THR Spongebob's Recovery Journey

[hopnfox]

At my age, I'm not sure I'll ever be pain free, but it takes a few months for muscles etc. to calm down after going through this surgery. I've ridden my bike, go for walks, and I'm back at work full time after 6 weeks. I was actually working 8 days after surgery, just remote. The key is don't stop stretching or walking. The more you sit, the stiffer you get.

 

[Spongebob]

@Spongebob
There are many recovery threads you could look through to see that this is variable...
recovery from THR is not the same for every person...

Most will tell you that it got better and less uncomfortable every month up to and even after one year...and many will admit that it was easy to set oneself back by too much activity too soon.

That's why all the exercise I am doing is all no impact on joint to give it the best chance to heal just frustrating that even now (13 weeks on) I feel a ache in my hip joint but like you said that will ease up as I'm still early in my recovery

 

[Spongebob]

At my age, I'm not sure I'll ever be pain free, but it takes a few months for muscles etc. to calm down after going through this surgery. I've ridden my bike, go for walks, and I'm back at work full time after 6 weeks. I was actually working 8 days after surgery, just remote. The key is don't stop stretching or walking. The more you sit, the stiffer you get.

How long post op are you ?

 

[Spongebob]

@Mojo333 so you think at maybe 7 months is the time I should feel none or very little discomfort

 

[Spongebob]

@Mojo333 do you think from your experience that the ache I currently have in my hip will be gone by the 7 month mark ?

 

[Layla]

Unfortunately, no one can answer this question for you. Each recovery is as unique as the person. If you had your Right hip replaced, your recovery would be different than this one. So please stop troubling yourself looking for a month, or date of when you'll be pain free because you will not find that information here. Try to relax and get back to life to the best of your ability for this time.

As Mojo suggested, familiarize yourself with the forum by moving around and reading others recovery threads.
Often offering support to others helps take the focus off of ourselves and therefore minimizing our
discomfort / pain. You'll learn a lot also and realize you are in good company with discomfort of 2-3 on a scale of 1-10 as you mentioned you are dealing with in a recent post. Doing this will hopefully be a comfort to you. Have you had time to visit any other threads yet?

Also, as a refresher, consider reading back through your thread from beginning to end where you'll find answers to many of your questions.

A suggestion - Plan something fun for the weekend and come back next week and tell us how it went.
This is a test, there will be questions.

 

[Spongebob]

Unfortunately, no one can answer this question for you. Each recovery is as unique as the person. If you had your Right hip replaced, your recovery would be different than this one. So please stop troubling yourself looking for a month, or date of when you'll be pain free because you will not find that information here. Try to relax and get back to life to the best of your ability for this time.

As Mojo suggested, familiarize yourself with the forum by moving around and reading others recovery threads.
Often offering support to others helps take the focus off of ourselves and therefore minimizing our
discomfort / pain. You'll learn a lot also and realize you are in good company with discomfort of 2-3 on a scale of 1-10 as you mentioned you are dealing with in a recent post. Doing this will hopefully be a comfort to you. Have you had time to visit any other threads yet?

Also, as a refresher, consider reading back through your thread from beginning to end where you'll find answers to many of your questions.

A suggestion - Plan something fun for the weekend and come back next week and tell us how it went.
This is a test, there will be questions.

I have stuff planned for the weekend thanks for the help I just wanted to know at 3 months post op how people was feeling hip ache etc.. and how long till it settled down

 

[Spongebob]

Right I'm nearly at 14 weeks post op I go swimming now which makes me feel great physically and mentally I still have hip ache which brings its own restrictions at the minute but I know I'm still early in my recovery but I am able to tie my shoes now in a fashion but when I stand up from tying my shoes (very slow) i can feel pain in my hip after bending over (or best I can bend over) I was just wondering how people was feeling with there own THR after 14 weeks I am just looking to see how others was feeling at this stage?

 

[Layla]

You can read others threads and find that out. Here is a link to members that had surgery in January, just as you did. Welcome to the January Jackpots 2023 Hip Recovery Club

Select a name and type it into the SEARCH at the top right corner of the page, exactly the way it is spelled and pull up the members thread, if they have one. You can also copy / paste. In reading, you'll see where others are on their journey. Some may be ahead of you, some lagging behind you because we are all different and that is why no one can give you a precise date or month.
@Spongebob

 

[Spongebob]

You can read others threads and find that out. Here is a link to members that had surgery in January, just as you did. Welcome to the January Jackpots 2023 Hip Recovery Club

Select a name and type it into the SEARCH at the top right corner of the page, exactly the way it is spelled and pull up the members thread, if they have one. You can also copy / paste. In reading, you'll see where others are on their journey. Some may be ahead of you, some lagging behind you because we are all different and that is why no one can give you a precise date or month.
@Spongebob

But will it all be worth it in the end?

 

[Spongebob]

@Mojo333 quick question in your experience what sort of time scale do you think I will be looking at to be able to to a SLR without pain as it's still painful in my groin when I do it now ?

 

[Mojo333]

Hi @Spongebob
Hope all is continuing to improve.
Again, timelines for individuals to reach certain "milestones" will be variable.
I'm not sure after I figured out they weren't helpful, if I even consciously tried it very often the 1st year.
Standing side and front raises and knee lifts or marches (in very small repetitions) to get things pumping in the morning was more my cup of tea.

I wouldn't keep attempting them if it is stressing your groin area...

Hope this week is easy and you are feeling better and better.

 

[myglasshalffull]

If it hurts...STOP.

 

[Spongebob]

@Mojo333 quick question in your experience what sort of time scale do you think I will be looking at to be able to to a SLR without pain as it's still painful in groin when I do it now ?

Hi @Spongebob
Hope all is continuing to improve.
Again, timelines for individuals to reach certain "milestones" will be variable.
I'm not sure after I figured out they weren't helpful, if I even consciously tried it very often the 1st year.
Standing side and front raises and knee lifts or marches (in very small repetitions) to get things pumping in the morning was more my cup of tea.

I wouldn't keep attempting them if it is stressing your groin area...

Hope this week is easy and you are feeling better and better.

So are you saying the SLR from a lying down position will aleays hurt or will like you said earlier post get to point where won't hurt

 

[Spongebob]

Quick update I'm now 2 days away from my 4 month anniversary feeling better mentally and physically and I can now tie my shoe laces (not completely 100% but better than it was still painful gettin up) but the main thing is i still have hip ache which is the same ache all day is this still normal at 4 months ? And if so will it fade off also a SLR is still painful

 

[Spongebob]

Quick update I'm now 2 days away from my 4 month anniversary feeling better mentally and physically and I can now tie my shoe laces (not completely 100% but better than it was still painful gettin up) but the main thing is i still have hip ache which is the same ache all day is this still normal at 4 months ? And if so will it fade off also a SLR is still painful

@djklaugh will this fade off

 

[djklaugh]

@Spongebob That ache probably will fade over time. Do ask your surgeon or PT folks about it to see if there are any exercises or other things you can do to ease it.

 

[Charlie33]

@Spongebob Glad to see recovery progressing. In reading your thread, you strike me as an analytical thinker like me and like many THR folks want to get the timeline straight so you can reach the destination of full recovery. I'm very similar! So like me you need 'to work the problem'...so what do you do?

1) Join Bonesmart: check! you've done this, received great support/advice and access to threads. Biggest benefit IMHO is to research other threads. Many answers lie in the search engine! I've had questions that have all been answered by previous threads.
2) Primary Care Doctor, OS and Physio: They are your core team to answer specific questions related to your case and first line partners to determine next steps to get things working!
3) Alternative therapies: Accupuncture, dry needling, trigger point massage are a few tools that you can research on threads that can be part of the toolkit...

Once you have a plan using tools above, try things. If an exercise doesn't work, adapt, work with your core team and come up with a different approach. If they give you a hard time, find new team members who will partner with you to meet your needs.

Beyond above...what advice can I give you? I'd ask you to reframe your thinking on recovery as a destination. It's not a destination, rather a journey. Abandoning timelines is like dropping a big bag of rocks and will make you feel a whole lot better. If you are active and adapting as you go along working with your PT/OS, you'll get to the best version of you post THR you can be, and it will just sort of happen and you won't even really notice it.

Best of luck and hang in there!

 

[Merrimay]

@Spongebob , @Charlie33 offers wise counsel when he suggests that you lay down that big sack of rocks called expectations. All the other advice you've received here is excellent as well. Take it a day at a time. Don't overdo. Research all treatment options and ask your doctor, physiatrist, and PTs about them. I know my recovery sent me on a journey I could not have expected. We have to accept our body's uniqueness and advocate for ourselves. Hang in there!

 

[Eman85]

@Spongebob
There are many recovery threads you could look through to see that this is variable...
recovery from THR is not the same for every person...

Most will tell you that it got better and less uncomfortable every month up to and even after one year...and many will admit that it was easy to set oneself back by too much activity too soon.

That's why all the exercise I am doing is all no impact on joint to give it the best chance to heal just frustrating that even now (13 weeks on) I feel a ache in my hip joint but like you said that will ease up as I'm still early in my recovery

You don't have any feelings in your hip joint, that is in the trash somewhere. Any pains we get after THR is soft tissue pain. All exercise taxes the soft tissue, soft tissue gives pain when it is taxed.
I am bad to overthink things and "borrow trouble" but you surpass me by a lot. You've gotten all of the reassurance in the world that what you are experiencing is normal and we've gone through it. You've progressed just like we all have predicted you will and as someone said putting down that sack of rocks and enjoying the progress you've made would be the best.