I thought I would give you all a little update on my recovery. Its now 2 weeks post op (surgery 4th May) and I have been very pleased with how things have gone. I had 3 nights in hospital which I will be honest and will say were not pleasant at all as I was in a lot of pain and I couldnt sleep. However at some point on the Friday the pain levels dropped off and they let me go home on the Saturday once they were sure I could manage the crutches okay.
My range of movement has improved every day and I now have pretty good control over my leg again, although lifting up when lying down is stil very difficult. I'm still on two crutches when I'm walking about outside and will be for another week. Inside I tend just to use one crutch as my house is just too small to make two crutches practical. Pain levels are good and I only have pain in and around the surgery area. The main issue I have is that i get horrendous night spasms which I have mentioned in another post. I've tried every remedy and they just dont work. I guess they will sort themselves out once the leg heals and the swelling goes down.
All in all i think I have had a very straight forward recovery so far. I really cant complain
Well done so far you are doing well. I'm 3 wks post surgery and down to 1 crutch outside and inside I use no crutches but do waddle like a penguin. Pain for me is not too bad now and more of an ache . I had terrible muscle spasms and tonic water did it for me - I drank gallons for it and it helped tons - so if you haven't tried it give it a shot
Barvo David - so good to see this positive report adn your good progress (except the nasty night time spasms for which there really is no meaningful polite langauge).
Everything I have read since I was bedevilled by them emphasizes the importance of keeping hydrated, electrolyte balance and that antioxidants can sometimes help. But I have come to believe that it is simply the body's way of saying get up and walk these muscles which are starting to tighten up again .. so do some exercises.
I truly hope someone comes up with an effective approach before my next surgery (and yes Gilly, I will definitely try the tonic water).
If you have continuous and effective pain medication (which you should probably still have at 2 weeks), that could help with the spasms. When you are resting, try to elevate and ice your surgical leg. Spasms are horrible and I hope you get past this soon. There have been a couple of threads about this very recently, and if you can find them, you might get some good tips there.
Hi, I had my replacement May 9, was only on over night, used a walker until yesterday, some around the house still. I was feeling hopeful, but last few days nerve or bone pain in the front of my hip joint shoots down to below my knee making it almost impossible to get comfortable sleeping or sitting. My mom said a few of get widely friends had it done and were up and going in a few weeks. WTH? Did you, or anyone rise, experience this pain? Originally I was told I had a pinched femoral nerve in my back but was hoping this hip would fix it. I'm feeling hopeless tight now. ...
I am not sure about your specific pain - I wondered at first if it might be the IT band which sometimes tightens up quite badly after this operation. If so, see your PT to get exercises to loosen it or it will get worse (and that is pretty nasty - my experience).
It might be worth starting a new discussion (start your own discussion icon below right) to get feedback as your question might get lost in the discussion on David's post.
Don't get discouraged. This is a tough operation and recovery takes a while and goes in stages which you really cannot control with sveral steps forward then a few back and so on. Many have referred to it as a rollercoaster and that nails it for me.
Thank you for the update wow, you are doing really good -
I am so sorry about those horrible nightspasms ... have you asked for muscle relaxant ?
What also might help is dry needling ... I never heard of that when living in Los Angeles, but apparently here in Holland it is well known and widely used ... I had a couple of treatments (acupuncture thin needles) in my thighmuscle - it relaxed the muscle for sure ...
Hmmm, maybe it is too early as there is a risk of bleeding ... are you still bloodthinners?
I tired the tonic water however it didnt really help. Touch wood I have had two nights spasm free which coincides with the swelling in my leg going down. Hopefully they are a thing of the past!.
They seem to have improved since I got the swelling down through a mixture of icing and keeping the leg raised. I've also made sure I've stayed on top of my pain meds.
I initially was getting a lot of thigh pain which I put down to what was done to my bone, however that was a ache and went away after 3-5 days. I get shooting pain down my thigh to my knee, however that is tendons / muscles and is what I get with these night spasms...
Have you / are you going to be seeing a physio for follow up? They should be able to give you insight as to whats going on....
I hadnt heard of dry needling. I was going to see my remedial masseuse who i know does accupunture and various other techniques. Maybe she will be able to do something. I'll ask her about the dry needling as well.
David, I'd be very careful about any procedure that puts things (in this case needles) into your body at this early point. Infection is something we need to beware of and prevent, if at all possible. I'd be checking with my surgeon about anything going under my skin before having it done.
Hi David. I'm thinking it is tendons, nerves and work done to the bone. I stopped doing the leg lifts yesterday today, so far, is better. Not going to do anything to strain that area and see.
Yes, I speed doping them and My pain isn't as bad. The hardest time for me is at night and getting up in the morning, that area seems to be tight and hard to move. I just hope o am able to bends over and put My socks and shoes on again one day. I'm not giving up and glad I found this forum