Hip replacement

Bones, joints and muscles
1

I have had a fractured hip nearly 5 months ago, I had three pins in my hip, now one leg is longer than the other ,and I'm still in a lot of pain and walk with a stick .

2

Dear Helen

Do you know what the leg length difference is?

Cheers Richard

3

It looked about a inch on my xray, I had two weeks ago, the surgeon said he can only offer me a operation to build the bone up and remove the pins and then replace the ball on my hip , but I have to wait until it all heals before I can have another op, I am back to see him in august .

4

hi helen, 

warm welcome to the hippies forum ... 

I am not sure what your queston is ... Your fractured hip was repaired 5 months ago with three pins to hold it together ...when were you full weight bearing?

I am assuming here that you have seen your surgeon for at least one follow up appointment, right ?

Did you ask him about the leg length difference and the pain you are having?

How did the xray look ... was he/she happy with the outcome ?/

do you have physical therapy -

It is not unusual to have a leg length difference after hip surgery - it usually evens out after a while ... how much difference is there? 

Maybe you should call the surgeon and have him check it out ... 

how are you doing otherwise?

big warm hug

renee

 

5

Hi Renee

Yes saw the surgeon 3 weeks ago I need another operation to build up the leg length take out the screws and replace the head , but I have to wait until it all heals surgeon said it takes about a year as he can't take out the screws yet,

6

Hi Helen I'm a little confused, you have had surgery to repair a fractured hip, so what your saying is that the xray is showing its not healed yet?? Is that right, also I'm reading that your consultant says you need a hip replacement to correct the leg length discrepancy but he want do it till its healed, is that right??

7

Dear Helen

Thanks for that. An inch difference surely can be taken care of with a modified shoe. I'm thinking about the one cm difference I have and was not even aware of it so if you had a shall amount of shoe build up perhaps that would be a preferable alternative to additional surgery.

Looking forward to hearing your progress.

Cheers Richard

8

Yes that's right

9

OK I'm with you now, that's unusual because I fractured my hip and pelvis 9 months ago and because its not healing they want to do op to replace hip which I have refused to have done yet, how long does your consultant think it could take to heal and are you able to walk on it with 100% weight bearing.

10

My consultant said he would expect it to take a year to heal as was a very bad fracture as for weight bearing I can walk but I'm not walking very good and it is affecting my whole leg knee and foot the pain is awful and when I rest and get up I can hardly walk , I walk with one walking stick but I can't stand up straight , I want another operation I want my legs the same length so I can stand up straight and walk properly and get rid of my pain.

11

That is really tough, Helen --- your body is not only healing from repair of surgery but also fractures ... Good to know though that your surgeon is careful and doesn't want to take any changes of furhter damage ..

Maybe by doing some very gentle stretching exercises, like erect your body before taking a step, might help ...

it is a slow process sweetheart and it must be hard for you to have to wait and have to face another surgery ...

Sometimes it helps to just accept that this is it for now .. now much you can do about it - be kind to yourself - 

angel blessings

12

Thank you Renee

I'm just going to think positive and try and be normal and see what happens .

13

Dear Helen

I’m sure that remaining positive is the best way forward. Also making sure that you are walking with a proper gait and control the pain. If you have difficulty in standing straight then this is not doing your back any favours which is very likely to be impacting other parts of your body as I'm sure you already know. If this is the case I would recommend that you see a good chiropractor. It need not be too expensive as just one initial visit will give you a lot of answers. In the UK a first consultation is likely to cost about fifty pounds with follow ups about thirty-five approx.

Good luck

Cheers Richard