THR Swollen ankle post op THR

THR7152020

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THR right side 8 days ago. All seems to be going well with recovery and PT. Only using cane now some walking without aid. I just noticed my right ankle is slightly swollen and wonder what I can do to bring the swelling down. Is there a specific way to elevate for hip replacement since my knee is supposed to stay below my hip? Thank you for any advice. The left hip needs to be done next so any info would be great.
 
:welome: to BoneSmart and Congratulations on your new hip!
Please share the exact date of your surgery below. The information you provide will be applied as your signature, making it easier for those who stop by your thread to respond by knowing how far along you are. If you already have a date scheduled for your left hip, please share also and we’ll add it to your other information

I will leave the Recovery Guidelines which have articles on ICE and ELEVATE. Both should be beneficial. When you’re icing, remember toes above nose and you should be okay.

Stop back with any questions or concerns and we’ll do our best to advise.
Wishing you only the best as you begin the journey. Thanks for joining us!


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
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

Pain management and the pain chart
Healing: how long does it take?
Chart representation of THR recovery

Dislocation risk and 90 degree rule
Energy drain for THRs
Pain and swelling control: elevation is the key
Post op blues is a reality - be prepared for it
Myth busting: on getting addicted to pain meds
Sleep deprivation is pretty much inevitable - but what causes it?

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 the at each member have only one recovery thread. This policy makes it easier to go back and review history before providing advice.
 
THR right side 8 days ago. All seems to be going well with recovery and PT. Only using cane now some walking without aid. I just noticed my right ankle is slightly swollen and wonder what I can do to bring the swelling down. Is there a specific way to elevate for hip replacement since my knee is supposed to stay below my hip? Thank you for any advice. The left hip needs to be done next so any info would be great.
Hi and welcome and congratulations! Elevation and ice, and my moderate activity, helped my swelling. I am confused by "knee is supposed to stay below hip"? Is this what they call the 90 degree precaution? As in, don't bend your leg more than 90 degrees at the hip? If so, you can elevate toes above nose easily, by using a special cushion or a simple pile of pillows while reclining or lying flat. Read the article linked to by Layla-- it explains it, with illustrations, far better than I am. You are lucky to have only your ankle only slightly swollen. My entire leg ballooned up both times! And I was wearing those Ted stockings too!
 
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@THR7152020 Welcome to bonesmart. Let us know if you have more questions after you read some of the articles for recovery. I hope the icing and elevation help you. Elevating and icing was my default position. I iced non stop any time I was sitting/reclining or laying down. My bedroom is upstairs so I would take a small lunch cooler to the bedroom with ice packs and get a fresh one every time I got up to go to the bathroom which for me is quite often. It really helped me. I hope your night is peaceful and have a good day tomorrow.
 
Right THR anterior 7/15/2020
I am surprised at the “worst” exercise posts as the majority my PT guys is having me do.
 
I am surprised at the “worst” exercise posts as the majority my PT guys is having me do

Hello:wave:
I hope you slept well last evening and you’re starting your day feeling well.
Wondering if you care to be more specific about the quote above and hopefully we can explain.

A great day to you!
 
Under this area I found a good number of exercises that my PT guy is having me do but this post calls then worst
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Hello again,
Just a little background. That article was written by BoneSmarts
recently retired Orthopedic nurse with 50+ yrs experience in Orthopedics. Through her experience here, and in the field, she found that many of these exercises caused pain more than they helped. Through her advice, those suffering found their pain dissipated after stopping the exercise and walking only as the preferred form of recovery. While it is your body, your recovery, your choice, please take it slow and easy and if anything hurts, STOP.

This is not a “no pain, no gain“ type of situation. While there are many who go through Physical Therapy in early recovery, increasing numbers don’t and an ever increasing number of surgeons aren’t recommending it. Let your body be your guide and take its cues. Your leg is healing and doesn’t really need to be put through the rigors of a work out.
Think of it this way...if you sustained the same type of injuries through a car wreck, would you feel your leg needed a workout?

Wishing you only the best. Happy Wednesday! :SUNsmile:
@THR7152020
 
Re that PT-- @THR7152020 , in 2013 my OS recommended in-home PT. I had a sensible guy, who didn't want to cause pain, but it began taking over my life. Three times a day, all these boring exercises, when I could be outside walking! Or snoozing! I persevered for several weeks but then just gave up.

2017, second hip. Nobody except discharge nurse mentioned PT. I refused-- I figured if I wanted to do it, I still had my handouts from 2013. Two weeks later at my first followup, I told the PA that I hadn't done any PT. She said, "good for you! Walking is the best exercise anyway!" I figured she'd been lurking on here :heehee: I wound up not doing any PT at all except ankle pumps early on, and glute squeezes because they felt good and helped loosen me up before standing. Second hip felt better faster. Not knowing whether it would have felt better faster even gad I done PT means I can't make a causal connection, but I sure had a looser schedule!
 
Right THR anterior 7/15/2020
I am surprised at the “worst” exercise posts as the majority my PT guys is having me do.
Yikes! Only do what you feel comfortable doing. Of course, a little difficulty is okay, but if your mind is sounding the alarms, or your pain, stop and refuse. You are in charge of your PT, not the PTs.
Hope you are doing well though. Sounds awesome to be walking around without support, at least a little, already. :D
 
I had my surgery on 7/30, and just today developed some swelling in my foot and ankle. Previously, it had been above and around my knee. I know that I pushed myself too hard yesterday and that may be the cause. I had my outpatient PT eval today. I will try it and see how it goes. I read the article about elevation yesterday and found it helpful.
 
Done with PT as of last Friday. They released me with no instructions at this time said I could do anything. I spent Saturday icing and bed rest and more icing as the muscles were so inflamed I believe from the PT. Today will be another recovery day with ice and rest. I am getting around without assistance once I get up an move to get stiffness out. The pain is tolerable with Tylenol and Motrin and 1 tramadol a day. Sleeping well and hoping the inflammation gets better soon. I am getting up and walking throughout the day to release stiffness. Next doctor appointment is August 26th. Next hip I will not be doing PT.
 
Glad to hear that the ice and resting is helping. You are one of the lucky ones that can sleep well and that is wonderful. Keep icing and resting and the inflammation will decrease as your recovery progresses. You are still in the early stages of recovery so patience is needed to continue. Keep listening to your hip and your body as you feel better and start to increase walking. There is no rush and no time table you have to meet. Have a peaceful day.
 
It’s seems my olio-tibial band is a painful issue at this time. Back on an arm crutch for assistance. Icing and rest and some mild walking is all I have been doing since stopping PT last Friday. Is this just part of the recovery or should I be concerned. Thanks for any advice. Christine
 
Still having same quad, glute and calf side is bruised and tender. Extremely painful first thing in the morning to get up and moving. I know its 4 weeks today but am I basically starting all over do to PT overdoing it or am i just being the impatient person I am . Can i use heat on the lower quad/knee area or stick to ice? I contacted the OC’s PA and didn’t get much of any useful info except they could prescribe some stronger NSAID probably meloxicam. I said no will stick with Tylenol and motrin. If I’m doing something wrong please let me know.
 
Try the heat on other areas besides the hip. See if it helps to relax it some. I used heat on my SI joint and lower back when it got cranky and ice on the hip. It was kind of interesting to have a very warm spot and an icy spot all at the same time. Practicing patience in recovery is sometimes the hardest part. Hang in there all temporary and will get better.
 
Still experiencing pain, believe to be it band related. Dr sent another rx for meloxicam for 15 more days and stretch exercise sheet. I can walk with cane about 16 steps before the pain kicks So even attempting to do warm up exercises is humorous at this point. I am resting all day and icing all day 30 to 60 minutes at a time I am 31 days post op. What the heck is going on and why am I not on the other side of this.
 
@THR7152020 you will notice that I have merged your two threads together as we prefer that members in recovery only have one thread.

This is for three reasons:
1. if you keep starting new threads, you miss the posts others have left you in the old threads
2. it often ends up that information is unnecessarily repeated
3. it's best if we can keep all your recovery story in one place so it's easily accessed if we need to advise you.

Please keep all your questions and updates on this thread. If you would like a new thread title just give a shout.

You are not on the other side of recovery because it has only been 30 days since your op. This process can take one year or more.

Please do any stretches very gently - you still have internal swelling and sore soft tissues. Ice for at least 45-60 minutes several times per day. I would cut out all exercises other than gentle stretches. Over exercising can cause IT band issues.
 
Sorry about the posting issue I am not quite sure how this all works.
I will continue to ice as I have been many times a day. I will look for a gentle stretch to do or will do nothing. This is very difficult for me as I am not used to being stationary for this long even pre op i was able to do things for short periods rest and move again. Right now I can’t do anything and it is making me crazy
 

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