THR Should I have a revision on my right hip?

Sprog

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Hi, I wonder if anyone can give me some advice - I had my first hip replacement last Feb 18 and the second one in June 18.

I go to the gym and aqua and feel my first op was very successful. The second one gives me some pain to be honest. I am desperate to be able to play tennis again and when I tried to run up the stairs, I fell flat on my face. I tried again and the same happened. I then tried to jog a little but my legs seem to be doing their own thing (a bit like Bambi on ice!).

I wondered if anyone out there had experienced the same thing, or if there are some brilliant exercises I can start doing to enable me to do more than walk.

Thanks!
 
@Sprog Welcome to BoneSmart! Two major surgeries within a few months and you are just over 6 months out from the second one. Perhaps instead of trying to start from a sprint you might want to build up the speed gradually. Can you do the stairs normally at a walking pace?

Your muscles atrophy when you are limping around pre-op. Building strength takes time. If you go to the gym can you use a treadmill to build strength and increase your walking speed.

You are well on your way to recovered but I'll leave your recovery list here. The activity progression and how long does healing take might be of interest.
Hip Recovery: The Guidelines
1. Don’t worry: Your body will heal all by itself. Relax, let it, don't try and hurry it, don’t worry about any symptoms now, they are almost certainly temporary
2. Control discomfort:
rest
elevate
ice
take your pain meds by prescription schedule (not when pain starts!)​
3. Do what you want to do BUT
a. If it hurts, don't do it and don't allow anyone - especially a physical therapist - to do it to you
b. If your leg swells more or gets stiffer in the 24 hours after doing it, don't do it again.​
4. PT or exercise can be useful BUT take note of these
BoneSmart philosophy for sensible post op therapy
5. Here is a week-by-week guide for Activity progression for THRs

Pain management and the pain chart
Healing: how long does it take?
Chart representation of THR recovery

Dislocation risk and 90 degree rule
Energy drain for THRs
Pain and swelling control: elevation is the key

Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it

Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

BIG TIP: Hips actually don't need any exercise to get better. They do a pretty good job of it all on their own if given half a chance. Trouble is, people don't give them a chance and end up with all sorts of aches and pains and sore spots. All they need is the best therapy which is walking and even then not to excess.

We try to keep the forum a positive and safe place for our members to talk about their questions or concerns and to report successes with their joint replacement surgery. While members may create as many threads as they like in a majority of BoneSmart's forums, we ask that each member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.
 
@Sprog,
I have added your surgery dates to your signature, please let us know which hip was done first then second so we can add the correct left or right hip to your dates.

Right now you are asking too much of your baby hips, they still need time to heal in this year long+ recovery. Letting your hips fully heal will eventually allow you to participate in the activities you are looking forward to resuming.
Starting them too soon may set your recovery back prolonging your recovery.
Slow but sure will get you there.
As you have found out, hurrying up this recovery has only landed you on your face.

The hardest part of joint replacement recovery is patience :bored:, waiting for the soft tissue to heal :bath:, slowly increasing your activity :walking:, and eventually getting your life back :fasthorse:.
 
I agree with what's been said before. 11 months and 7 months is relatively early out yet. Most joint replacements can take all of a year to be completely healed and before the patient reaches that blissful "forgotten hip" stage. But one thing you must also bear in mind is that the more you keep pushing it, the longer it will be before you get you that stage.
 
Did your OS tell you it's OK to run up stairs and mention anything about tennis?
 
You're thread title begs a question - Wondering if you have a clear understanding of what THR entails and the realization of all the healing that must take place due to the trauma your body took on?

A little video presentation -

Once you've given your body the appropriate amount of time to heal, you may be able to run stairs, jog again and engage in tennis games. But it takes patience and time.
Please allow your body the time it needs to recover.
Wishing you all the best as you continue to heal.
@Sprog
 
Last edited:
Just watched the video: Holy :censored:!!! First, thank goodness for good surgeons, effective anethstesia, and pain meds. Second, no wonder we hurt: feet, knees, groin, whatever. Quite a violent procedure, but over time, it gives us our lives back. I’m glad I didn’t watch this before THR #1, but it does explain the potential for fracture. This also reminds us that patience is needed to heal the trauma. Crazy!
 
I agree- @Atkinson8--it's pretty remarkable we are able to get around as well as we do so early on, given how much trauma happens to that whole region during a hip replacement. I recall at my two week appointment, and my final 6 week follow up asking some questions about pain I still had. My doctor was pretty explicit/graphic about what he did during surgery, and where each of my body parts were moving during the procedure, as he explained why it will take a minimum of 6-9 months, and more likely a year or more for the swelling/damaged tissue to recover.

I am 5 months out, and climbing stairs has been pretty easy for me since early on. Sometimes I kind of dash up my steps now and have no trouble. However, I can't imagine going full-on running, or pounding up multiple steps, or doing the twisting involved in tennis ----I would worry about slipping, falling, pulling something, and it wouldn't feel worth it to me. However, while I have not done formal exercise, I am able to walk several miles and do all housework/home upkeep/daily life activities. I attribute that to a combination of good luck, being in good shape prior to the surgery AND most of all, not pushing my body through intense workouts, etc. I know we are all different in terms of our recovery path and what activities are goals for us.

It must be hard for you, having one hip further along in the process than the other. Your whole body is adjusting to the changes in terms of gait, posture, etc. I would imagine your 2nd hip will be the one you have to work around, waiting until it is closer to the 9 month-1 year mark to start some of the activities you want to do.
 
Thanks so much for all your messages and apologies for the extreme delay in coming back!

I failed to say before that I was diagnosed with hip dysplasia at the age of 50 and was due to go into surgery for osteotomy and THR, which luckily they didn't have to carry out the osteotomy (maybe they should have on the right hip?)

The update since last year: the pain just got worse so I went back to my surgeon and he took more xrays which showed slight subsidence of my right hip. I had to wait until November last year to have a bone/nuclear scan to see how bad things were. It looks like I have a fibrous mass around the top of the hip not allowing the bone to grow into the prosthesis, so my THR is deemed as 'unstable'. I am due another scan to see if anything has changed before I make my mind up whether to go for a revision - but basically from what the consultant has told me about them, I really don't want to go ahead with it as Im scared I will be in more pain than I am now.
 
@Sprog,
Welcome back to BoneSmart!
I am going to tag @Jaycey for you as she is in the UK.
Here is a link to a list of members with THR Revisions.

The most likely out come after a revision and stable implant you will feel better.

Would you like to change the title of your thread to better reflect your current situation, post it here and a moderator will change it for you.
 
@Sprog What is your concern about a revision? Is your surgeon a revision specialist. If not, let's find you someone with more confidence in the process. Revisions can and do work. You just need the right person to address the issues.
 
Thanks so much for this. Yes my surgeon does do revisions, whether or not he is a specialist in it Im not sure although I was put onto him from my other surgeon who did my replacements. He made it sound that with a revision I would never be 100% and could be worse than I am now and that is an awful thought, hence why Im against it to be honest.
 
Sorry need to change my title:
Should I have a revision on my right hip?
 
He made it sound that with a revision I would never be 100% and could be worse than I am now
I don't know your particular situation but if it were me I would get a second opinion. Sounds like your surgeon is just not interested. Did he give you a reason as to why you might not have a good result?
 
He said that I am looking for 100% outcome and that with a hip revision it would never be. Basically I went in to my appointment clear in my head that my scan would show something up and I would be getting a revision. He scared me so much I came away from there praying that I would never have to have it done!!

My nuclear scan appeared inconclusive apparently and I am due to have another one this year. On reading some of the other cases on here, especially AMR1879 it seems like the battle is getting a surgeon to believe you. With her case, each surgeon said her xrays were fine and Josephine the nurse on here kept telling her that they weren't and to keep going. I have pain which seems to come from inside my femur which makes me think that I too have a loose stem. This pain has been there since after my operation and I have just put up with it. Lately it really hurts to walk on and like other people have said, when I try and stand on that leg it hurts, and I favour the other one all the time. When I went to the gym and did one leg leg presses on a very light weight, the difference was so noticeable, thus being the right leg cannot do any weight at all. This isn't getting better. I had thought that with exercise, swimming and some low weights I would get there but if its not right in the beginning then Im not sure how any of this is going to work. Plus I was hoping bone would eventually grow round it but on reading the posts here, that would have happened in the first 6-8 weeks.

Because of Covid I have not booked in for my scan but Im going to get that done asap. Armed with the scans, I will go back to this consultant and then get another opinion. Does anyone know of good hip revision specialists? I live outside London.
 
Here is one of the images of the nuclear scan. Im facing the front so my problem hip (right) is on the left.
 
Nuclear Scan November 2019.png
 
Wow, that right hip sure is "lit up" isn't it?
I'm sorry you have such a decision to make.
I am surprised that your Dr told you a revised hip won't ever be 100%.
Surely it will be better than how you are feeling currently?
I am tagging @Jamie and @Jaycey. I think they could be most helpful in helping you find some revisionists near or in London.
 
Can you tell me what hospitals are near to you and who your current surgeon is? You need to see someone with no connection to your current surgeon.

Also, are you willing to travel?
 
For my two hip replacements I was under Mr Hashemi-Nejad at Royal Stanmore Orthopaedic Hospital, then he referred me to Dr Jonathan Miles to talk about revision surgery etc. So the two of them are linked as they both do surgery at RNOH.

I am willing to travel anywhere to be honest
 

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