THR Uneven hips

subie2021

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Can someone help me to ask the right questions to my surgeon about this?

I have a high hip due to pelvic torsion or scoliosis or both. It's my non-operative leg. For many many years I knew something was off but never really thought about it or pursued it - it was a matter of Hmmm, weird that these pants are longer on the left than the right.

After a new friend, a physical therapist, pointed it out to me, I asked my PCP about it. He told me to put a lift in my shoe. I did, and it caused a whole lot of grief. Yowie! I pursued PT but it didn't help much, even though I've kept up with the exercise pretty well for a long time. I'm pretty sure the imbalance has contributed to my hip problems on both sides.

Now I'm worried that THR is going to make the problem worse. I want to ask my surgeon about it. Is this something can and should be addressed, something he should be made aware of? I heard of a woman with a similar problem whose surgeon kindly decided to even her up, but the outcome was a disaster for her and she required more surgery to fix the fix. I don't remember if he lowered her high side or highered her low side.

My low side if the one getting the new hip. I've had the xrays to ascertain that my legs are actually of equal length; it's definitely the pelvic twist that's got me crooked.

Help?
 
@subie2021 Yes do ask the surgeon about this - you could even print off your post above, take it to the appointment, and hand it to the surgeon! You laid out your concerns very well there :) I don't know if it's possible to correct this issue but the surgeon should be able to tell you. Keep in mind that ALL of your muscles have been functioning with this problem for a long time. So any change is going to require that all muscles are going to feel the change -- and require some TLC!.

When I had a bilateral hip replacement done 9.5 years ago I was shocked and surprised by twinges and aches and odd pulling sensations in nearly ever muscle group in my body - most settled down with time but the ones in the legs and back did require PT and the TLC mentioned.
 
My surgeon evened up my leg length difference during my RTHR. I had been wearing a lift in my right shoe. Deb is right - the change will require some TLC. All the muscles, tendons and soft tissues were stretched. That caused more discomfort than the actual incision. It also changed my gait - something that I still need to address.
 

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