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THR second time easier (so far)

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Hi all, - and Peaches (didn't include you in the above since you'd gone missing!) I thought I should add an addendum. I am still mostly going up and down stairs "toddler style!" I am trying to make myself go "the grownup way" more and more, but I really feel it up the back of the thigh and into the hip on the op side. I figure there's likely one PT exercise that would help with this, but in the meantime, I think if I can just hold onto the railings and make myself do stairs, this ought to strengthen the whatever.

And I'm still taking some meds; I can't take Advil or any NSAIDS so if the ache seems too bad for regular tylenol I take a Vicodin. My GP had prescribed some to me so I'd have a stash so I could take something stronger than tylenol if needed. And I take Traumagesic at night; my chiropractor had suggested it at some point, and now I buy it online. It has turmeric, etc in it, and it really works.

My lower back seems to be the worst pain; I don't know if it'll still work out as I adjust to the new hip, or if this is the way it'll be. (And how long was it bothersome before, but I'd attributed the pain to the hip? or the meds I took for the hip helped the back also so I wasn't so aware...?)

So, this is a grumpy day, because I was bothered by back pain most of the night! :scratch: I will hope to be back to my "sweetness and light" disposition next time!
 
Songlady said:
A good, steady walk helps me a lot more than slow walking; I am more likely to ache if I go very slow.
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I just discovered exactly this last night! Every night I walk, usually a mile. I take the cane for the second half in case I need it. I'd been using whether I needed it or not for the cool-down last 3+ blocks, for which I walk very slowly. Last night I tried it cane-free, and as soon as I slowed down I had this and that pain. Speed up-- no pain. Slow back down-- pain! So...does it mean that something's not strong enough yet, which is pointed up by the slow pace which requires more balance control than a faster walk where inertia carries me forward? Or is the faster walk creating enough "body noise" that I don't notice the pain? Or what?

All in all, my pain level (so long as I keep taking the right amount of advil and tylenol, sigh-- and I'm glad I'm not the only one still taking meds!) is less than pre-op. It's now the other hip which bothers more as I walk, or as I get up from sitting. Total whole-body pain-free ain't gonna happen this side of heaven... :)
 
Songlady Great news about the bike! When you talk about the muscle going across your "rump" do you mean the piriformis? If so, I had results releasing that with acupuncture after PT did not work.
 
Hi LeeApril26 It probably is the piriformis. It's the same muscle spasm thing I've had on and off since early in my post-op weeks. The yoga seems to really help, and I'm hoping with a few more sessions I can identify the particular moves that seem to release it, so I can do that at home. The pain goes from just to the left of my spine in my lower back, across my left "cheek" and to the outside of the hip. (The pictures I could find of "piriformis syndrome" extended well into the leg, and my issue doesn't do that.)
zauberflöte the whole slow walk/fast walk thing is interesting. Reading your insightful remarks, I was reminded that after my first hip, various friends came to walk with me and would comment on how fast I was walking. I would guess that you are exactly right - a slow walk requires more control. But, in regard to my Shopping With Mom experiences, I must say that I've always found slow, meandering "store browsing" to tire me more than a nice brick walk. The brisk walk gets the circulation going, etc which the slow browsing does not!
Peaches
 
Hmmmmm.... Interesting, part of my post didn't show up. I was saying, Peaches I love the new avatar, and I was wondering if this was the Peach version of "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade:" If things aren't Peachy, make pie? :heehee:
 
Songlady. I did not have pain down my leg, just across the derrière but the piriformis is very close to the sciatic nerve, so if you really stress it out it can trigger sciatic problems, or at least that is what my acupuncturist said last summer. There is a specific piriformis stretch. If I can find it I'll post it. glad the yoga is helping.
 
Songlady zauberflöte Kim22 I am so going to pay for this, but we went to an outdoor concert tonight, the band that toured with the Billy Joel play, and for the last half everyone was dancing, so we danced! Didn't move my feet too much cause we were on the grass and I was afraid I'd fall in a hole.
In light of my off and on, lately on, aches and pains, I'm kind of amazed, and expecting to be on ice in the morning and maybe longer. Oh well, probably worth it.
 
I was interested in your discussion about walking speeds.

Until recently, I have been concerned about my inability to build up any great head of speed when walking. This was noticeable on our recent trip to Alaska, when it was suggested to me quite forcibly that it would be a good idea if I managed to keep up with the guide when walking through Bear Country.

My excellent physio, Victoria, first of all noticed that I was keeping my arms very stiff: a relic of so many months relying on various different contraptions. I must swing them, she counselled, like the arms of a windmill in a gathering storm. That helped.

Next, my legs and feet... I told her that I was having trouble walking fast, and also that my ankles were often swelling up. With the daggerlike perception for which I pay her far too little, she immediately deduced that I was not using my calf muscles properly. This was slowing me up, and also hindering my circulation.

I've always done the heel/toe thing methodically, but now I have to sort of bounce up from the balls of my feet as well. I call it my Boi-Oingy Walk.

I was immediately reminded of Bill and Ben, The Flowerpot Men. They were 2 clinkly, clanky, clonky TV puppets from a BBC 1950s TV show. Perhaps a more modern analogy is that I am the hapless plaything of a deranged puppet-master, who has had one two many vodka shots, and maybe downed a sneaky tab of acid.

Hey, don't knock it! Works for me.
 
LeeApril26 said:
Songlady zauberflöte Kim22 I am so going to pay for this, but we went to an outdoor concert tonight, the band that toured with the Billy Joel play, and for the last half everyone was dancing, so we danced! Didn't move my feet too much cause we were on the grass and I was afraid I'd fall in a hole.
In light of my off and on, lately on, aches and pains, I'm kind of amazed, and expecting to be on ice in the morning and maybe longer. Oh well, probably worth it.
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The concert sounds great and I would have had to join in with the dancing too.I am so glad that you had some fun which is what life should be about and I really hope you don't suffer because of it.I had fun dancing at a birthday bash a few weeks ago and was ok afterwards but suffered after my walk on the beach on Tuesday.We did a 1.7 mile on the shore of a reservoir today on good footpaths but the right groin was uncomfortable.Its ok now after Ibuprofen.I am still taking both them and Paracetamol on a regular basis and can't seem to get off them yet.Have a nice rest today.
 
Kim22. Thanks. Nice that you were able to do the reservoir walk, and good that the ibuprofen helps. Dancing feels like medicine when I do it. Using ice and taking it easy now.
 
Dancing is worth the pain, LeeApril26, though I sure hope you didn't have any pain afterward! So glad you got to get up and dance!
Kim22, you are walking really far, in my book, and in nice places like that reservoir. So happy for you that this is manageable with the ibuprofin!

Songlady ... nice guess about my new avatar and the lemons/lemonade analogy. But I actually was making a "hit them over the head with a blunt instrument" statement that I am not "all done!" Sliced up by the surgeon, laid out in the crust, ready to be baked and DONE ... but not yet. I'm ready for this THR pie to be baked already, but it is not ready apparently.

I think the waning of summer has me a little anxious for cold weather approaching, with ice and slick streets and subway stairs. I want to be fully able to deal with all that and am naturally scared about it.
 
Peaches The dancing was much less painful afterwards than I expected. I am getting a new pain though, when I bend to pick stuff up from the floor, or lift wet laundry from the washer into the upper dryer. Perhaps the NSAIDS I was taking masked it, and now I feel it?
I agree about the slippery ice and snow. Not looking forward to that at all.
 
Peaches I get it! I love the statement and the dry humor!
LeeApril26 I know that "something" in the yoga class helps me; I wonder if it's that kind of stretching....? I had thought maybe it was a thing in which we lie on our backs, fold our legs up as best we can, hold on to them (in my case, I can reach my thighs, though others reach their calves) and then rock back and forth, which feels as if it "irons out" the offending muscles. But maybe it's the various things which involve different kinds of stretches. I have not yet isolated which particular move it is that brings me relief, but definitely something does. I kind of make a stab at sitting in a half-lotus type position (yeah, I'm mixing my disciplines here, I know it's called something else in yoga) which seems as though it would stretch out the piriformis. Some of the things in your link I would be cautious about trying, but what you sent is really helpful - I think I actually understand the concept now and which muscle it is!
I bought some rubbery things with metal cleats imbedded in them for walking on ice... a good purchase! They slip onto shoes or boots. This is what I have, but my first pair came from an Odd Lots shop... there are lots of brands:
https://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/43355?page=stabilicers-lite
 
I don't know the names of any positions except the warrior and child's pose, so descriptions are good. I know what you mean by half lotus. I also find the classes helpful, seems to relieve pain and stress.
Thanks so much for reminding me about the shoe cleats. I've been meaning to buy those.
 
Hi LeeApril26 zauberflöte Kim22 ByGosh glynis
Has anyone else had this issue? When I start to tag you, the username pops up but when I click on it, the name doesn't automatically type in? Or it might take me or 5 tries...? (Especially an issue with you, zauberflöte because of the umlaut....but, there, I DID IT!)
I love the Bouncy Walk, Glynis, and I am going to have to look up the Flowerpot Men.

I think maybe I had figured out my possible piriformis pain, at least as it popped up last week..... I think it's from too much bending beyond 90 degree from torso to hip. As in, stand up, lean my whole torso down (dropping down arms and head also) as low as possible, and stay there for at least 30 seconds.

Why would one ever go into this kind of position? you ask me, eyebrows arched in disbelief. The answer, my friends: yoga.
Last week I missed both classes, so I decided to look up yoga videos online and try to do some at home. I did amend positions to feel safer, but... what could be wrong with relaxing over like that just a little, right?? lol I had some real pain last week.
When I stopped the do-it-yourself (online) yoga, the pain disappeared.

In fact, this morning I walked up a small flight of stairs withOUT holding on to railings AND by walking up the Big Girl way! I remarked to my husband that I think maybe it's easier to walk up "normally" (as opposed to Toddler Style) if I don't hold to a railing; maybe it's a balance issue? I'll experiment with stairs this week and let you know!

I will attend my Restorative Yoga class tomorrow, but I'll watch out for that particular stretch. I had long felt that, even though I don't need to "worry about" the 90 degree rule, that to push my body past 90 degrees and hold it there doesn't sound like a good thing this soon out. I think my instincts were right...!
 
Songlady. How interesting about the yoga bend. I will pay attention the next time I go to a class. Friday I trekked into Manhattan to try out a new gym location as the pool I usually use is under renovation. The pool at the new site was reachable only by climbing down on of those steep poolside ladders. As I lowered my foot to the second step I realized that to come back out my knee/hip would be at a very bad angle. I climbed up, got dressed and went shopping instead. Now proud owner of new black jeans, and lovely green sweater. Expensive diversion, butI just could not imagine getting my leg in that position.

As for BS tech issues, had them several times this week, both with names and being unable to post.
 
Goodness, LeeApril26 I'm sorry about the aborted swim! I can imagine exactly what you describe about how you'd have to bend to climb out of the pool. But it's great you had fun shopping!
I think when I'm in the actual yoga class and the instructor asks us to bend, I just do it to a comfortable level, but when I was by myself I pushed a little hard. I'm interesting to see what tomorrow's class brings. And I'd be very interested to know what you find!
 
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