Hi everyone I am new to this but just needed some advice on what stage I should be at at this point?? I am down to one crutch and can take my weight without one but can't walk without a crutch , I also have a relly sore knee when I walk. Scar is healing nicely no swelling or soreness ! Please help as nobody told me how i Should progress also no follow up physio only a few exercises to do at home !!! Feeling confused
Annette, I would say that whatever stage you're at now is the right one for you. It's very early days and you need to take it easy and just do your exercises and potter about. You had a major operation with a long recovery process. Various aches and pains do happen as your whole body has to realign itself. Try not to be competitive about recovery and take very good care of yourself. I have had two hip replacements. Everyone and everybody is different.
Hi Annette. Am at exactly the same stage as you having had a R THR 3 weeks ago yesterday at the Orthopaedic in Oswestry, Shropshire. I had cementless ceramic on ceramic implant so was told to only partially weight bear on two crutches for 6 weeks. I can manage on one around the house and have to sometimes but will stick to instructions until my 6 wk check up. My leg has been swollen though goes down when I elev
Continued from earlier post as iPad had mind of its own...leg swollen but swelling lessens when leg elevated. I get very tired and I overdo things at this stage because I can't bear sitting around normally but as Juliette has said, this is a very big operation and three weeks is nothing in the healing process. My instructions were to walk little and often and rest a lot and heal inbetween short bouts of activity. The Orthopaedic doesn't prescribe physio, preferring its patients to just mobilise by walking. I am doing great at this stage, really pleased with progress, no pain at all and scar healing well. We must be kind to ourselves! There's loads of good advice on this site so go looking and you'll find lots of others who've asked the same questions. Good luck!
I'm exactly the same stage as Annette, 3 weeks post op, also the same as you Amnesia, I'm ceramic/ceramic, no swelling now at all, that went away in first week, scar healing nice but only partial weight with one crutch around the house when I'm carrying a cuppa or something! I do the odd thing wrong like turn/twist around & think uh oh, but all is ok. Sleeping on back is a pain in the back side for me but hopefully after 6 week consulataion with surgeon, I can go on my side! I walk about 400yds two or three times a day & do the excersises given 3 or 4 times a day. All I would say to Annette is, take your time & like everyone says on here, you will got the odd pain etc so take your pain meds when needed! A colleague of mine had uncemented THR & could have gone back go work inside 4 weeks as he had an office job..........we are ALL different & things will heal at their own pace but as Juliette says the body has taken one hell of a bashing, never mind just the hip & stem going in, behind my knee I had a huge bruise where they must have grabbed hold of it & sung it around with a vice like grip! Just take it easy, but it's important to do the excersises, probably more so than walking. Tak care Annette
Don't measure 'success' by getting rid of crutches or sticks - they give you stability when out and about on dodgy pavements etc. Most of us reduce their use in the house although I used a walking trolley to carry thngs around downstairs. Out and about I used two crutches till my first follow-up by which time I could walk a mile or more with a midway rest and my trusty aids. I found hills, especially going down more of a challenge.
The main thing, and I am now 20 weeks on, is little and often in first few weeks. Concentrate on correct and even gait, trying to keep the step length the same on each leg and a rhythmic gait - even if it is slow. Make sure your pelvis doesn't drop when you lift the unoperated leg - if it does then you may run into problems later (see thread on leg length problems). Enjoy your walks and try to vary them and build up the distance bit by bit. Rehab isn't a competition but a personal journey and the aim is to reach the goal of painfree normal life and whether you reach it in 2 months or 12 months is less important than finally reaching it.
Good luck.
Hi annette.
Everyone healing progress is different, i would say don't over do it as it's early days.
I use my 2 crutches for 6 to 8 weeks when going outside for walks.
Am now 13 weeks using 1 crutch when out as i feel better with one as i dont want to fall just for extra support.
Keep doing the exercises, am still doing the ones in bed before i get out of bed everyday,
Good Luck!
Keep us posted on your progress!
Thanks everyone it's great to speak to people in the same situation it's a lot good luck everyone with your win recoveries xx
Sorry that should say its helped a lot !!
Very good advice Ros. As usual! Have you thought of writing a book and getting it on Amazon?
Hi Annette
I cant add much to what others have said......everyone does recover at their own speed. There is nothing as annoying as a friend saying "My sister {or whoever} had a hip replacement 2 months ago and she is a new woman"....when you are struggling.....you want to hit them LOL
You seem to be doing well.
As for physio......different counties do it differently. Most have physio afterwards but like you I was given a piece of paper after being shown how to do them in hospital and told.....thats your exercises and left to get on with it !!!
Love
Eileen
Could you tell me how to get the thread on leg length problems? X
You are at the very beginning of the recovery process (my opinion) and the knees in some way, are also part of it sometimes. I remember getting pain in mine at about the same time as yours. Be patient, it takes time...
Post-op care IMHO is downright neglectful. I, along with many others, was told very little and apparently the PT people were supposed to pick up the slack. I was sent to an unlicensed facility that was essentially an old age home and when I started asking questions they suddenly decided I had to get out of there immediately. I did and ended up in a fine in-patient facility two weeks later.
My THR healed up very quickly but although I could walk w/o help after about 5 days, I was cautioned not to. I would say that you should use at least a cane for 3 months, the reason being a sudden sharp pain can cause your leg to collapse and you fall. And believe me, you want to avoid this risk at all costs.
The sore knee is likely due your knee taking up a loadthat your surgical work cannot yet bear. its a warning sign to go easy. Sounds to me like you are too anxious to get back to normal. Relax, you've got a full six month projected recovery to consider before you get back on the tennis court. (maybe).
Glad to know i was not the only one without physio support. I am nearly 12weeks post op and have only just given up using the crutch. Your problem with your knee might be related to the way you have your crutch. Is it the right height for you, does is make you walk slightly awkward. This could be putting pressure on your knee joint. Is the knee the same side as the thr.?
Ah the painful knee. Yes mine was burning when I started pushing the walking. It's a combination of two things. First they give it a good old yank about as they dislocated your hip, it takes alot of force. Then after the op the tracking of the kneecap and the realignment of the hip and knee coupled with muscle weakness mean more stress going through the joint. That's more than two isn't it? It took nearly six months to fully settle.
Don't feel pressured to give up your crutch. You will find you can go without it indoors, but I used mine outside for 7 weeks and then used a stick for a week, to make sure I wasn't limping, and to warn other people to give me room basically. We all recover at different rates. I found that once I could do stairs in a normal pattern, the muscles built up very quickly and the pains resolved. I am six months now and hardly think of my hip at all, but although I had alot of pain pre op I was still very mobile.
Yes bad knee is same side as op feels like I have twisted it but I guess that's exactly what they do when the operate !! Just hoping my knee isn't going to be worse than the hip before op now that would be horrendous.
Hi Annette, I am at the 3 week mark too, I am told that recovery speeds up now! Just the encouragement needed. My knee on the operated side is a bit sore, but I suppose as other respondents say, it is only to be expected As it is taking more than its fair share of the load. I get restless legs, always at bedtime, which is very annoying plus I cannot sleep properly on my back, so am constantly tired. However I exercise as told and expect to be a new woman any day now...... Lots of luck to you and all the others.
Hi, i am only 1 week post op and getting restless legs too, very annoying!
My restless legs stopped the day I took off those awful socks, so hopefully that will happen to you too x