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THR Spongebob's Recovery Journey

If you look back at where you started to the present, you have come a LONG way in your recovery. You had years of imbalance & pain. You are now walking pretty good with occasional flare up. I call that progress. I'm not sure any of us ever are totally pain free forever. I had aches & pains long before I fractured my hip.
Yesterday I logged a little over 6 miles by days end. It was a lovely spring type day here & I have the dog I babysit here until later today & he loves to walk. He keeps me moving & motivated.
Continue to rest & ice when needed.
 
Hey Sponge! Happy New Year!

Read your post. We are not that dissimilar my friend. My hip was done in Nov 2022. At December 2023 I was feeling great after 13 months of a slow recovery with many setbacks.

2024 was a WORSE year than 2023. What!?! Yup. One self inflicted setback after another, the worst in April when I extermally rotated my operated leg which was weak and pushed with all my might to stand up. And guess what happened? Doink! Hip flexor and back gave out, biggest setback in recovery took months to recoever and......doink! November was doing a strech I shouldnt have done and irritated back.....

So how could this happen with all of my detailed posts and reading etc etc etc? I mean isn't Charlie a smart enough guy? Nope - but I am a lifelong learner! So I went back to the drawing board.... And... What is my latest revelation?............................... I don't know the alphabet.

Wait? Spellling? Alphabet? Yes! I make progress from A, B, C but then try F (picture swear word) but you go out of order from what your body is able to do. And what happens? You get injured and have a setback. Thats me for two years. The hip replacement is FINE! but you and I are young and (speaking for myself) I make the mistake of saying we can skip letters. And its not intentional! We are not exercise experts! With all my reading I finally realized I needed help and now found a virtual trainer who can help me learn the alphabet.

So what do we do in 2025? Do the exercise alphabet in order working (for me) with a person between a PT and Personal Trainer who 'gets' someone like me and all of my biomechanical issues.

Finally, in 2025 I want to find the 'goldilox zone' of recovery. Most people do "too little for too long or too much too fast". And I've done BOTH: in April fell into a dark place and pulled myself out, but did too little for two long making things last longer and much worse. In this latest setback in November, trying to find the 'goldilox zone' to do just enough to not trigger pain and exercises to build a strong resilent back, core and hips to allow me to simply move better. This setback has been shorter but requires a TON of patience and sticking to what I have described.

But most important? I wake up every day sayingm like you said 'never give up', because I have had periods where I feel better but also need to acknowledge at 56 I dont have the ability recovery like I used to. Walking, biking and enjoying life, which I have done for many good streches in my recovery, the only place I want to hit and stay.

HNY!
 
Wise words, @Charlie33 ….. each of our bodies is different - in its makeup and in the experiences we’ve had. Recovery can sometimes be a lifelong work at balancing what we want to do and what the body is comfortable with. I like your reference to the alphabet and moving from one letter to another. That kind of positive self-talk is always helpful.
 
What a great post, @Charlie33! I think it's a good reminder to all of us -- no matter what our age or our pre-op physical condition -- that we need to take things step by step in order. Skip a step and we fall back down the entire flight and have to start over...
:kickedout:
 
@Spongebob Just giving you an update: working with a trainer and we had a frank talk about my current workout. In the end? I'm not doing enough! I was surprised, thinking many of the things I was doing were 'enough'. In the end.....and really this is the boring truth: its all about your body and its ability to tolerate 'load'. Most of my setbacks are related to weak back muscles and really not so much anything with implant.

Watched a podcast with Dr Stuart McGill. He said it all comes down to 'sufficent' strengh to live life. I really think this is true. It starts with mat work (rehab phase, doing things to get moving better), than once you are on your feet doing double leg stuff (sit to stand, hinges are examples). Then you move to single leg body weight movements and maybe to weights at some point. BUT....HE STRESSES EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT. When interviewers ask for the magic formula, he demures and says its about looking at a specific person, loading patterns and developing a plan.

Mobility ain't magic. A few learned lessons? When trying a new movement, just do 3, not to full range. Then try a few more. I'd rather take twice as long to progress and be safer, but one must remember we need to progress. Once I feel comfortable, I'll do high repitions (say 15 to 20) before I add ANY WEIGHT.

Slow and steady my man!

Anyway hope all well!
 
Excellent Charlie!! Dr McGill is probably the foremost expert concerning spine/back function on the planet. His "method", literally, changes lives. He saved mine. His books are definitely worth the investment in the well being of your life if you suffer from back issues but his principles and insight reach much further than the spine. A few YouTube videos/podcasts will get one started but to get the full benefit, one should invest in his literature.
 
Hi. Regarding Dr. Stuart McGill, do you happen to know of a foremost expert...but in the realm of hip joint/function?
 
Hi my wonderful hippy friends I just thought I would check in as its been a while since my last post on how things are going at the moment so a update is since I have been in the gym working on strengthening all the muscles around my hip my operated hip seems to be getting less and less achey and sharp pains (which is amazing news) :) ut I have noticed that on my other hip I am now dealing with a adductor tendinopathy issue but I'm not sure if its been caused by a muscle inbalance or the physio seems to think it's from my good hip been overworked for so long or could it be from thr fact my operated leg was shorter before surgery (over 30 years) now it's 1cm longer I'm confused anyone else been through this ?
 
Hi Spongebob, I’ll just say I swear those hips talk to each other. I had one replaced and within 6 months I felt the other began to give up on me. I couldn’t believe it at first as I virtually had little to no discomfort with the other until then. Yup, by the time I had that one replaced 11 months after the first- it was in worse shape than hip #1 !
The Surgeon mentioned that I would probably return within the year for Surgery #2 and I laughed… Man, was he right!
Yes, they support each other when they need to but listen to your body for advice on the next step. You are not imagining this!
 
Maluna said:
Hi Spongebob, I’ll just say I swear those hips talk to each other. I had one replaced and within 6 months I felt the other began to give up on me. I couldn’t believe it at first as I virtually had little to no discomfort with the other until then. Yup, by the time I had that one replaced 11 months after the first- it was in worse shape than hip #1 !
The Surgeon mentioned that I would probably return within the year for Surgery #2 and I laughed… Man, was he right!
Yes, they support each other when they need to but listen to your body for advice on the next step. You are not imagining this!
Click to expand...
Surely there would be signs of arthritis in the other hip though I have been to see my surgeon who said its not arthritic and does not need treatment it's just tired from helping my operated hip after surgery
 
If your "good" hip was starting to suffer from arthritis, it would show in an x-rays taken and your doctor should be able to tell you that you had arthritis in that hip as well. If you don't, then is is just soft tissue from all you've been through. But, there is a chance that the hip will become arthritic, so it's a good idea to have it checked at least annually.
 
Hi Sponge,
I must have missed your post in February cause I was on vacation.
I get bursitis on my "good" side now & then, no clue why but it resolves itself. I have a follow up appt with my primary in a couple of weeks & I'm going to ask about why this occurs.
I've read up about bursitis in your hip & advises to dial back some of your activity. I usually ice or use Biofreeze & massage the area seems to help or I just take an Advil.
Not the same issue you are experiencing but just thought I'd share.
Happy to hear overall you are doing well.
 
Jamie said:
If your "good" hip was starting to suffer from arthritis, it would show in an x-rays taken and your doctor should be able to tell you that you had arthritis in that hip as well. If you don't, then is is just soft tissue from all you've been through. But, there is a chance that the hip will become arthritic, so it's a good idea to have it checked at least annually.
Click to expand...
@Jamie I had it checked in November was all good not arthritic I had a x-ray and a assessment from my surgeon
 
Thanks for that information. You’re good at keeping on top of things, so I feel like you’ll be just fine.
 
You’re persistent and tough. I have faith in you!
 
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