THR RTHR

[Josephine]

So your pain is in this pattern?

Before I comment on that, can I pleased ask you some questions? It would be very helpful if you would answer each one individually - numbered as I have done - in as much detail as you can then I'll come back as see where you are ....

1. what approach did you have for your surgery? Anterior, posterior, lateral? You can look here to see the various types THR approaches or incisions

2. what are your pain levels right now? (remember the 1-10 scale: 1 = no pain and 10 = the worst you can imagine. And don't compare this with the bone-on-bone pain you had before surgery!

) Also don't forget to include other forms of pain such as soreness, burning, stabbing, throbbing, aching, swelling and stiffness

3. what pain medications have you been prescribed, how much are you taking (in mg please) and how often?

4. what is your activity level? What do you do in the way of housework, cooking, cleaning, shopping, etc., and

5. what kind of PT exercises and exercises at home are you doing? How much and how often? (and detailed details would be appreciated, please! Reps, sets and session and all that)

Note:
If you're not familiar with this, it goes like so:
1 lift of a 500kg bell bar = 1 rep or repetition.
Doing 5 reps and then a brief rest = 1 set of 5.
And doing 5 sets and finishing = a session.

My left hip is going to get core decompression to see if we can save it.

I had a look at your xray and though it had a bad case of camera shake, I was able to see something of your left hip and I would advise you that a CD is most unlikely to work. Save yourself a lot of pain and frustration and go straight for a replacement.

Are you concerned about how long they will last? If so you needn't as modern hip replacements are very durable and you may well be 80 before there is any talk of a revision! Longevity of implants and revisions: how long will my new joint last

I also noticed you mention (some time back, I know!) about shoulder pain and wanted to add a few notes about that
1. leaning too heavily on a walker or crutches will cause shoulder pain in spades!
2. the cortisone used for joint injections is not the type that damages joints Cortisone shots: are they safe and is there a limit to how many?

And finally, have you read the recovery articles (post 126)?

 

[rbtaylor14]

1. what approach did you have for your surgery? Anterior, posterior, lateral? You can look here to see the various types THR approaches or incisions

I had posterior.

2. what are your pain levels right now?

Right now my pain level is pretty much a constant 4 in the hip area but does jump to a 6 at times. In the hip it is usually a burning pain but when it jumps it is a stabbing pain. The pain in my thigh area is only there when I try to stand completely on it and is a 7 with burning and stabbing throbbing pain.

3. what pain medications have you been prescribed, how much are you taking (in mg please) and how often?

Medications that I am one is Hydrocodon 10/325 every 4 hours and C yclobenzaprine 10MG 3 times daily.

4. what is your activity level? What do you do in the way of housework, cooking, cleaning, shopping, etc.,

Activity level is getting higher by the day I am not working anymore as my doctor wont release me back to work. I go out to my garage that I am building and do what I can,like wiring the power and cleaning up. I do the cooking at times and do go shopping with the wife every now and then. I use my walker when going away from the house.

5. what kind of PT exercises and exercises at home are you doing? How much and how often? (and detailed details would be appreciated, please! Reps, sets and session and all that)

Not doing anymore PT as per my doctor because of my other hip and now my knees are getting bad. I can barley climb the stairs at times because of the pain.

I had a look at your xray and though it had a bad case of camera shake, I was able to see something of your left hip and I would advise you that a CD is most unlikely to work. Save yourself a lot of pain and frustration and go straight for a replacement.

I can understand this and have asked my doctor for a new MRI before I make a decision on it to see how far gone it is after waiting to fix my back.

Are you concerned about how long they will last? If so you needn't as modern hip replacements are very durable and you may well be 80 before there is any talk of a revision! Longevity of implants and revisions: how long will my new joint last

I'm not worried about how long they will last it's just that I wanted to keep my left hip as long as possible.

And finally, have you read the recovery articles (post 126)?

Yes

 

[Poppet]

Jo is asleep now, as most likely you are RB - take care

 

[Josephine]

Right now my pain level is pretty much a constant 4 in the hip area but does jump to a 6 at times. In the hip it is usually a burning pain but when it jumps it is a stabbing pain. The pain in my thigh area is only there when I try to stand completely on it and is a 7 with burning and stabbing throbbing pain.

That's a lot for 15 weeks out.

Medications that I am one is Hydrocodone 10/325 every 4 hours and C-ycloben-zaprine 10MG 3 times daily.

C-ycloben-zaprine is just a muscle relaxant and contributes nothing to pain control. You obviously need to take more pain med as one ever 4 hours is insufficient. I suggest you have a chat with your surgeon - or if he isn't helpful, your GP - and see if you can try something else such as Tramadol.

Activity level is getting higher by the day I am not working anymore as my doctor wont release me back to work. I go out to my garage that I am building and do what I can,like wiring the power and cleaning up. I do the cooking at times and do go shopping with the wife every now and then. I use my walker when going away from the house.

I am very concerned about this because you really should be able to be engaging in more normal activities such as these by now and should have been off the walker ages ago.

Not doing anymore PT as per my doctor because of my other hip and now my knees are getting bad. I can barley climb the stairs at times because of the pain.

But what PT and home exercises were you doing in, say, the first 4 weeks? This may well be germane to your problems now. I am on leave for the next 7days but will put your thread on email alert so I can pop back and advise you further.

 

[rbtaylor14]

Sorry it's been a while since my last post. Yesterday I had CD of my left hip in hopes of saving it. Here is my thoughts on this. As of right now I would rather have a THR than CD. I can't walk right now. Trying to get in the house last night was really hard. I am having pain in my right hip and right lower thigh. To top it off on Wednesday I slipped and fell which didn't help with the pain. Last night I didn't even want to try and go to bed because of the pain so I just slept in the chair. This morning I had to use the bathroom and it was all I could do to get there. When I stood up I was in so much pain I was crying. I can only hope that this will get better after a day or two.

AVN of both hips. Had RTHR on July 7th

 

[MajorHeidi]

What is CD? It sure sounds painful. Do you have pain meds?
I hope you feel better soon!

 

[rbtaylor14]

CD is core decompression. Yes I am on two pain medications. And thank you.

AVN of both hips. Had RTHR on July 7th

 

[Poppet]

So sorry to hear you have had a fall, it is very scary. I can relate, having had a major fall two weeks ago.

I am sure Jo is keeping an eye on your thread - however, will tag her @Josephine

 

[Josephine]

As of right now I would rather have a THR than CD.

And we tell people this so often but the hope of delaying a replacement is too promising to pass up. I am so sorry you are having this much pain but it is expected. What kind of CD did you have? There are several as described in here Core Decompression of the hip. I suspect you had a free vascularized fibular graft (LVFG) where a bone graft is taken from the lower leg. Was this what you had?

I'm also going to ask your those questions again! Sorry!

I'm going to ask you some questions and it would be very helpful if you would answer each one individually - numbered as I have done - in as much detail as you can then I'll come back as see where you are ....

1. what are your pain levels right now? (remember the 1-10 scale: 1 = no pain and 10 = the worst you can imagine. And don't compare this with the bone-on-bone pain you had before surgery!

) Also don't forget to include other forms of pain such as soreness, burning, stabbing, throbbing, aching, swelling and stiffness

2. what pain medications have you been prescribed, how much are you taking (in mg please) and how often?

3. what is your activity level? What do you do in the way of housework, cooking, cleaning, shopping, etc., and

4. what kind of PT exercises and exercises at home are you doing? How much and how often? (and detailed details would be appreciated, please! **Reps, sets and sessions** and all that)

** If you're not familiar with this, it goes like so:
1 lift of your leg = 1 rep (repetition)
5 reps and then a brief rest = 1 set
5 sets and finishing = 1 session.

 

[rbtaylor14]

I didn't have Lvfg. I just had 3 holes drilled and he used artificial stuff. Pain level while sitting is at a 2 but when I go to stand it shoots to 5. Trying to walk with the crutches it is a 7. This is in my left hip. Now my right hip which was replaced on July 7th the pain is a 5 to 6. I also have a good amount of pain in the lower thigh. The pain is severe like stabbing burning. I am currently on Oxicontin 10mg every 12 hours I also have hydrocodon 10/325 every 4 hours as needed. My activity level right now is 0. I'm currently not doing any PT.

AVN of both hips. Had RTHR on July 7th

 

[Josephine]

Well that's odd as implants are supposed to be very low in pain.

And I can't understand why you have pain in the other leg if you're not doing any PT.
Maybe it's because you're putting more weight on it after the CD.

 

[rbtaylor14]

I had the pain before CD. I just had the CD on Thursday the 13th. The pain in my right leg is weird. The only way I can try and describe it is when I walk I put down my right leg and as soon as I start to lift up my right leg it feels like someone is hitting me with a sledge hammer. I also have days when I don't have that kind of pain. But I am never without pain in my right leg. I still walk with a limp.

AVN of both hips. Had RTHR on July 7th

 

[Josephine]

Very odd - wish I had something for you but I'm not one to pretend I know when I don't.