THR THR: my journey and outcome

[ochaye]

@Josephine
posterior , cementless

the closest on the diagram would be; CL6F and DL6F...it would be a little behind the front position/diagram, more to the side and closely coincide with my scar, but that would be the general area, yeah.

everyday I can usually walk a little further, until soreness kicks in, but it concerns me that at 19 weeks I am experiencing this stiffness and soreness at such relatively short distances without the cane.

when I start walking there is no discomfort at all. is stiffness/soreness after walking/exercising at 19 weeks post op a cause for concern?

PS it's time you had some MAN diagrams

 

[Josephine]

It's androgenous!

so this is the are, yes?

Well, that's very simple to explain. You have Trochanteric bursitis.

 

[ochaye]

@Josephine

"That's not so bad - it may or may not be a problem but IF the bursa becomes inflamed and/or infected, then you have a problem. Usually they just get inflamed and need to be dealt with by surgery."


that line cheered me up no end....what should I do?

 

[Josephine]

Yeah, I need to edit that - surgery is extremely rare plus it's also directly referring to an infected bursa..

Go see your GP and ask him if he agrees that you have a TB and if so,will he inject it with cortisone for you. My GP did mine and it was cured before I even got off the couch, never to return! Can't promise you'll be quite that lucky but you never know!

 

[ochaye]

@Josephine

I see my OS 4 weeks on Friday for my six month check up, should I wait until then and discuss with him or run things over with my GP ASAP?

PS is the injection a dawdle? :(

 

[Josephine]

I think I can promise you your surgeon will not be in the least bit interested. Far beneath his dignity!
Such things are expected to be dealt with by GPs.

And since the bursa is only about ½" beneath the skin on the prominence of your hip - you can probably feel it as a soft puddingy lump - it is a doddle! Least it was for me!

 

[ochaye]

thanks @Josephine

XXX

 

[ochaye]

@Josephine .....me AGAIN!

the iliotibial band and the trochanteric bursitis....any exercises I can do for to strengthen/help them?

I went and did a little research about the TB and one of the sites says it can be brought on by a twisting motion.
funny thing is, about 2 or 3 days after my release from hospital I stepped on a moving set of stairs in a supermarket and twisted my op leg in the process and that is where I felt the pain for the 1st time. right on the very spot......

perhaps I have been aggravating it ever since. I KNEW I should be having an easier time than this after 19/20 weeks.

hope my GP is up for it.... ( the injection) she is a youngster, late 20s methinks

I'll just say to her...."stick it in the soft puddingy lump bit - it is a doddle!"
she'll be spoilt for choice

night night Jo

 

[ochaye]

hi fellow sufferers

any of you good folk suffer/suffered from the aforementioned trochanteric bursitis?

how did yeah cope and whit did yeah dae aboot it?*

*translation,
how does one cope with said inflammation, and what, pray tell, does one do about the nasty thing?

 

[ochaye]

@Josephine
I pointed out to my GP my sore area. if you can imagine the hip socket as a clock face, the tender area to touch is 12 o' clock. I relayed your thoughts on my condition to my GP, she checked me out and replied "good call,it's TB all right.......but we don't do cortisone into hips in the surgery , see your surgeon for that"

yeah cannae win

 

[Josephine]

But but but .... it's not 'in' the hip - it's way outside it! She's just bucking out of doing it! Ah well, sorry.

I think I mentioned I had it myself. Actually before that I developed piriformis syndrome in the same (right) hip and had an agonising, fun filled time trying to get around the house whilst feeling like I had a machete rammed into my buttock! I took all kinds of meds and often came close to overdosing, it was that bad. (Not really - just going for a bit of the dramatic!)

My best therapy (for the piriformis) was to toss one of my large ice bags on the settee and just flop down on to it. To describe it as 'sitting down' would imbue it with an air of grace that was just totally absent!

I slept in the recliner for about 8 weeks. After a bit it eased and I went to bed for the first time in ages. But when I lay down on my right side as was my wont, I scrambled out of bed again, convinces I'd lain on a sewing pin that had got lost in the bed. I mean, man, that really hurt, sharp and agonising. So I had to sleep on back and left side for a few nights.

Then I had an idea

and actually examined my hip. I had a swelling on the trochanter the size of a hen's egg!So I hobbled off to see mu GP who injected it upon the spot and cured it. The miracle actually came about an hour later when I realised that the piriformis had been 'cured' as well! Double wammy! Great stuff, doc!

 

[ochaye]

@Josephine
"I think I can promise you your surgeon will not be in the least bit interested. Far beneath his dignity!
Such things are expected to be dealt with by GPs."

glad it worked out for you Jo....perhaps my surgeon will get a porter or car park attendant to inject the cortisone for me

been paying attention to the pain and trying to pinpoint it....it's just above my sticky out bony implant thingy, in a soft squidgy bit.....

OFF topic for a mo.....a nice Lady paid me a visit to see how I was doing with my THR as she is due one of two THRs very soon. she is on morphine AND Tramadol, long term, no one has spoken to her about the withdrawals she will have to face one day. IMO I believe it is a Doctors duty to explain to a patient from the offset that these drugs should be used with the utmost caution. a two hip operation to go through and eventually coming of these meds that have been used for years....God help her. I have,of course, recommended BONESMART to her.

John,a former pharmacy dispenser with 16 years experience

 

[ochaye]

you know this TB thing in my hip is the ONLY thing holding me back........if it were not for the bursitis I'd be completely pain free and feeling very leggy good

 

[ochaye]

off topic again for a mo....you gotta laff at different peoples approaches to you and your constant companion , the cane, as you stroll through the park....some neighbours will not even mention it whilst perfect strangers will often stop you and ask...."so whit happened tae you then?" I usually tell them I am breaking the cane in for a friend

 

[ochaye]

@Josephine

since my GP was not prepared or allowed, as the case may be, to inject cortisone into my hip area, do you think I can expect a cortisone injection when I attend my 6 month assessment in a few weeks, either from my OS or a nurse?
my GP agreed with you...it's TB, and it's holding me back. I am now icing twice a day and taking brufen 600mg daily, until I see the OS. I HATE these NSAIDs, i am sure they played a role in my IBS. ( I took aspirins and brufens and God knows what for the pain over the years) I am now soooo reluctant to take anything.

one final thought.....when I attended my 7 week post op assessment the PT on duty that day showed me an exercise to do that would "strengthen" my hip......I was to lie on my side, straight, and lift the operated leg scissor fashion. leg abduction methinks it's called. I could not manage the exercise and it was painful, painful the very next day in the area I pointed out to you in the androgynous diagram. that tenderness has never really left me since week 7/8.

I feel in my heart of hearts if it were not for the TB reducing my ability to walk long distances (currently I can just about manage to walk around a football park without the cane, then I grind to a halt with the TB issue) without the cane, I would be as fit as a fiddle, completely pain free, and as happy as Larry.

do you have any advice on how to approach this OS of mine so that I am not fobbed off when I request a cortisone injection as a possible means of alleviating my TB soreness?

many thanks Dear Lady, you have been a great help. sites like this are worth their weight in gold

all the best
John
xxx

 

[Josephine]

when I attended my 7 week post op assessment the PT showed me an exercise to do called leg abduction. It was painful, painful the very next day in the area I pointed out to you. that tenderness has never really left me since week 7/8.

Which just goes to prove what I often say - most of these issues are caused by exercises. Not necessarily bad ones and not necessarily done to excess but most likely done at inappropriate times when the muscles are vulnerable to reactive inflammation.

do you have any advice on how to approach this OS of mine so that I am not fobbed off when I request a cortisone injection as a possible means of alleviating my TB soreness?

I suggest first you ask him if it's TB and if/when he says yes, then say something like "I understand there is an injection that can help with this, cortisone, I believe" and see what he says. Of course it's quite possible that some tears and grovelling might be required if he says no!

 

[ochaye]

"Of course it's quite possible that some tears and grovelling might be required if he says no!"


thanks Jo....I'll take the wife along, she's good at greeting* tae get her own way


*common Scottish slang for crying
e.g. "Aye, you were fair bawling and greeting like a wee bairn*"

*child

 

[ochaye]

@Josephine

a friend of my wife's, age around 50, is due a THR in less than two months

at pre assessment yesterday she was told by the nurse that ...." I hope you realise that in 10 years time you will need a revision op?" note she did not say probably but will all likelihood will require a revision op

the patient to be has had OA for around a year to 18 months and will likely require the other hip done when she is fit.

I have asked her to join this wonderful site so any question that may pop up can be addressed

the Lady in question is a working mother not a marathon runner. the op is to take place at a Scottish hospital

she is obviously quite distressed by the nurses "observations". surely the modern hip has a "shelf life" in excess of 10 years for a moderately active person of 50?

also of note was the surgeon who made inordinate references to the chances of death during a THR procedure. needless to sat the Lady in question is somewhat apprehensive already

John

 

[Josephine]

I should think she is! You should tell your friend, from me, that she can expect her new hip to last around 30-40 years and that nurse had NO IDEA what she was talking about! On the other hand, I do! As for the other thing, in 50+ years I have never known a patient die from a THR. They are far too closely monitored for that.

 

[ochaye]

thanks Josephine ,this will put her mind at ease........deary, deary me, some of these so called pros :(