THR Psoas tendonitis post-THR

[Sashimu]

Yeah and I noticed that in the booklet I got from my surgeons office they are suggesting 5 minutes of walking every hour. I tried to do that yesterday and I think that's another reason for this flare up in pain. Feels like way too much

 

[Layla]

Hello @Sashimu
If you’re able to get up every hour or so to grab a drink / snack, or use the bathroom, that will suffice in these very early days. If five minutes feels like too much, start with two or three minutes and slowly build on that. You’ll get there.
Happy Weekend!

 

[Sashimu]

I think I mentioned I have a posterior lateral incision... So now I'm nine days out, is it normal for it to be very hard and swollen, and quite sore? What I can see of my skin around the dressing isn't that red and the dressing isn't leaking. I'm keeping the ice on it.

 

[Jaycey]

is it normal for it to be very hard and swollen, and quite sore

Very normal for only 9 days out. Ice as much as you can. It will reduce the swelling.

 

[Sashimu]

Not sure why I'm surprised at still having quite a lot of pain at day 10. Yesterday I tried cutting back my tramacet to three doses instead of four. That was a mistake; pretty intense pain at the knee woke me up in the middle of the night so I took a couple more tramacet and was able to go back to sleep thankfully.

I also didn't notice until last night that I was running out of tramacet, so until I can get more I'll have to take some Tylenol 3 that's been kicking around my medicine cabinet for a few years. Here's hoping it works!

 

[Sashimu]

Got my surgeon to call in a refill for tramacet today. I was told however that he wants me to wean off tramacet as soon as possible and just stick with Tylenol. Seems like awfully soon after only 10 days but I will certainly be giving it a try.

I have to say today I'm feeling pretty down in the dumps. The pain is not that bad maybe around 5, but it's pretty constant, and 2 tramacet don't knock it back much. I know that's to be expected but I feel blue nevertheless. I feel like on this forum I can admit how I actually feel, rather than pretending everything feels okay.

 

[FCBayern]

I feel like on this forum I can admit how I actually feel, rather than pretending everything feels okay.

Absolutely @Sashimu! We're here for you for whatever you need, questions, complaints, a place to rant a little when you're frustrated, or when you just need a shoulder to cry on. The post-op blues hit many of us during recovery.

Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it

Post op blues is feeling depressed, weepy, nervy, shaky, fearful of the future, anxious, overwhelmed by what is happening to you, convinced it's never going to get any better and finally, uttering that most intense of all cries "I wish I never had this done!" It arises out of a variety of...

bonesmart.org

 

[HipMom143]

@Sashimu level 5 out of 10 is pretty high on the pain scale especially with pain meds on board. Are you sure you’re not doing too much? Resting, icing and elevating seems to be the key pieces of advice that I’ve learned from reading these threads. Obviously I’m still waiting for surgery, so maybe someone who’s been through recovery can chime in.

 

[Sashimu]

Thanks, FC Bayern. Today is just one of those not-good days. Expect there will be better days to come but right now it's hard to see that.

 

[helenium]

Many, many better days ahead @Sashimu. Sending you a virtual hug from the UK

 

[Sashimu]

HipMom, maybe it's more like a four than a five (I find the "how many out of 10" pain scale kind of hard to estimate) but let's say this... It's not severe pain, but it's an impossible to ignore, in my face kind of pain. I don't think I'm doing too much; I do the exercises they gave me twice a day, and I spend most of the day either in the recliner or on my bed with my leg up and a gel pack on. I'm only walking around now as much as I need to to get to the bathroom and get something from the kitchen. And like I said oddly the tramacet doesn't seem to reduce it much. On the bright side maybe Tylenol will be almost as good...

 

[Eman85]

What exercises are you doing? In the first weeks all I did was ankle pumps and some butt squeezes, mostly to keep blood flowing. I did the walking and increased it a little at a time. Instead of reaching for the toilet handles sometimes I'd reach down between my legs with a hand to steady me as I lowered down and grabbed the handle with the other hand. I celebrated the day I didn't need the raised toilet.

 

[FCBayern]

I'm also curious as to what exercises you are doing @Sashimu. Depending upon what you are doing it could be part of the issue.

 

[Hippielife]

The first few weeks are full of ups and downs. It’s the healing process. Once your at the 12-16 week mark the pain level is easily managed with rest ice and with a lot more ups than downs.
sending healing blessings your way.

 

[Sashimu]

I'm supposed to do five exercises two times a day. Two are just tightening the transverse abdominals and pelvic floor muscles so I doubt that's an issue. For two of them, I lie on my back with my knees bent, and either lift my bottom off the bed and hold for 5 seconds, or slide my heel till my leg is flat and then back to bent leg. And there's one more where I put a roll under my leg and then lift my foot and tighten my quad muscles. None of that seems too onerous really, so not sure if it's a factor or not.

I have some significant bruising on my knee and the back of my lower leg so it seems likely that this really is about all the stretching, yanking and pulling that went on during the surgery. The pain is like a really deep, heavy muscle cramp.

 

[Jaycey]

I lie on my back with my knees bent, and either lift my bottom off the bed and hold for 5 seconds

This exercise is called bridging and it does nothing for a new hip. It is actually to build core stability. But it puts a great deal of pressure on a new joint. I would stop doing any bridging until you are fully healed. Then you transition to training mode to strengthen.

 

[Layla]

Hi @Sashimu
The leg (knee) can be manipulated rather aggressively during the dislocation process. Ice your knee, back / front, wherever the pain is.
Along with time, it should help ease your discomfort.
Best wishes.

 

[Eman85]

I see from your description you are doing bridges. I think that may be much of the source of your pain, it was for me when I attempted them. I think it was at 6 weeks with my first THR I tried and paid the price. Honestly inside the 2 week mark my exercise program consisted of ankle pumps butt squeezes and walks to the bathroom on my 2nd THR, I learned from my first. I can say there was nothing to be gained for me in any exercises beyond keeping the blood flowing and walking.

 

[Sashimu]

After another bad night with pain at around a seven, I phoned my surgeon's office as soon as they opened. Since my nurse is away this week, I was connected with another nurse, and boy was she ever helpful. She said that I'm obviously doing way too much, and that if I'm overdoing it the pain I'm having is normal. She said stay on the walker and don't cheat (which I did yesterday), do NOT spend more than 5 minutes an hour on my feet (which I certainly also did), and switch to extra strength Tylenol (I was taking Tylenol for arthritis). Not sure why this is taking so long to sink in, especially when I've heard it several times already on this forum, but it was very helpful to hear it yet one more time, and there is less pain today.

 

[Teresa17]

@Sashimu I started following your recovery. My surgery is in 6 days. Your posts are really encouraging and I am glad to hear everything is going so well!