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THR Spring in my step

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Hope you do, so you can have it settled before you go. Waiting is so difficult. Maybe someone could check your mail and call you with the info once the letter arrives. I try to be patient but not so much.
 
Hi Kim22, I haven't been on here for a while and am just catching up. I think our recoveries sound very similar. I was diagnosed with bursitis in my operated hip, and it was really affecting my recovery. I went to a private physio, and she turned my life around. The pain seemed to move from my bum, down the outside of my thigh, to my knee and even my calf. It was all down to the muscles and tendons having atrophied over the years with my limp, and not being able to cope so well with me trying to walk 'upright'. She set me some quite specific exercises to build up the muscles. I'd really recommend it.
 
Firebrand I have just read your post on your own thread and I am so glad you overcome the bursitis and that you are doing well now.Sounds like you really enjoyed your holiday in Turkey.I will see a Senior Physio Practioner at the Muscular Skeletal Service who can order investigations and hopefully tell me if it is bursitis or a deterioration due to arthritis in the unoperated hip.I am sure that whatever the problem is a course of physio would be a good idea but after my surgery I was just given 3 exercises and I had to stop one of those as it aggravated the groin tendinitis and the OS told me walking was the best thing for hips.It is difficult to know what to do for the best.So many people on here do loads of exercises and do well.At last the tendinitis seems to be settling down but it has taken 3months just in time for yet another issue raise its head !

If you get time I was wondering if you could please briefly outline the exercises you did which helped.I would be very grateful.If I have a long wait for physio at the hospital or I am not impressed by them I will not hesitate in seeing a one privately. Take care.
 
Hi Kim - I'll try and explain the exercises here, but of course the disclaimer about pain etc applies. Do these morning and evening.

1. Stand on your bad leg, as steadily as possible, for 30 seconds. Build up to a minute. You may need to lightly hold onto something.

2. Holding lightly onto a worktop, stand on your bad leg and lift your heel up and down (touching the floor) x 10.

3. Lie on your back on your bed. Gently pull your bad knee towards your opposite shoulder. Hold the stretch for 30 secs.

4. Stand sideways next to a wall, with your bad hip nearest. Cross the foot of the other leg infront and place on the floor just in front of the foot of the bad leg. Gently allow your upper body to lean away from the wall. You should feel the stretch along the outside of the bad hip.

5. Stand sideways on your bottom step, with the foot of your good leg on the step, and the foot of the bad leg hanging off. Raise and drop the bad hip x 10.

Let me know if any of these need more explanation?
 
I hope you get your appointment through soon! The exercises from firebrand could help in the meantime?
 
Thank you Firebrand You explained the exercises very clearly and I will give them a go.How long did it take before you noticed some improvement ?
 
Kim,

So sorry you're having so much grief on your left side now. I hope you can get it figured out soon so you can get on with things. Sending good thoughts your way...

D
 
Thanks dede62 Its such a pain I can't help wishing that if I do need a new left hip it had been bad at the same time as the right one so I could have had them done one after the other.How is your recovery.? I hope you are continuing to improve.
 
Hi Kim. I would say that within a couple of weeks of doing the exercises I was improving ie I was able to stand on one leg without wobbling all over the place.

I missed a key exercise off:

Lie on your bed, on your back. Bring my feet in towards your bum, and leaving your head and shoulders on the bed, raise your hips. You should feel the stretch in your bad hip - try not to allow your strong side to overcompensate for the weaker side. Hold for 10 secs and repeat x 5.
 
Firebrand Thanks again. Did you do the exercises daily and how many reps did you do of the other exercises ?
 
Hi - I did them every morning and evening for about a month. they only take about 5 mins a session. The only reps are those that I have marked x10 - otherwise its usually just once for 30 secs.

I've got another set of harder exercises to do now, but still do them morning and evening.

My glutes were visibly wasted- there was a dent in my bum cheek! I found walking any distance hard. Now I can walk for around 30 minutes, but as my muscles in my lower leg now need strengthening, I still have a tendency to 'plonk' my foot and have to remember to step 'heel-toe'.
 
Firebrand Its good to hear that they worked and you can walk for 30 minutes.It sounds like the weak muscles contributed to theo set of your bursitis Maybe your physio can give you exercises to improve the strength of your lower legs ?
 
Hi Kim22 - I didn't know that you were having a prob with your non-operated leg and I'm so sorry. Can you remember my post when I said I felt as if I was going backwards? I had exactly the same pain as you are having now and as I know that I have OS on that side I was sure that it was kicking in. My hip hurt up to my waist, my knee was killing me, I had groin pain so bad it woke me up and even an old foot injury from years ago started to bother me. I didn't post on here for over a week because I was so fed up. Anyway, I had some slow release Tramadol from my pre-op days so I took 100mg every 12 hours without fail for a week. Then I dropped to one a day for three days then stopped. And voila I am pain free for the first time since April 2012. I think - only my opinion - that the Tramadol relaxed me as you don't relax your muscles when you're in pain. My dad also had both hips replaced and my brother and sister also have arthritis but in their knees. I don't like painkillers but the week or so on them again certainly worked for for me. Ibuprofen wasn't strong enough. You may like to try what I did :flwrysmile:Ros xx :flwrysmile:
 
Nylsor Thank you for your post.I do remember you saying that had gone backwards.Was it just after you returned home from Spain ? I am so glad that you found a solution and you are pain free once again.I have been fed up too as I thought I would have a few years between hip replacements and don't get me wrong I am so pleased that most people who had their ops about the same time as me are doing really well but when I read their about their fantastic recoveries it makes me feel that I am well and truly left behind.The left side feels just like the right one did before my operation.and the knee is throbbing so much so that I had to take codeine in the night for the first time in months.However it doesn't pay to wallow in self pity and On the bright side I have got an appointment with the Muscular Skeletal Dept on
26th September.We are going up to our place in Northumberland tomorrow which will give me an opportunity to rest and I will try the Tramadol as you recommended.If I do improve I will try Firebrands exercises to eliminate bursitis as a cause so at least I have a plan
If I do need another hip replacement I would want it ASAP and this time I may have to go private as I feel I have wasted too much of my life already.Thank you for listening Ros and please accept my apologies for being so negative.
 
Kim22 I'm sorry your knee is still playing up. Its really annoying that as soon as one joint is sorted, another takes it's place ! My right knee has been playing up again. Im like you - not prepared to waste any more of my life hobbling around limping. Ive got a GP appointment next week and will insist I get referred to someone for it. If something needs doing with it, I want it done sooner rather than later.
 
TeeEm Oh dear it seems like we are in the same boat and yes it is very annoying as we didn't get enough time to benefit from the new hip.I really wish that it had been clear that both hips needed doing in March so the second op would have been scheduled then rather than having to start the whole process off again.We are still young and want to live life to the full.Let me know how you get on with your GP.
 
Hi Kim22 you're not being negative at all. You are just responding to pain and anxiety. I do hope that the Tramadol work for you like they did for me. I honestly think that we compensate on our 'good'' side through habit. And then it plays up. And I don't for one second believe these folk who never have any aches or pains after their ops. Muscles, nerves and tendons have to grow and learn to work again. My daughter is a qualified vet, although she doesn't practice now as she is a senior civil servant. When I told her about the 'marvellous' recoveries she laughed. Animals have THR , in fact 2 of her cats have had them after road accidents. We looked after one of them and he spent 12 weeks in a cat cage just healing. Hang on in there dear, rest up on holiday and I pray you will see a lot of improvement. Forget the exercises, just walk as much as you can tolerate, put your feet up, and do as little as possible, take the Tramadol. Enjoy yourself ! :flwrysmile: :flwrysmile: Ros xx
 
Nylsor that's very interesting about the cat who just rested for 3 months after his op.I think cats are very tuned into what's good for them and with hindsight maybe we should just rest and heal for the same length of time.If I do need the left side doing I would have a different plan of recovery.So its rest, rest and more rest over the next few days.My left knee is very bad but so is the hip but just as it was with the right side its the knee which is worse.Have a great weekend.xx
 
Kim,

So sorry to hear your other side is not doing well. We'll chalk it up to jealousy... I'm really surprised they didn't see that coming, and if they did, they should have had the decency to let you know about it so you could make possibly different decisions of how to approach it. I know waiting for that appointment to roll around will probably eat at you, but try and do the best you can to take it easy.

Do rest on your holiday, as you certainly deserve it!
 
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