THR So far, so good, knock wood

@ddj Well I'm almost 3 weeks ahead of you, so maybe you'll catch up :) . I think pool walking would be wonderful. I have decided on a new strategy for walking. It struck me that when I began training for anything else I used to go every other day and allow for a day of healing in between until I got more conditioned. So I am now trying a little longer walk with a day of just regular activity in between. I'll report back how that goes at my 3 month mark! I am planning some PT in the future. I think I'm doing some things wrong, based on some back pain, and I'd like a professional opinion.
 
i thought I'd do a quick 3 month check-in. At this point, normal life is far more prominent than thinking of the hip replacement. I am doing more than I did before surgery, though I know my stamina and, to a lesser degree strength, aren't what they should be (which I attriibute more to loss of conditioning due the the arthritis and pandemic than to the surgery). Will be super busy until Aug 14 when we do a belated (post Covid) wedding celebration for my daughter. Then I'll be pushing to walk with more regularity and go back to swimming. Still using the cane for distance walking which is up to 1.5 mi at a 20 min mile pace.

A couple notes. I did need to go to a session of PT. I noticed that I am swiveling toward the operated leg. Fortunately I have a brilliant PT (she isn't in my insurance now and was actually worth doing private pay for) who quickly diagnosed some muscle tightness that was causing this and gave me some exercises. Hoping this is final piece in the full recovery picture. Well, that plus time and more exercise.

I also realized something about my earlier recovery that I hadn't noticed before. I was having a number of ectopic heartbeats which I attributed to coffee and poor sleep. Well they have been gone for a while now and out of curiosity I did a google search. Turns out this is common after hip replacement and usually, though not always, goes away. Just more evidence of the stress on the body and I didn't even have a general or need blood or oxygen after.

I want to thank everyone for the support and information here. It really helped me get through the experience. Good luck to everyone with whatever is ahead.
 
So after a generally smooth progression, I seem to be reversing. I reported some pain and a PT visit last check-in and the stretches and rolling I was given are not helping. I am confident that they are good activities, just encountering some serious resistance from a tight joint. I am going to try to schedule another private pay PT appointment and have some later visits scheduled with another PT who is covered by my insurance.

The main pain is in the front of the groin and in the lower back on the operated side. I never had any back pain prior. When I lie down on a hard surface I can't fully straighten the leg with my back flat. And I am limping, I assume due to the tightness. The pain isn't terrible but is moving in the wrong direction and I never before had pain at rest. I use a cane for any "real" walking and have gone up to 1 1/2 mi. I also seem to have some problem putting full weight on just that leg.

Any thoughts from the wise folk in Bonesmart?
 
Many will echo the same 3 mos is usually not fully recovered yet. Trying to do too much is what usually results in pain. Try doing nothing for a couple of days and see how it feels, costs nothing and won't cause any pain. I found light yoga and stretches to help the most. my right resulted in a pain in my rear thigh to my butt. Muscle was weak and very tight, could not touch my foot if I bent my knee, I could easily touch my toes if I kept my knee straight. Took quite some time to get it to slowly release and it's still weak over 1 1/2 years later.
 
@Eman85 Still weak at 1 1/2 years--I am so sorry. I am pretty sure I'm not overdoing it. Average daily steps in the low 3000s (not much more than before surgery) and if I have a couple very low days, it's not any better. Well my PT replied back that she has some more ideas so I guess I'll see...
 
Any thoughts from the wise folk in Bonesmart?

Hi there,
I’m sorry you’re dealing with pain and uncertainty. Wondering if you’d consider calling your surgeons office and running your concerns by them…and see what they advise? They will let you know whether you should schedule an appointment to touch base with your surgeon, or a member of his care team. It may offer you some reassurance to do so….
Stay in touch and let us know how you’re doing. We care.
 
@Eman85 Still weak at 1 1/2 years--I am so sorry. I am pretty sure I'm not overdoing it. Average daily steps in the low 3000s (not much more than before surgery) and if I have a couple very low days, it's not any better. Well my PT replied back that she has some more ideas so I guess I'll see...
Sorry? It's no big deal a little weakness in a muscle. There really isn't anything I can't do. Certain movements bring out the weakness at times but that's about it. What I've gained in the loss of deep bone ache is such a gain and just being able to sleep a whole night after physical activity is incredible. I've got other parts of my body that were injured decades ago that give me more annoyance than the weak muscle from THR.
 
Thanks @Layla Yes, I've been considering calling the surgeons office. I skipped my final (12 week) visit--they encourage and most of their patients to skip it, but I've actually regressed pain-wise since that point. Good suggestion!
 
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Happy Four Month Anniversary!
I hope you’re doing better and feeling encouraged by your progress. Don’t lose sight of the many months of healing still to come. Wishing you a nice weekend and steady progress moving forward.
@DancerHips
 
I am reading through your thread and I know it was a few weeks ago that you were having muscle soreness but wanted to ask if you have considered finding a good therapeutic massage therapist?
I may be biased but they can help immensely.
I scheduled several for myself when I felt like you are feeling and helped to keep me progressing in the right direction.

Happy 4 months anniversary!
 
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@CricketHip @Layla Thanks for the anniversary wishes. At this point, I am in a fair amount of pain, including pain at rest (mostly in my back) which I never had before. We did one of my post-surgery goals this weekend--a two mile (easy) hike around a lake, which I did with a cane. Well I was miserable after.

I will have to try some massage therapy. Problem is we are trying to live more at our vacation home this fall and there are few good practitioners there. So that generally means a 6 hour round trip for appointments. My PT thinks I have some SI joint dysfunction possibly due to weakness in the glute muscle, plus adductor and and iliopsoas tightness. So pretty discouraged right now.
 
A disgruntled SI joint can certainly be bothersome. I'm sorry you are dealing with that! Having a long drive to a good LMT is discouraging, too. Even a Swedish massage would help, so maybe for now one of those would suffice and be easier to access where you currently are living.
This will pass and while it may seem slow going, you will heal up and begin to feel better.

That 2 mile walk wasn't a great idea, was it? I know how you were feeling though and just wanting to be normal again. Honestly? I'm not certain I could have done a hike of that distance so soon into my recovery. I would imagine that you encountered some uneven ground...which is tough on a new hip.

Try to view your recovery as a roller coaster... maybe that will help? The recovery is rarely linear.

rollercoasterexample-gif.74641
 
Hi @DancerHips. I'm sorry to hear about the pain and dysfunction you're experiencing. I had my THR at the beginning of March so I'm a couple months "ahead" of you. I still have a lot of groin pain and at this point I wouldn't attempt a two-mile walk, much as I wish I could.

Today I managed to walk for 25 minutes but the groin pain started at about 20; right now I'm resting on the couch wishing I hadn't pushed myself. The 25 minutes was a pretty arbitrary goal though, not as far as your 2 miles, but still clearly disconnected from what I'm actually capable of. That's the part that I'm having trouble with: accepting that what I'm actually capable of is a lot less than what I wish it was (and expected it would be).

I hope you find a practitioner that can help you with the pain you're having. Did you ever reconnect with your surgeon? Wishing you all the best.
 
Hit 5 months yesterday and wanted to update in case someone else with similar concerns happens upon this. I have had maybe 5 PT sessions at this point and it seems to be helping quite a bit. These have included dry needling to release trigger points, some massage and a variety of stretching and strengthening exercises. Back pain is pretty much gone (knock wood) but I still have hip flexor / psoas / adductor / glute issues. Some of this pain pre-dates my surgery but I thought fixing the joint, as the root cause, would fix all the issues--wish I hadn't had that expectation. But more optimistic at this point.
 
I am one day shy of 6 months now and, since I came here to do a little reading, thought I'd do an early 6 month check-in.

The PT has worked wonders. I am now walking 2 miles at under a 19 minute pace without problems. Only issue now is I was carrying the cat up the stairs and got a sharp pain in my hip--normally I hold the rail and apparently offload some weight by doing so. So my PT says I still need some additional glute strengthening. But other than that my general pains are gone. So big improvement from month 4 to 6, consistent with the idea that recovery is a year.

Recently I heard a surgeon advertising on TV and he had a patient saying she had hip replacement with zero pain at all. I so wish they would set expectations better.
 
@DancerHips Nice to see you again and to hear you are doing well! :yes!:

Recently I heard a surgeon advertising on TV and he had a patient saying she had hip replacement with zero pain at all. I so wish they would set expectations better.
Ye gads! Save us from misinformation - especially from surgeons. Bet he did not say if pt was referring to no more bone-on-bone pain or how long after surgery she was reporting this. I am convinced that such misinformation is at the root of many many of the problems we see here.
 
@DancerHips

Thank you for keeping us informed about your journey. I appreciate knowing how you are doing and how you are approaching pains that you thought would be helped by the surgery. Hang in there! It looks like you are seeing some improvement.
 
Great update @DancerHips and so true about the high expectations that have been set for us, the patient.
At 6 months you still have plenty of recovering to do and by one year you will be surprised at how much more improvement you feel.
 

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