THR Pain one year after, sigh

[Mojo333]

Hi @HipButSquare
Sorry to hear you are still having pain.

My pain is mainly in the quad, with numbness in the outside of the hip

Is this something that has been ongoing since your surgery or a new symptom?
I wonder if your OS has considered Meralgia Parasthetica ?

 

[HipButSquare]

Hi @HipButSquare
Sorry to hear you are still having pain.

My pain is mainly in the quad, with numbness in the outside of the hip

Is this something that has been ongoing since your surgery or a new symptom?
I wonder if your OS has considered Meralgia Parasthetica ?

I believe the numbness has been there over the last year. It’s not debilitating like the pain in the thigh and quad. I don’t believe there is a cure for any nerve damage that may have happened during surgery. I am on Gabapentin.

The pain in my thigh makes it difficult for me to walk. It’s hard to isolate exactly where it is coming from. It is not in the groin, but in the front of the leg, from the hip to above the knee.

I have had some knee pain but that has disappeared.

 

[HipButSquare]

Now, it seems like the pain has moved up to the hip joint. It is quite debilitating. I’m trying to walk for ten or fifteen minutes a day, outside, but the pain is making that difficult.

I walk with a cane all the time.

How long do I put up with this before I revisit the surgeon, again. I paid $1400, my share of an MRI and it turned up nothing. That was on June 22nd.

I’m feeling frustrated by my inability to regain full mobility.

Would it be better to reduce my walking even more to see if the pain goes away? I’m at a loss as to what to do.

 

[Jaycey]

@HipButSquare Does this article describe the pain you are experiencing? Sciatic nerve pain As you can see in the images, the sciatic nerve runs very close to the hip. It can get aggravated post THR - at least that is what I experienced.

You said earlier that you were taking Gabapentin? You might want to talk to your surgeon about increasing the dose temporarily.

And as I suggested earlier, I would ease off all extra activity until you get this pain flare under control.

 

[HipButSquare]

@HipButSquare Does this article describe the pain you are experiencing? Sciatic nerve pain As you can see in the images, the sciatic nerve runs very close to the hip. It can get aggravated post THR - at least that is what I experienced.

You said earlier that you were taking Gabapentin? You might want to talk to your surgeon about increasing the dose temporarily.

And as I suggested earlier, I would ease off all extra activity until you get this pain flare under control.

Well, the pain is not in my buttock so I don’t think it is sciatica.

I’m on 100mg of Gabapentin and I take the occasional Tylenol when the pain becomes too much. They both help a little, I suppose.

I don’t consider what I do to be extra activity but the bare minimum of activity. The question is whether I should reduce activity even further.

I’d much rather lie on the couch or in bed and read than I walk around. This kind of upsets of my spouse, who is active, but what else am I supposed to do given my pain?

 

[Layla]

Hello and a Happy Sunday to you!
I am sorry you’re struggling with pain.

The pain in my thigh makes it difficult for me to walk. It’s hard to isolate exactly where it is coming from. It is not in the groin, but in the front of the leg, from the hip to above the knee.

Since you‘re not certain about, Jaycey’s, thoughts on the origin of your pain, you may want to check in with your surgeons office tomorrow. I am sure a member of your OS’s care team will be able to advise after a few questions, or have you schedule an appointment if they feel it’s necessary. Until then, reduce your activity if it makes you feel better.

I’d much rather lie on the couch or in bed and read than I walk around. This kind of upsets of my spouse, who is active, but what else am I supposed to do given my pain?

Try to have a talk to give her a better understanding of your discomfort / pain when you’re more active. You are only one month into a recovery that can last a full year for some people and even longer for others. This is still early days for you.

One month to date since your surgery, today! I wish you a Happy One Month Anniversary, but truly wish it was happier for you. Wishing you comfort and hope the pain eases soon.

 

[HipButSquare]

Hello and a Happy Sunday to you!
I am sorry you’re struggling with pain.

The pain in my thigh makes it difficult for me to walk. It’s hard to isolate exactly where it is coming from. It is not in the groin, but in the front of the leg, from the hip to above the knee.

Since you‘re not certain about, Jaycey’s, thoughts on the origin of your pain, you may want to check in with your surgeons office tomorrow. I am sure a member of your OS’s care team will be able to advise after a few questions, or have you schedule an appointment if they feel it’s necessary. Until then, reduce your activity if it makes you feel better.

I’d much rather lie on the couch or in bed and read than I walk around. This kind of upsets of my spouse, who is active, but what else am I supposed to do given my pain?

Try to have a talk to give her a better understanding of your discomfort / pain when you’re more active. You are only one month into a recovery that can last a full year for some people and even longer for others. This is still early days for you.

One month to date since your surgery, today! I wish you a Happy One Month Anniversary, but truly wish it was happier for you. Wishing you comfort and hope the pain eases soon.

Hmmm, I had my surgery one year and a month ago.

 

[Layla]

Whoopsie, sorry, yep, that's a long time ago. Thanks for pointing that oversight out.
I glanced at the date quickly and assumed it was 2023.

You really should check in with your surgeon since it's been 13 months since surgery.
Hopefully they'll have some advice for you.
Best wishes.
@HipButSquare

 

[HipButSquare]

Whoopsie, sorry, yep, that's a long time ago. Thanks for pointing that oversight out.
I glanced at the date quickly and assumed it was 2023.

You really should check in with your surgeon since it's been 13 months since surgery.
Hopefully they'll have some advice for you.
Best wishes.
@HipButSquare

No problem. I did go back to the surgeon a couple of months ago and he was stumped. They took blood and checked for infection and did an MRI and found that the replacement was in good alignment.

I got a letter that said go back to a walker for a while. That’s hard to hear but maybe dramatically reducing movement can get me past this pain, I just don’t know.

 

[Mojo333]

@HipButSquare
I am honestly surprised your surgeon did not prescribe physical therapy as a good PT could do some assessment on your gait, and perhaps see if there are specific muscle weaknesses that are manifesting as pain after activity.
Many months after my BTHR, old habits (mainly gait... I was deemed a toe walker) came back and even doing the corrections caused aches.

Letting a therapist know how your early recovery went... What activities you got back to... how soon... could you have overdone it (as most of us do) provides a good history and then there are many diagnostic exercises that might help them determine if a soft tissue is the source of your ongoing pain vs ,say, a nerve issue.

Can you call and see if you can get a referral?
Just a thought.

 

[Rebelguy]

Hey, I didn’t see what method was used during your surgeries. Mine was anterior and my surgeon told me in about 1/3 of surgeries, the numbness is permanent. I have the numbness in a spot on on the outside of my left 11 months out but it doesn’t bother me as the outside of my thigh isn’t a spot that I pay much attention too.

As for thigh pain, I do not have any insight as mine dissipated within a couple weeks on both.

Hope you get some answers.

 

[HipButSquare]

I went with the posterior approach as I read that it is easier for the surgeon to do a revision because the incision is larger. My surgeon will do revisions of his own work, some will not.

My surgeon will give me a prescription for PT, it’s just that I don’t want to be manipulated when I am experiencing such pain.

I thought I was recovering well at the eight month mark but I have regressed.

 

[HipButSquare]

Have people had good luck dealing with hip pain by alternating Tylenol and Advil?

 

[Sockeyewillie]

I have been alternating Celebrex and Advil.

 

[HipButSquare]

What I don’t understand is how I can go so quickly from no pain to excruciating pain.

I slept all night without pain. I put my legs over the edge of the bed to get up I’m in a world of pain and can barely move my leg. That’s with putting no weight on the leg.

Then, when I put weight on the leg, the pain is terrible but after hobbling around a bit, it often goes away and I can walk without pain for a while before being hit again with pain.

Is this muscular? Is this the appliance? We might as well speculate because the MRI and the bloodwork say everything is fine, and yet, I have this debilitating pain that comes and goes.

 

[Roseanne]

I have been on 900mg/day of Gabapentin since before the surgery which helped me survive the excruciating pain in my hip due to the osteoarthritis which was at stage 4 or severe by the time I had surgery on 7.13.23. I was walking thru the house holding onto the walls just to get from room to room due to the horrible pain. I still take 900mg/day of Gabapentin and probably will for the rest of my life. It helps with nerve pain and has a very calming effect without being addictive.

After 5 weeks post surgery the PA told me I was not where I should be in recovery. He said take more tramadol and walk more. Very annoying diagnosis. Reluctantly decided to return to using the walker z

 

[Roseanne]

Accidentally hit the post button too early. Started using the walker again by taking it to a long stretch of flat pavement by the beach so I could actually get in some extended walking time. Seems to be helping as I am now up to 1/2 mile each day and feel more flexible. Practicing heel to toe walking and leaning heavily on the walker so that most of my body weight is on the arms of the walker. At first I was embarrassed to be out in public at a beach using a walker but now I don't care. I still use the leg lifter to get my right leg up on the bed, cannot tie my shoes or put on socks and can't sit for long without deep ache in my joint. I am training my 3 year old granddaughter who lives with us to untie my shoe, loosen the lace and take my shoe and sock off at the end of the day. She loves helping out grandma!

 

[Mojo333]

. I still take 900mg/day of Gabapentin and probably will for the rest of my life. It helps with nerve pain and has a very calming effect without being addictive.

Gabapentin is a prescription painkiller that is less addictive than Opioids. However, addiction and abuse still occur; and overdosing is possible.

In addition to its potentially addictive nature, Gabapentin can cause some nasty side effects in some people (including mood swings, elevated blood pressure, fever, sleep problems).... so make sure to consult your doctor about dosage.

 

[HipButSquare]

Hello Roseanne,

I’m sorry to hear about your pain. It seems like you are doing pretty well if your surgery was a month ago, in July.

I’m not going to increase the dosage of Gabapentin without consulting my surgeon.

I’m alternating Advil and Tylenol to try to dampen the pain but it doesn’t help that much.

At the moment, it seems like I can only stand and walk around for about 15 minutes before I have to lie down to let the pain subside. It’s hard to get much housework or gardening done in this condition.

 

[Butterfly77]

I am having undiagnosed pain one year out from my posterior right hip replacement.

My recent MRI and blood work were fine. I had gotten up to walking a mile and a half and now can barely walk around the block.

I’m on Gabapentin but I don’t think it helps much. I take Tylenol once in a while.

I’ve put on almost twenty pounds since the surgery and can’t exercise to take off the weight. I will cut calories.

My pain is mainly in the quad, with numbness in the outside of the hip.

My surgeon is puzzled and he has decades of experience doing hip replacements. He’s not going to do exploratory surgery.

It so frustrating to not know if I’ll be able to get past this pain.

Hi. I’m a tear out and have been experiencing quad pain and pain in the bursa. My consultant believes I have bursitis which commonly presents through the quad area. He’s arranging a steroid injection for it which I’m he hopes will sort it. I’m so fed up. I’m only 45 and can hardly walk at all with it at times. It’s a really sharp pain that nearly knocks me off my feet. Also gained weight too since surgery and it’s really getting me down. I’m in the UK.