THR Riding to the other side<

[Lmflora]

Thanks @Layla, I feel better today. My lower back is paining me, I was wondering (also @Josephine ) when is it safe to get a real good chiropractic adjustment? I ordinarily see a chiropractor every two weeks before the LTHR, I went the other day to get some help,with the knot in my back, but my lower back needs a good adjustment. My chiropractor would not do it yet, when can she? I’m sure it’s from sitting in limited positions plus I twisted wrong while gabbing my headboard to roll over. Walking seems to help loosen it up, but at some point i do have to sit down again.

 

[Alitm]

@Lmflora I am so sorry to hear about your pup...so hard. My heart goes out to you.....

Then the three year old fridge!!! . Too much

So glad you got out for some horse therapy! Nothing better than a snuggle with and a scratch, rub, stroke of beloved horse

Hope you can figure out your back.....and the chiropractor.

Hope your tummy is sorted out and you are able to take your meds...thinking of you on all that!

 

[Alitm]

I have to ask, were you able to ride right up until surgery?

 

[Josephine]

I'd suggest not before 8 weeks out.

It may well be that your pain is actually post-op pain.

I'd really like to offer you some structured advice but in order to do that, I also need to ask you some questions. Are you willing for me to do that?

 

[Lmflora]

@Josephine, absolutely. Ask away

 

[Lmflora]

@Alitm, my last of month riding story is a bit complicated. Theoretically yes I could ride. But was not allowed. Not because of my hip, but because I fell on August 5 and cut my upper inner right calf open, pretty major. Crappy location. Long story short, I had to have outpatient surgery 3 weeks before the THR turned out there were bark fragments still in the wound. Fear of infection kept me grounded. By the time it healed up I was going into THR surgery. Really ticked me off.

 

[Alitm]

Wow @Lmflora thst is really awful about that cut and the bark fragments hanging in there, surgery on that and worrying about infection BEFORE THR. What a real drag.
I haven’t ridden properly since Dec 2016. We had crazy snow and ice winter of 2016/2017. Very unlike here. I was doing Pilates on a reformer, with resistance, which I realized in hindsight was terrible for lower backcompression. Additionally a friend of mine got really sick with a nasty flu bug, and after five days of being down, asked me if I could come and pick her paddocks for her. Stupid me went and did them. Just tipped the scales on my back and hips. Still had to do my own horses etc. Things went significantly down hill from there, but GP continued to drag her heals on referring me to orthopaedic dr for another year. Had a good physio who helped me a lot with my back.... but my hips were toast!

 

[Barbaraj]

Good morning, @Lmflora , hope you're having a pleasant start to your day. Sorry about the continuing back pain but I can appreciate it--my upper back was sore a few days ago, and I was uncomfortably aware of this until, for whatever reason, it just eased up thankfully. I think it is all about this process of figuring out a good exercise/relaxation combination (which ain't easy, in my opinion!), sticking with a medication schedule that works for you (and also--heavy sigh--requires constant adjustment) and unless it's unbearable, realizing that aches and pains are part of the process. Hang in there!

 

[Lmflora]

Oh bummer @Alitm. So sorry you could not ride for so long. Too bad your GP did not refer you sooner. I was really lucky for my first one. Despite Wyoming being such a backwards low population state, our health care in the town I live in is pretty good.

My first hip issue started with a trip to my GP who had an MRI done and found a torn labrum. I was referred to the OS at that time and found that I had moderately severe osteoarthritis. That was the pain that drove me in. It was not the persistent aching torn labrum like my second hip issue, it was more like a hang nail that periodically fired off with a very sharp high scale pain that stopped everything.

That winter some cows got out and I crawled onto the back of my horse bare back off the side of a trailer and found that I could not squeeze my legs together to stay on! I did not fall but I thought I was at any moment. I had no strength in my right side to hold on. Scared the heck out of me. Anyway I fooled around for a year with injections and PT before it was clear I needed to get my life back and a THR was the only way. Best thing I ever did.

One of things I learned was that the scar tissue issue was a problem for me at that time because it made me so tight that when I did crawl back onto the horse 10 weeks post op it was painfully tight. So I did a long round of massage therapy and stretching which eventually paid off and got me back to riding.

The issue with the latest hip was different. I had a FAI cam issue. Turned out I was close to where I was before. The OS found a big bone spur on my femoral head, the ever present torn labrum and my cartilage was apparently worn away. I fortunately missed the bone on bone part that I experienced before. It was the bone spur that was bugging me, the pain issue was more significant when I was siting and trying to work at the computer etc. Riding did not bother me unless it was all day in the saddle, then I felt it.

So, I suggest you find yourself a really good massage therapist when you're done with this second replacement and get after that scar tissue to minimize the tightness that may occur following all this.

I know a brand inspector here who had a bilateral THR, and he rides all the time. He has to use a mounting block or his trailer to get on but he rides great. I trained my mare to stand next to the block, turned out she she did not like the block, took all last year to get her to do it (what a bird brain!). I know that it is critical that she does as this THR is my left, my step into the stirrup foot.

Take care fellow horse lover, we will be back in the saddle soon.

 

[Barbaraj]

Hey, @Lmflora, my Monday is almost over and it's been a completely lazy, slob like day for me. I never made it out (blushing shame here...) of my bathrobe and slippers. My husband left early for the office and after brushing my teeth, running a brush through my hair and splashing water on my face I just said, "what the heck?!" and retired to a chair with my Kindle for the day. I am not in any real discomfort, just bored being stuck in the house by myself. If I watch one more episode of an HGTV show I think I will go MAD, so I thought I'd try reading. I am an avid reader but haven't had a lot of focus and attention lately. Trouble with reading is that I doze off periodically through the day and now this evening I am actually feeling a bit stiffer than usual. But, tomorrow is big post-op appointment and I'm hoping I can get a little direction going forward. Hope you had a good day.

 

[Lmflora]

Hi @Barbaraj, we went to town to PT today, both my hubby and I. He is driving now, I’m so glad, we don’t have to depend on a third party anymore.

I see my OS on Thursday.

I’m finding I get very tired by the afternoon. Am glad to go to bed.

Are you still taking Tramadol? I’m going to try going with just the 6 pm dose. Because I seem to be so sore in the evening (ODIC).

I found my old thread from the first one. Wish I had read through it before. It is a little tricky finding the old stuff on here. I need to take an afternoon off, hip is great though.

Having issues with the hip flexor tendonitis on the other side. Talked to PT about it, she did some cupping, dry needling, and massage, told me to talk to OS about it Thursday.

 

[Barbaraj]

Hey, @Lmflora. I agree with you that I am exhausted by day's end. It's not the kind of exhaustion which is caused by lack of sleep, but just an all over body tiredness. I am off Tramadol, was only on an evening dose by the end and then by almost the end of my second week post-op, I stopped taking that and went to 1000mg of Tylenol twice daily--once upon waking up and once before bed. But, the last few days I was down to only a morning dose, and today I didn't take anything at all so I've gone 24+ hours without any medication at all except for the two required baby aspirin. I basically lay around all day and I'm feeling pretty good, and excited about my appointment tomorrow, hoping for good news, banishment of compression stockings and removal of the bandage so that I can shower more easily without putting on those aqua-cells. I haven't done any PT, just walking, and it's worked for me pretty well. I will be discussing activity going forward at tomorrow's appointment. Hope you have a restful evening, and I know you're probably looking forward to your Thursday appointment. Sorry about the hip flexor tendinitis, that doesn't sound fun at all. Trust your OS will have some words of wisdom about that.

 

[EL11]

I get so tired too, usually not from lack of sleep .... Sometimes I fall into a deep nap midday, almost comatose, then at odd times I feel such a surge of energy. It's something I like to be mindful about, pay attention to, because I realize that for a couple of years before the surgery, I was running on fumes so much of the time because of my arthritis pain that I rarely had that feeling. What a gift.

 

[Lmflora]

Had my OS appointment today. Spent all afternoon in town. I drove myself, and was officially “cleared” to drive. Wow @Barbaraj i thought your 40 min wait was a drag, I waited 2 HOURS, he had some sort of emergency early in the day and it trickled down all day. Unfortunately my appt was at 4:15, so I didn’t see him till 6:15!!! I’m super tired and pretty sore, so took a Tylenol and am icing, feeling better already.

All,is good, I have great movement and all is healing well. Told me 12 weeks was the magic number to climb back on the horse. We talked about the hip flexor tendonitis, he talked about injections, he doesn’t do the injections, but he is going to do some research and then we are going to come up with a plan. He’s taking it serious, but wants to get the new hip further along. Continue working with the PT on the hip flexor tendonitis and on my new hip.

Got my horse a new blanket (@Alitm) going to take it out to her tomorrow.

 

[Layla]

Great news!
Too bad about the delay at the doctor's office, that's an awfully long time to wait.
So...you drove there to your appt to find out you are now cleared to drive
I'm glad all went well and you had a good visit. Hopefully the tendonitis improves on its own.
A great weekend to you!
@Lmflora

 

[Alitm]

@Lmflora Oh my, what a terrible wait. I would have had been super sore from sitting for that long! Hope you are Tylenoled, iced and in bed now!

Whoop whoop on Week 12 riding! Wanted to ask you if you just got back on last time, and if so were you tight, or did you stretch out doing other things first?

Whats up with the tendonitis? Is that on your right leg or this op leg? Sorry to hear about that.

Exciting about the new blanket! I just gave some blanket liners and my english saddle to the trainer, who was up here working on Tuesday. He was riding my young guy western saddle for a while!

 

[Lmflora]

Hey @Alitm, I road 10 weeks last time, and i was very tight and sore. It was painful. I thought something was wrong with my implant. I went back to the OS, he sent me back to PT, and the PT thought I had a scar tissue problem, she sent me to massage therapy, and I took a yoga class (couldn’t do much but the stretching did help). The deep tissue massage really helped a lot. I went twice a week, yoga twice a week, and 6 weeks later I was able to ride pain free.

This time around I am stretching, and am seeing a massage therapist already. I’m not going to let this get ahead of me this time.

 

[Alitm]

@Lmflora Thanks for that info. I expect to be really tight, and will be seeing a massage therapist to help out with that. Did you have anterior or posterior approach? The registered massage therapist also is a somatic yoga instructor. Can't wait to be riding again...it has been way too long!

 

[Lmflora]

@Alitm i had anterior approach both times.

The hip flexor tendonitis is in my other leg. Started about 18 months post op. Right now I can lift my op leg knee higher and without pain then my right. It doesn’t bother me when I ride, but it is a significant problem that I need to figure out soon. Affects walking up stairs, get in and out of car, hiking. It’s a long story. Otherwise I feel great and have no regrets for He first THR, that hurt all the time...

 

[Barbaraj]

Wow, you are right, @Lmflora, my 40 minute wait pales in comparison to your two hours! I would be really stiff and tired after that as well--glad you came home and rested and iced. But I guess the good news is that you ARE healing well, and on track for a full recovery. I knew I was doing well, too, but it was nice to have that confirmed by the medical folks. Bummer about that tendinitis issue, but good that you are being pro-active to see if you can deal with it to prevent further problems. I know your goal is to get back to riding again, and I think having a goal in mind is really helpful. Glad to hear you're progressing so well--here's to 12 weeks and a return to what you love!