THR Slow progress at almost 1 month post op

RebcaO61

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Glad I found this group!

I had right THR in 6/6/19 after a long struggle with congenital hip dysplasia & subsequent arthritis. I had labral repair 2 years ago but after a year I started needing injections to manage the pain.

In the meantime I think I over compensated on my left knee & ended up with a torn meniscus, bone marrow bruising in left tibia & fibula and significant loss of cartilage in that knee. After arthroscopic surgery to clean that up on Jan 31st, I have not had “a good leg” to stand on! But muddled through!

Now, I can tell little gains each day. I really only take a Celebrex 200mg per day with an occasional single Norco maybe once a week at night if I feel I’ve pushed a bit more than usual.

My main issues are my very stiff left knee limiting my mobility, still an uneven gait without my cane & numbness like sensation on the top and lateral side of my surgical thigh from just inferior to scar to about 3 inches above my knee. I also seem to get very sore on the lateral side of my right hip (surgery one), but am rolling over in bed easier each week. I am walking almost a mile outdoors with a cane slowly due to left knee stiffness & fear of falling they put in me!! I do move around the house some without the cane.

I am only 57 & was pretty active with yoga, cardio, daily walking & cycling prior to a year ago. Hoping someone here has had similar co-morbidities & post op issues they are dealing with?! And I hate the TED hose!! I can get them on/off ok by myself but they are hot, bunch up & I am always adjusting!!

Any encouragement & advice is welcome! Thank you!!


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Welcome to BoneSmart :wave:
Your recovery may seem to be slow but I do think it sounds very normal for less than one month.
Try not to worry.
The TEDS are horrid...how much longer do you have to wear them?
I had both mine replaced at age 53 and I am ever so glad to be back to a healthy active life!

Take time to check out these great articles.

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
5. At week 4 and after you should follow this
6. Access to these pages on the website

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.
 
Sounds like you are doing just fine for less than 1 month out of surgery. Don't push the walking too much. And use a walking aid to avoid developing any limp. Please keep us updated!
 
You are about a week behind me and sound very similar. My gait has ever so slightly improved over this last week without a cane around the house and walking with cane outside pretty easily now. I know I’m anxious to lose the cane as it makes me feel sooo old, but I know just a few more weeks using it and it’s better to use it now than try to correct a bad limp/gait later... hang in there!

I also have numbness and tingling in my thigh and figure it’s just part of the healing process.

I was also very active over a year ago and it all came to halt quickly with this rapid onset arthritis, labrarel tears till finally bone touching. My knees are “ok” but my lower back has taken a toll as well so I have to be careful, but I’m very hopeful I will get back to gym classes in a few months......and hopefully lose the 25 lbs I’ve gained thru this whole awful process!
 
My main issues are my very stiff left knee limiting my mobility, still an uneven gait without my cane & numbness like sensation on the top and lateral side of my surgical thigh from just inferior to scar to about 3 inches above my knee.
All very normal. Don't worry about it. Just read the articles that Mojo left you above,
I am walking almost a mile outdoors
I suggest you also pay particular attention to the article on activity progression.
 
Thank you all for the help. I guess progress is never as fast as we’d like & it is hard to break a competitive nature. I’ll keep you all posted.


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I lost my TEDS in the washer by the way...:shrug:
If you are moving around enough and you don't have any other issues, may be your doctor will let you "lose" yours too!:)
 
So hopeful. They said “6 weeks!” So maybe I can fudge a little now that I am 4 weeks?! I want the be a good patient but ugh! I might take a few hours off each day? They are looking really ragged after so many washes!! Even having 2 pair & hand washing. What.a.pain! But I DONT want a DVT either[emoji13]!


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Really? Maybe they are NOT NECESSARY?!? They put me on 325 Ecotrin ( coated aspirin) twice a day for 30 days as well!! Is that over kill?!


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Ohhh those darn TED hose! The bane of my existence! Wore them for literally 5 months and happiest day I had was when I didn’t have to battle them any more.

You sound perfectly normal for your stage of recovery. It’s frustrating but it will get better.
 
Five MONTHS?!?! Ok. I will not complain s out a couple of more weeks. [emoji12]Bless your heart!


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With the aspirin and if you are up and about fairly regularly..I honestly doubt it would hurt not to wear them at this point.
My doctor said for first 30 days and when I saw him at ten days post op...and I told him I lost them the night before and did not want to find them...he said I was fine.
 
Hi @RebcaO61 ! I ditched them at 2 weeks. My leg was so swollen and uncomfortable that I decided to see what happened if I left them off for a few hours - amazing results!! I am also on aspirin for 6 weeks and I am trying to be as active as I can. I see we are a day apart in recovery! It's certainly a journey of ups and downs!
 
Thanks for sharing. It really is helpful to hear what others have experienced !!


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Good Evening,
I'm not encouraging you to go against your surgeon's instruction, but I'll share something my surgeon's PA told me. He said that he's happy when patients wear the TEDS half the time prescribed. My assumption is they need to consider that lowest common denominator when setting these timelines. They realize most won't be able to tolerate them and will cheat on wearing them, so they set the amount / length of time they want you to wear them higher than necessary.
They're awful, couldn't stand them. :gaah: :hairpulling:
I hope you sleep well tonight!
@RebcaO61
 
Thank you all. I actually work with patients and do the same thing! If they do HALF of what I recommend then we’re good! Thanks for the reminder!


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