THR Trailrunner's recovery

[trailrunner]

Today is Tuesday, my 7 week anniversary from surgery.

Last week I was feeling stiff and sore and was getting a little discouraged. Especially when I first stood up, I had to hobble for five or six steps until I could walk normally. One of my walks last week was painful almost from the start.

I decided to rest for a day or two, and get back on the ice machine. I also dug out some massage tools I have, including some hard plastic things with smooth balls on the end. I started massaging around my thigh with these, not really moving, but pressing them into seams, looking for knots and sore spots. When I found one, I'd gently work the ball around the spot for a few seconds, being careful not to overdo it. Some of those sore spots were pretty painful, but seemed to like the gentle pressure.

And then one day (I think it was last Friday morning) I had a breakthrough. I woke up feeling pretty good, with little stiffness and soreness. I almost felt normal! Since then I've mostly felt pretty good. I'm moving around the house, going places, and not thinking about my hip every 5 minutes. I went for a walk with my wife today, and I noticed that my walking pace is getting close to what it was before surgery, even though I'm not trying to push the pace. I even looked at the log pile in my yard and thought that I might feel good enough to split some wood.

I still have more work to do. There's still some residual soreness in there and, if I move a certain way, my adductor (groin) barks. I can tell that my hip flexor is regaining strength, but my adductor is still weak or healing. There are a few motions or positions I still struggle with.

I hope everyone else is doing well with their recovery.

 

[mendogal]

Great update!!!!

 

[Hippie Chick]

Someone recommended moving in place to me with hip 1. That really helped me especially after being in the car for extended periods.

 

[trailrunner]

I had another physical therapy session last Thursday. The therapist gave me a good exercise to get my adductor back in shape, and continued to work on my hip in general. I try not to cheat while doing my exercises, but he often corrects something I'm doing, which I appreciate.

I walked a bit Friday and Saturday just doing things (including another visit to Wolf Trap). There is still some residual stiffness and soreness, but I'm noticing it less and less. Today I rode the bike trainer. So far, I had just been pedaling softly, but today I did a programmed workout with varying loads and recovery periods. I chose an easy one that only lasted 16 minutes, but the first 5 minutes of harder pedaling were a shock! But I settled in and completed the workout. I will keep up these workouts for the next two months until I get the clearance to ride outside. I have a long way to go and I will enjoy the journey.

I also washed my truck today. That's one of my least favorite jobs, but it hasn't been washed since before my surgery, and it felt good to be able to do something mundane like that.

 

[Layla]

I also washed my truck today. That's one of my least favorite jobs, but it hasn't been washed since before my surgery, and it felt good to be able to do something mundane like that.

Bravo! I recall this feeling well. I am not a big fan of grocery shopping, but remember the first time I walked into the grocery store post op, unaided, and "leisurely" shopped, not quickly grabbing only what I needed, leaning heavily on the cart for support, then retreating to my vehicle as quickly as possibly to get off my bum hip! Simple normal tasks feel so much easier and even enjoyable post op...without the pain.
It sounds like you had a great weekend. Enjoy the new week, trailrunner!

 

[Layla]

Happy Two Month Anniversary!
I hope you have a wonderful week, trailrunner.
@trailrunner

 

[trailrunner]

As of today, it's been ten weeks from my surgery.

If I had to quantify my progress, I'd say I'm at 90 percent. Walking around the house and doing light activity, my hip feels normal. I had a big moment a few days ago when I could get on my bike by swinging my leg over the frame. I'm only riding my indoor trainer, which I can't tilt because it is fixed to my trainer, so this is even more of an accomplishment. It's also an emotional milestone because the first symptom I noticed several years ago was that I had trouble getting on and off my bike. Leading up to my surgery, I was only riding my trainer bike, and I had to get a step stool to get on and off. Yay!

I've settled into a routine of going to physical therapy 2x/week, walking 2x/week, and riding my bike 2x/week. I have mixed feelings about PT. Overall, it's been wonderful, but some exercises are getting too easy. It's a busy practice and the therapists are dealing with two or three patients at a time. The bike trainer makes me feel good, but I am seriously out of shape. I am challenging myself with some of the programmed workouts, but sometimes I just sit and spin. I'm still limited a bit with my walking because my upper leg will get tired towards the end, and then it will be tired the rest of the evening. My longest walk is not yet two miles. However, one of the therapists keeps telling me to be patient and that I should think of my recovery in terms of months, not weeks, and she is correct of course.

My upper leg is still weak, especially my adductor. Some parts of my inner thigh are very sore to moderate pressure, and if I press on some points it is very sore. I try to gently massage it, which seems to help.

I can put my shoes and socks on pretty easily, which I had not been able to do before the surgery. I'm especially pleased because I can buckle my cycling shoes. The buckle and strap are on the outside of my shoe, and before the surgery I used to cuss up a storm trying to get my cycling shoes on.

I'm going away on a work trip next week. When I get back, I'm going to cancel my lawn mowing service and resume my own yard work. I have a few other things to take care around the hose, and I'm sort of looking forward to being able to do them. I might even install a new faucet when I get back.

So overall, I'm very happy to be where I'm at now. I keep saying this, but it's hard to believe that just a few weeks ago (well, 10 weeks now) I had just had my hip unzipped and new hardware installed.

 

[myglasshalffull]

Great update!
I stopped going to PT for my ankle after a month or so, for one thing it was a $35 copay & when you are not working $105 a week is a lot of $$$.
Plus everything was very repetitive & then I'd get a young "trainee" that would just tell me do 10 of these & then 10 of those & guess what...I can do that at home on my own.

 

[trailrunner]

Yes, I'm considering ending PT after a few more sessions. I work but $70 a week isn't pocket change. Some things they've done have been great, and some things they are just going through the motion (actually, I'm the one going through the motion ). I've done it for 5 weeks now, and feel like I might be able to take it from here. I don't think there is any point where I graduate, so I get the feeling that the clinic will be happy to have me as long as I'm willing to pay.

The PT wants to try dry needling on me to relieve some of the residual soreness in my adductor. I'm not crazy about that idea. I'm thinking it will get better after a while. I'm correcting several years of damage and atrophy, so I shouldn't expect it to be 100 percent after only 10 weeks. Does anybody else have any experience with dry needling?

 

[Layla]

Hi there trailrunner,

Does anybody else have any experience with dry needling?

Here is the link to an article from the BoneSmart Library -

Pie crust (Dry Needling) release of tight ligaments

My surgical report said my IT band was very tight and had to be released using the, "pie crust technique." Apparently they put pin holes in the IT band to release it. That might explain a lot of my early lateral pain.Not actually. These procedures shouldn't add to the post-op pain over-much...

bonesmart.org

Personally, I've never experienced dry needling, but I'm sure some have and will comment here. You can also use the SEARCH feature at the top right of the page, typing in key words, dry needling and all threads where its been mentioned, will pop up.
Have a safe and happy 4th! Thanks for sharing your journey with us.

 

[trailrunner]

Today is my four-month anniversary since the surgery.

I haven't posted in a while, because things are going pretty well. Sometimes I forget that I had the surgery. Last week I was on a work trip and had to stand for a much of the day, and in the evening I was tired and was limping a bit. No big deal, and I was so happy to be able to walk through the airports not limping around. I mowed the lawn for the first time last weekend and was a little sore after that. I've been riding my indoor bike, adding distance and intensity. I'm still out of shape, but overall I'd say I'm at 90-95 percent.

I have my four-month checkup next Monday. I'm expecting to get cleared for full activity, including outdoor cycling. We have had some beautiful weather lately, and if I get full clearance I'm going for a ride Monday evening. Then I'll play some easy tennis with my wife on Tuesday evening. My friends at the club have been asking me about playing tennis and pickleball with them. I'm taking some leave over labor day so I'll have a five-day weekend, and will try to get a hike in.

After that, I have a trip planned each month until the end of the year, and lots of other activities. Now that this is behind me and the nagging pain is gone, it's a whole big world out there and I intend to live it to the max.

 

[mendogal]

You're having an excellent recovery! Just keep letting your body tell you when it's ok to do more.

 

[myglasshalffull]

Great update!
Enjoy all your planned getaways.

 

[Layla]

A belated Happy Four Month Anniversary!
I hope your appointment went well today and you're cleared to get back to cycling. If so, enjoy the ride you're hoping to take tonight!
Best wishes for a great week!
@trailrunner

 

[trailrunner]

I made it out for my ride. It was great!

We had a huge downpour this afternoon. It ended before I started, but the ground and the trees were still wet, the humidity was crazy high, and it was close to 90F, so it was like riding through a jungle.

The last time I rode outside was 13 months ago. I remember that ride. I cut it short because my hip hurt so bad. Unfortunately, in the 13 months since I put on my cycling clothes, they seem to have shrunk in the closet. The hills also got steeper. Hip felt fine. My lungs and legs, not so fine. I'm out of shape. I have some work to do.

What was really good were some little things I couldn't do before I got my hip fixed. I was able to swing my leg over my bike. I could reach down and adjust the strap on my shoe. And best of all, my bad leg was tracking inward (medially), which I had lost when I had arthritis. I felt like I had even power in my legs.

By the time I got home from my short ride, I was completely soaked from sweat and general dampness. Awesome! Although my ride was short, I'm pleasantly tired.

Tomorrow night will be some easy tennis. Wednesday will be stretching and yoga.

 

[Layla]

Great news!
May this new activity help remedy the shrunken clothes and the hills soon feel less steep.

We had the same unbearable weather today in the Upper Midwest that you described above. Super hot and horribly humid. Felt like opening a hot oven door when stepping outside.

I was able to swing my leg over my bike. I could reach down and adjust the strap on my shoe. And best of all, my bad leg was tracking inward (medially), which I had lost when I had arthritis. I felt like I had even power in my legs.

Woohoo! Don't you just love it! So exciting to realize this joint replacement biz really does work.
Have a wonderful week!

 

[benne68]

. I was able to swing my leg over my bike. I could reach down and adjust the strap on my shoe.

That's wonderful! I'm so impressed you could reach down to adjust the strap. I gave up trying to do that long ago.

 

[trailrunner]

Hello all and happy new year!

It's been eight months since my surgery, so I thought I'd give an update.

My last update was four months after surgery. That was a big milestone for me, because my doctor didn't want me doing any real activity until that point, including riding my bike outside. Opinions vary on this, but I strictly followed my doctor's instructions, even if it meant not being able to ride through most of the summer. At my four-month checkup, the doctor gave me clearance to resume full activity.

One of my biggest concerns throughout this process is that I'm pretty active, and I don't want to wear out the cup. My marathon and ultramarathon days are behind me, but a few miles of running each week (just enough to justify a pastry with friends afterwards) is all I ever wanted. From the start, my doctor has said that would be fine. He says that the latest cups are very robust. So at my four-month appointment, I asked him if I should get an x-ray every year to see if the cup is wearing. He said sure, but he said it wouldn't be necessary since the modern cups wear so little that it wouldn't be detectable. That was reassuring. I also asked him if I should see him at the one-year anniversary of the surgery and he said if I wanted to that would be fine, but it wasn't necessary.

So that was four months ago. I got on my bike as soon as I could. As I noted in my post from August, it has been so nice to be able to do the little things - get my shoes and socks on, swing my leg over my bike, ride with my leg drawn inward and not sticking out to the side, reach down and adjust the buckle on my shoe while I'm riding. A (younger) friend of mine is just getting in to cycling, so I've been riding with him. He and I did a group ride at the end of September. I think I rode 40 miles that day, and although I was out of shape, it was a great event and great to be back on the bike. I bought a new bike (yay!) and have had fun on that. The only downside, which is minor, is that my left leg is still weak, and I can feel my right leg doing more work. This is especially true with my hip flexor, so I'm not pulling up with my left leg as much as I should. I'm working on fixing that.

I started playing tennis once was I cleared. I decided to do beginner clinics at first. I'm overqualified for those, but I could sort of walk through those until I got my legs back. The first time I ran in the first class made me nervous, so I sort of shuffled. No sprinting at first. Each class I ran a bit more, then I found myself gently sprinting to get a short ball. After a few weeks of that, I moved up to the live ball class, which is 1.5 hours of higher intensity and constant moving. I was only going to do the class for an hour, but I was enjoying it so much I stayed for the entire 1.5 hours. That was a mistake because I was pretty sore afterwards. When I did the class the following week, I stopped after one hour and felt much better. I wound up taking a break for about a month until last week, when I did a large class (more running) and felt pretty good. I even sprinted back to return a lob, which surprised me.

I started running, but I'm keeping it very easy. I started with a run around the block, very slow. Felt odd but good to be running. I ran 1.2 miles on Christmas morning as a present to myself. I was huffing and puffing, but I was out there.

In early September, I went camping. It felt great to be able to maneuver around my tent without a stiff hip. While I was there, I went for a 3.5 mile hike to test my hip, and it felt good. Later that month I went for a longer hike (6 miles maybe?). I got tired, but otherwise felt good. A huge psychological thing for is that I'm not rushing through my hikes, just trying to get to the end so the pain can stop. I did a hike last week that I had done last year. I remember the pain from last year, but this year I strolled along, and actually chose some extra loops, just because I could.

I have been stretching and doing exercises to get my left leg back to full form. I think the stretching helps. As I noted earlier, my hip flexor on the left side is very weak, and I've been focusing on that. The only soreness I have now is in my thigh and groin if I stress my hip flexor too much. Looking back, I have made good progress. I realize that I'm undoing the damage that had occurred before and during the surgery, and that's just going to take time.

Besides all of this, in my daily life I am so happy to be free of pain. I no longer dread walking (limping) across large parking lots. I no longer dread putting my shoes and socks on. I no longer dread a long walk in my office building. In early December, my wife and I went to England for two weeks. I had no problem sitting on the long flight, and during our week in London, we walked all over the place. Even walking to and from Heathrow to the tube station was a major walk, but no pain. I think all of that walking, day in and day out, was great rehabilitation. I was still a little tired at the end of the day, but it wasn't that chronic pain that I used to have.

Sorry for the long post. Hope everyone is doing well, and I hope everyone has a great 2025.

 

[sandiegomom]

Reading this made me happy. Thank you for sharing. And it’s a similar story for so many of us who get our life’s back after a hip replacement. Enjoy your life!

 

[benne68]

What a great update, @trailrunner!

It's wonderful to read how well you are doing and to see that you are getting back to enjoying doing the thing you love. That's what this surgery is all about, isn't it?

Thanks for sharing -- and please come back and give us a report when you reach your one-year anniversary!