taking naps every day. Quad is still tight and sore, but I stretch it every day to increase ROM. Color me happy!
 
Woo hoo....great 12 day report @Dmcfad2....sounds like you've got it sorted....it's true the leg length difference will go eventually....take care Chrissie xxx


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Yeah....see I told you....with every day you Will see a difference....ever so little, ,,yesterday my husband had to drop his car off for repair. ,....I drove!!!!!!!!!...it was not that comfortable. .....but I did it.....yah!!!!! Sitting upright in a chair is a challenge. ....I've been reclining for all this time...I am hoping to return to work on the 7th.....I will just wait and see if this 4th week of healing makes me stronger...?..if not well than I will just have to be patient...and yes you really have to make it a point to think about the way you walk.....upright strait and strong.....you roc girl....keep happy...:)

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