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THR Tendonitis issues post THR

Oh, I may have misunderstood. I assumed that you had lower back issues previous to the THR.

Agh, ignore my attempt at helping.

I am so sorry you are on 3rd surgery. I don't think I could go through the first 39 hours again. I stupidly didn't take any of my normal meds -- not even anti depressant or Valium the night prior as I was concerned about anesthesia-- and was detoxing by hour 16. I had expected a lot of pain day 1, but not day 0. Traumatic and too vivid.

God Blessings [emoji257][emoji176][emoji257] you and I will be praying for this surgery to be your last.

I wish I never went down the pain med road. I had nausea at least 2x a week and yea, the projectile bile vomiting is horrid!

Big hugs


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Thank you Skigirl for the witch hazel recommendation. I have those wipes around here somewhere. I tried rubbing alcohol on the bottom part (the gooiest) this morning, but it didn't do a thing. Today, I took my first real regular shower, sans dressing, and tried a bit of soap and water, and then gave up again. It's still sticky all around, and my clothes are sticking to it.

Mcgowan, I did one .5 mile day about four days ago, and that was a bad night of muscle spasms and aching all down the leg. I backed off the next few days, and it's much better. I think you may be rushing it. I know I was. We are three days apart, I think, on our timeline out. Still pretty early for marathons... :) FWIW, I am now pretty pain-free other than the dull aches, and that I can handle. Still have stabbing arthritis pain fresh in memory, and this is so much easier. Meds for me now are the just aspirins (for blood mainly) and Aleve (doc gave the ok for that, as he agreed that narcotics aren't always needed.)

No low back pains at all for me. I feel so lucky. Hang in there, all.
 
Hey all. I have a rather quick question. Is it safe to assume the thigh pain is normal following THR? It is only been two weeks, and mine was cementless. The pain is a burning type pain, and worsens if I walk for a longer period of time. How common is this?
 
burning pain, a lot of time, is skin stretching. I had some around the incision and a bit in the thigh that would move around. You probably have some swelling that is contributing to the stretching. I found icing made it feel a lot better.
 
Has anyone else experienced thigh pain immediately following THR? I have read that cementless procedure often creates a greater pain than most. Has anyone else felt similar, and how long did you feel it?
 
I sure did have thigh pain @mcgowan314. At first it was the top of my quad, a week later it was more on my side and outer knee, then it finally decided to move to my inner thigh where it felt like I had been kicked by a horse. Pain stayed there until week 6-7. I used pain cream/rub and ice to keep it in check. Now at nearly 8 weeks it's gone.
 
From the recovery threads I've read on here, the burning pain soon after THR is pretty normal. A lot of the pain seems to settle down at around 6 weeks.
 
I just returned from follow up and staple removal. Dr said the burning pain is 100% nerve pain. It can typically last up to or beyond a year. It is from the femoral nerve having unavoidable trauma and/or irritation during an anterior approach.

For those with similar, he said the best thing for it was rubbing the thigh. This stimulates faster nerve generation. Ice won't help...it isn't an inflammation issue as it is more of a nerve irritation issue. For anyone with so much pain they cannot function, there medicines that can treat nerve pain...it is what they use for fibromyalgia. However, he said this should be last resort because the side effects and the time it takes for those meds to start working out weighs the benefits.

All else looks good. Lastly, for anyone's reassurance he said you have to really over do it in a bad way or do something really silly to damage the prosthetic. He said a lot of people get worried about pains, but in reality hurting or ruining the replacement is extremely difficult, if not near impossible. He advised that most people will have difficulty with incorrect procedure or hastily done surgery. If your surgeon is high quality and is as good as you hope, you shouldn't have any problems.

One more thing...if you are still waiting for the procedure, be sure to ask if your surgeon does the procedure while guided by fluoroscopy or dynamic X-ray. That helps the surgeon get the right fit and press the first time.

Cheers everyone.
 
hi all. I am eight weeks out from RTHR. So far I suppose recovery has been as expected. I did my check up last week and X-ray confirmed good placement and good size of prosthetic. FYI. I had an anterior, cementless procedure.

Over the past three days I have developed what I think some very painful tendonitis in the Iliopsoas area of the hip flexor. Standing at full weight is fine. Lying flat is fine. But if I move the leg in a way that uses that muscle or tendon group, OMG does it hurt. I have now started to shuffle my foot in a manner that keeps the muscle group from being used, which I know is grossly unhealthy.

Has anyone experienced same or similar? If so, what is treatment or recovery time for this setback? Thanks.
 
@mcgowan314 .... you'll notice that I've combined your latest post with your original recovery thread. We prefer to keep all your recovery information in a single thread so we can look back on your history if you have a question or concern.

I did read back through your posts and I'm wondering if maybe you've increased your activity a bit too quickly. You indicated your job is as a paramedic (pretty strenuous work sometimes!) and I suspect you may be back on the job. Are you?

If not, what does your typical day look like in terms of exercise and activity? Tendonitis requires rest and possibly icing along with medication for the pain to resolve. Also, take a look at this article on Iliopsoas Syndrome and see if this is what you are experiencing.
 
mcgowan314 said:
I just returned from follow up and staple removal. Dr said the burning pain is 100% nerve pain. It can typically last up to or beyond a year. It is from the femoral nerve having unavoidable trauma and/or irritation during an anterior approach.

For those with similar, he said the best thing for it was rubbing the thigh. This stimulates faster nerve generation. Ice won't help...it isn't an inflammation issue as it is more of a nerve irritation issue. For anyone with so much pain they cannot function, there medicines that can treat nerve pain...it is what they use for fibromyalgia. However, he said this should be last resort because the side effects and the time it takes for those meds to start working out weighs the benefits.
Click to expand...
Hi @mcgowan314 I have the same nerve irritation -- lateral femoral cutaneous nerve. I've found Aspercreme with lidocaine helps when it's driving me crazy. OS prescribed Lyrica but once I read the side effects and warnings I decided not to take it. There is very little discussion about the problem on Bonesmart -- PT says it occurs in about 10% of anterior patients. Mine is much worse in the afternoons and gets really zippy when I drive --hopefully time will solve the problem. @Jamie I would love to know how others have coped.
 
It takes a lot of time for nerve problems to resolve themselves and there isn't a whole lot that I know of that can be done to speed up the process. You might ask about trying Gabapentin. It can help with nerve pain and there are few side effects from the drug. You might need to see a pain management specialist to get proper dosing.
 
I am 3 1/2 months out of LHR surgery. I have now developed tennis elbow in my right arm & shoulder (cane side) and pain going down my back (in addition to lower back pain). Does anyone know what is causing this? I still use a cane, but am trying to wean myself off. My arm hurts more now than my hip. :hairpulling:
 
Lee0521 said:
I am 3 1/2 months out of LHR surgery. I have now developed tennis elbow in my right arm & shoulder (cane side) and pain going down my back (in addition to lower back pain). Does anyone know what is causing this? I still use a cane, but am trying to wean myself off. My arm hurts more now than my hip. :hairpulling:
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My guess is it's from walking asymmetrically using the cane. If you have crutches maybe switch to them for a while.
 
@Chihuahuan: Thanks for your reply. It's been a year of using a cane and it's wreaking havoc on my body. Crutches don't work for me. I will try walking poles. I just have to get through this until I can walk without a mobility aid.
 
@mcgowan314, I just read through your thread. It's normal to have thigh pain after this surgery. My thighs were incredibly tender. They drill into the femur, and do a lot of hammering. It's traumatic. I took the meds as prescribed, and they did numb the pain. I was also afraid of addiction, but was able to taper off the meds easily.

Whenever I had burning sensations, it was after I had done too much activity. That also happened if I lifted something too heavy. It's so important not to lift things.

This recovery takes a lot of patience and self restraint. I found just doing my household tasks was the best physical therapy. I also did the basic PT exercises, but not too many. (I worked up to 30 per day, max.) They really helped me. Ice and rest were also mainstays.

Are you taking rest days? It helps to have those after a day of activity. It's really easy to do too much...because you don't usually feel it at the time. I had a delayed reaction to the chores that I added. It pays to go slowly.
 
Hello. I am 42 years old, good shape before surgery. I had THR July 15, 2016. My first few months of recovery seemed to go as planned. The pain I felt was "ordinary" recovery pain. However, over the last several months, my pain is far worse than what I had before the replacement. My pain in mid thigh of the replacement leg, with occasional pain creeping upwards to the hip, and at times creeping downwards towards the knee. However, the main pain is centered on the thigh...basically where the stem would be.

I visited my Dr several times and when he looks at the xray (mind you he looks for about 30 seconds), he just comments "everything looks great, just give it time." And then, he walks out and on to the next patient. Two weeks ago I finally forced him to stay longer in an appointment and told him he isn't leaving the darn room until he exams and tells me what is going on. He said there are 3 different scenarios that could be causing the pain. (1) infection, which we both agreed wasn't it. (2) a benign reaction the bone is having with the metal, which will reside over time (3), loosening or the stem not accepting the bone (I had cementless). He said I need a bone scan, but cannot do this until after a year, which will be in July.

I suspect there is loosening or the bone not fusing into the stem. My pain is consistent on movement. I cannot walk without a limp (never had a limp before the surgery). Despite the pain, I still work out to build strength in the leg. I can cycle, row, ect. I just cannot run or walk fast because if I "pound" down on the leg such as during running, the mid thigh hurts, but not the hip. I just cannot seem to shake this pain. In fact, I regret ever having the surgery.

Any similar issues with anyone, or your guesses?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm sorry to learn that you think your implant may be loose. If you have a recent xray that you can post here, @Josephine may be able to provide some feedback on that.
 
You'll notice that I have merged your newest thread with your original recovery thread. For several reasons, we prefer that you only have one recovery thread:
  • That way, we have all your information in one place. This makes it easier to go back and review your history before providing advice.
  • If you keep starting new threads, you miss the posts and advice others have left for you in the old threads, and some information may be unnecessarily repeated
  • Having only one thread will act as a diary of your progress that you can look back on.
So please post any updates, questions or concerns about your recovery here. If you prefer a different thread title, just post what you want and we'll get it changed for you.
If you need an urgent response to a question, just tag a member of staff.
How to tag another member; how to answer when someone tags you

Here are the instructions on finding your thread, How can I find my threads and posts? . Many members bookmark their thread, so they can find it when they log on.
 
@mcgowan314, I'm sorry to hear you are having these issues. I had my THR in November 2016. Your description really describes what I am going through now and how I am feeling. I cannot walk more than a couple blocks. I do not run, so I don't know, but would suspect I'd feel the same as you. 2 PTs and a doctor ruled out bursitis and IT band issues.

I'm still trying to get everything sorted out to what it may be. I have pretty much stopped all exercises for the time being to give my hip some rest. But so far, resting, icing, elevating have not helped at all. The pain is always there.

I hope you can get this worked out as I know how frustrating it is, especially when you are an active person.
 
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