Hi I'm new here and wondering if anybody is having similar problems that I'm having. I was injured at work April 2nd 2012. My left hip was replaced June 8th 2012 and my right replaced July 10th 2012. My recover was fast, extremely fast. I was jumping off 10 and 15 ft cliffs into the river 10 days after my first hip. And about 2 weeks after my 2nd hip. I never used a walker and only used a cane for a few days with each hip. About 4 months after my last hip was done i started to have low back pain all the time that gradually got worse as the weeks passed. Eventually it got so bad that I can't sleep, can't walk very far or stand in one place very long. Like more then 5 minutes standing in one spot I have to sit down. I'm getting a neurostimulator implant on October 13th because I also developed bad nerve pain in both legs. The trial was successful but only kills the leg pain. Doesn't do much for my low back pain. I never had problems with my back until after my replacements. MRI doesn't tell much of anything is wrong. Scar tissue did grow around my sciatic nerves in my hips though. I hated to do it but I had to file for disability which is still pending. Has anybody else run into the same problem with extreme low back pain like I have?
Wow Justin. I presume you had the anterior surgical approach - no way anyone could attempt this with a posterior surgical approach total hip replacement.
And .. got to say it ... I cannot imagine a scenario where I would put this stress on your hips so quicklyou and somehow, I suspect few will have tested their new hips this way so quickly.
But low back pain is very common amongst those who thr - partlydue to the sleep position most of us have to use but also due to years of compromised posture and gait and the stresses these created on our low backs.
I applaud your determination to get back to full life quickly. But I hope you haven't compromised your longer term health.
Please update to let us know how you are doing- I sincerely hope it improves quickly for you.
I'm over four months post-op and my lower back is really beginning to bother me as I have also developed a sciatica down the non-operated leg and this is really beginning to destress me. The pain from the sciatica is almost worse that the hip problems. I was thinking my problem is because of a leg length differential. The operative leg seems longer. My surgeon will not address this yet because he said the device needs time to work its way into the muscle. So he won't recommend orthotics or shoe lifts yet. In the meantime, I'm worrried about the damage this can do to my lower back and certainly the nerves.
For me, too, I never had any back pain prior to my hip replacement and this is very unsettling.
Wishing you luck with your situation.
Was wondering how they knew you have scar tissue in your hips around the sciatic nerves?
Anyway, best wishes for some type of resolution.
Incidentally, I had the posterior approach.
I had the posterior surgery on both hips. Smith and Nephew cobalt chrome cementless long stem. My scars are about 10 inches long on each side. I think what helped me was I worked on Towboats my whole adult life and was very strong because of it. I was bound and determined to go back to my job because I loved it. My hips don't bother me themselves. It's the nerve pain shooting down both legs and in my feet and the horriable back pain. It's also caused me to have depression and anxiety problems. I play musical beds at night going from my bed to the couch to the recliner just trying to get some sleep. I hate taking medicine but I'm forced to right now because I can't stand not to. Idk it's just really got me down and I want to work and tried everything including PT, acupuncture, chiropractic and massage treatments. Nothing helps very much.
I'm really sorry to hear about your troubles. It really turns life on its head and disrupts everything. I ended up going to a neurologist and he did a nerve conduction test on my legs and a MRI of my lower lumbar spine. The conduction test showed drastic loss of conductivity in both legs of the sciatic nerve. He said that since it's been so long the damage is permanent. He said with the 2 tests and under my circumstances that it was due to scar tissue damaging, growing into and/or around the nerve in my hip area. The MRI didn't show anything wrong with disks or vertebrae. The neurostimulator will mask most all of the nerve pain in my legs which I'm extremely happy about but doesn't help my low back much. They say the permanent implant is better than the trial but not enough where they expect it to make much difference then what I had for my back. Sounds like you need to go see a neurologist soon and don't wait like I did.
I just recently found out there was another way. I guy I go to church with just had his hip replaced and had the anterior surgery. He was telling me about it and how they spread all the muscles and not cut through them. He's still using a walker though so idk if it's actually better or not. He's only a few years older than me and mine were done 4 yrs ago so I'm not sure if age is the problem for him.
Hi Justin,
I am sincerely sorry for your situation - in continuing pain and unsure of next steps to resolve it.
I hope I didn't offend with my earlier comments - I simply haven't heard of such rapid recovery from anyone before. And while I am not an elite athlete by any stretch, I considered myself reasonably fit before my hips became so painful.
As you are at wits' end in terms of views of the medical professionals, I offer two thoughts which may or may not be be naive.
I am very allergic to ASA and therefore I could not use any anti-inflammatories - this made things quite rough as my hips were not considered the culprits at first due to degeneration in multiple discs - my surgeon was fairly shocked when he first saw the x-rays of my hips me and chastized me for not going to see him sooner. Thankfully he had the flexibility to truncate the assessment and surgical wait times. However, this still meant a number of months with escalating swelling and pain.
Thankfully, I was referred to an aqua gym with underwater treadmills and related equipment. They also used specialized water jets which help use the lymphatic system to flush out much of the swelling.The 2nd element was the work of an amazing athletic therapist (who works with many elite and professional sports teams in our city) who helped break through deep tissue issues that multiplied over the months pre-surgery and caused several muscles and connective tissue to be in constant spasm - simply never turning off. His persistence and skill allowed him to work on the deepest muscles so that we were able to fully straighten my leg for the first time in 6 months. You can imagine how that felt .
I mention these as two examples of non-traditional routes that helped me considerably - because they look at the issues from different perspectives.
Given the neurological diagnosis they have given you, it may be that there will never be a full resolution for you (please God not) but perhaps they could help to manage your pain better.
It sounds as if you are still early in life - so I hope one these might help or that some form of stem cell regeneration will become feasible for your condition before long.
It is no wonder you feel anxiety and depression. The pain and uncertainty of this alone, would drive anyone in these directions.
I am not one given to prayer but you will be in my thoughts and prayers for a long time with the hope that you will find a way through to enjoy life more fully someday soon.
With hope for healing and peace.
L
Thank you Linda I appreciate that and no you didn't offend me at all. Most people and even my own surgeon couldn't believe how fast I was recovering. He even brought in his colleagues to show them how fast I was regaining my strength. I've always been a fast healer up until this low back and nerve pain started. I'm really happy to hear that you had a good therapist who was that skilled. Man idk if I could have made itwithout anti-inflammatorys. That must have been really hard on you. Inflammation causes most of the pain and restriction of movement. The cramping and muscle spasms were absolutely horriable for the first several days so I feel your pain on that. They aren't your typical muscle spasms, they are rip your muscles apart spasms. Lol I live in a small town about 2 hrs east of Memphis and 2 and a half hrs south west of Nashville. We don't have a therapy place like what you are talking about but I wish we did. I did a lot of swimming after my staples were removed because like you said aqua exercise is amazing in helping recover. I just turned 39, my kids say I'm really old but I disagree:-) Lol I have it in my heart and in my head I'll beat this i just need to figure out how. How are you doing now and when did you have your hip/s done? I will put you in my prayers and also on our nameless prayer request at church as long as you are not offended by that. Thank you for talking to me and telling me your story. It doesn't feel good to know others are in the same condition as me but it feels good to be able to talk with people who understand what I'm going thru. Does that make sense to you? It's like it doesn't do much good for me to talk with someone who hasn't felt the pain or the level of discomfort and the psychological effect it has on me. It's not their fault but they just don't understand and don't have any answers for me so I feel like at that point I'm just complaining. So I feel bad for complaining. Lol Anyways I would like to know how you are doing now and if certain things help you better like any tricks you might have I would greatly appreciate hearing them. Thank you so much for your time:-)
Hi Justin,
I am 64 and have always been active. I had my left hip done in Feb this year - posterior approach. Tbh, it would have been hard to wait much longer - even with all Jay's fabulous work as it was a toss up which one to do first. Recovery was okay but slow and the right hip started worsening almost right away. But everyone agreed that I was better off waiting until the left had recovered enough to support the right through the procedure and it also gave more time for therapy. I had my right done last week and from the get-go the whole experience was better although we weren't able to smooth out problems with my blood pressure which tanked and stayed quite low for the first few days ( spoiled their record using the new anaesthetic and quick discharge) 😉
But my head was so much clearer that it made up for it. Recovery is going much more rapidly but I remain more dependent than I would like ( guessing you 'get' that).
I just started walking outdoors again and I hope to manage w just a cell for company by week end. I have to stay partial weightbearing for 6 weeks due advanced osteoporosis, but begin therapy again next week and I am looking forward to it - for the help and the motivation. And Jay doesn't suffer fools easily so I will have to keep up.
One of the toughest things for me is that I usually recharge my batteries in nature and it hasn't been easy to accommodate this much over the last year. So I am bound and determined to be good enough for snowshoeing this winter.
Re finding community - there are some phenomenal people in this forum and the majority are good and generous people who truly understand the mental side of this journey. It is the hardest part by far ... The newness of challenges we encounter, the frustration of extended dependency and the uncertainty of what is next even when recovery doesn't take any detours is wearing. It can sure eat away at you and your confidence esp if you don't have people around you who are equipped to understand.
I recommend finding a few more good people here with whom you can talk about some of the tough stuff (you can use the private message function if easier for some stuff). And jump in where your experience is relevant and could help others (very satisfying). Finally start new conversations that might connect you with new people who might have found a route to help you in your specific situation.
You will always have an ear here and I would really welcome updates from you.
The hardest thing I suspect will be to find inner peace. I wish you ...
Deep Peace of the running wave to you.
Deep Peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep Peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep Peace of the shining stars to you.
Deep Peace of the gentle night to you.
Moon and Stars pour their healing light on you.
Deep Peace to you and your family.
Linda
That's awesome you have a good PT guy. Rehab is very important and make all the difference in the world. Hate to hear you just had your other hip replaced though but I'm sure you will be happy and in a lot less pain in a few weeks. My hips did the same as yours. I hurt my left hip on the boat when I jumped to the barge from the boat and it was instant unbelievable pain. I stayed on the boat for another 16 days working but hurt really bad the whole time I couldn't walk very well. I was 1st mate and my crew helped me out a lot. I basically just told them what I needed and they did the work. From April 2nd till July 10th I had babied my left hip and did enough damage to my right it had to be replaced to. It was fast downhill like yours did. It was weird how it all happened and the Dr's didn't really understand why my right hip did what it did when it was my left hip that I hurt. It's good that you made it this long between surgeries. Your left hip is healed more to be able to help your right to recover better. I also love the outdoors and find peace in the woods and on the water. Being on the boat and on the water always made me feel more at peace and calm and cleared my mind. That's why I loved my job so much. We would work 28 days on and then depending what I had going on I would either ride over and do 10 weeks on and then come home for 2 weeks and then back on the boat again. Since I was just a young kids 10-11 yrs old I'd get my grandma to take me to the lock and dam and tour it and watch boats come thru. It's hard to explain but I was drawn to the river like I had river water running thru my veins and I felt at home out there.
Be careful trying to snow shoe I imagine that would be pretty tough on your hip. But it would be awesome for you to get back to doing what you love to do:-) If you don't mind me asking where do you live at? I've lived in Anchorage on Elmendorf Air Force Base and I also lived just outside Ottawa Ontario Canada. I loved snow shoeing, skiing and playing hockey. Do you do any cross country skiing? I live in Tennessee now.
I'm glad they were able to get your BP under control. Why did it drop so low did they know? I spent 2 and a half days in the hospital for each hip. They had me up and walking the same day of surgery.
. My wife is amazing and not only takes care of me and supports me but she also encourages and comforts me. She's really the only one who comes close to understanding me execpt other hip people. She does do a lot for my mental health. When she sees that I'm down she'll do something goofy and make me laugh:-) Lol do you have anybody that's close to you that you can rely on for support and able to talk with? I believe that's important that everyone has people they can lean and rely on.
I'm looking forward to meeting some others here and hearing their story.
I pray that you heal quick with no complications or set backs. How is your pain now? I'm excited for you to be able to get up and get back out driving and going to the grocery store and all the little things you miss doing because you can't get out and walk much.
I also had my dog Camo who was with me the whole time. He was a big comfort to. Only problem is he was a puppy then so he sat in my lap and laid on my chest a lot back then and now he's 80 pounds still thinking he's a lap dog and he'll sneak in bed and sleep right next to with his nose in my neck:-) Lol
Sorry I know I got off track there for a minute I just thought I'd give you some background on how I got hurt and explain my support thru it all my wife and my dog. Lol I have 4 kids but they live in Arkansas and didn't have them with me during and between the surgeries because I wasn't able to take care of them as far as driving to go pick them up or go to the store and things like that.
That's another thing that really gets me is being in a vehicle for any extended period of time. How does driving or riding affect you?
Great discussions here! I had bilateral anterior on 1/25/16. I was driven to get my life back as quickly as possible and did everything I could do to rehab quickly. Until a month ago, I thought everything was going perfectly until I developed a pain in the left hip when standing following sitting for any period of time. I was very worried that I had over did things and somehow damaged the capsul. I just got back from the doctor and very relieved to hear it was only bursitus. He gave me a quick shot and said the xrays looked great! not enough space here to go into my normal weekly exercise routine but I promised myself I would ease up if this scare did not result in new surgery. Whew!!!
That is great news that you didn't hurt yourself further. I was same as you bound and determined to get back to where I was before surgery. I was there to and was very proud of myself for several months. Then I get knocked back down with the back pain. I'm still determined to beat all this and won't give up. How are you feeling now? I had posterior surgeries. A guy I go to church with was telling me about the anterior that he had. How did the surgery go for you and what was your recovery time?
Regarding your back issue first. I did have a couple of years dealing with sciatica before the surgery. One leg was a 1/4 inch different than the other before the surgery. The surgeon thinks this issue may have prompted the back pain. No problems since the surgery. As for anterior, it seems to be the way to go in my opinion if you are a candidate and have an experienced surgeon. Mine had done almost 500 and had over 2000 hip replacements to his credit. The anterior approach does not damage the muscles as much. He will not do it if you are overweight or overly muscular. The surgeon asked me again today if I am glad I did both at the same time. I was very pleased with it. He only does 1-2 patients a year with the bilateral and reminded me that it was a three hour surgery that wore him out! I was back to work in three weeks. I walked, stretched, and did the recommended exercises religiously for the first 3 months. Other than three days in PT after surgery, I did not start up more formal PT until after 3 months when I realized I needed more exercises and guidance. By the end of six months, other than some things I may never do again, I was back to my same workout schedule. Back to one question you had, I was approved for 7 days in PT following the surgery but they kicked me out after the third day. The biggest thing I wanted from PT was to be able to return home and climb 13 steps to my bedroom. I refused to have to sleep on the sofa or to have a hospital bed brought in. I am very understanding that not everyone can say they had the same recovery that I did. I also know that the psychological side of finding people and groups like this one is huge to know you are talking with those that have gone through the same issues. Sorry to be so long winded!!!
Don't worry about being long winded it helps me to better understand what experiences you had and be able to relate to them. I worked on Towboats since my early 20s and it's hard and heavy work so I was really muscled up especially in my legs. I guess that's the reason for the posterior surgeries. Mine were done left hip June 8th 2012 and right hip July 10th 2012. I never had any back problems before I got hurt. The low back pain started about 4 months after my last hip was done and progressed to sevier pain as time passed. Both my legs before and after surgery are the same length. My surgeon did an excellent job on me. I rigorously did PT and worked out to. I was jumping off 15-20 ft cliffs into the river the day my staples came out. My surgeon even brought in his colleagues and fellow surgeons to show them how great i was doing and to talk to me about my rehab and workout routine. They were really impressed and I was really excited because I thought I was on track to get back on the boats at the 6 month MMI date. MMI is maximum medical improvement. Scar tissue grew into and around my sciatic never in him hips though causing neuropathy in both legs. The neurologist told me since it's been so long the damage is irreversible now. I'm getting a neurostimulator implant on the 13th of this month to cut down on the leg pain but doesn't help my back much. At this point I'm just trying to cut down on medicine as much as possible. I hate taking medicine. This might sound weird but I'm an all natural kind of person. We buy our vegetables from farmers markets and we have a pretty nice garden. We raise chickens for eggs and to eat. We do a lot of hunting so we don't have to buy very much meat that has been pumped full of steroids and antibiotics. We don't buy canned goods, boxed or frozen meals. My wife makes everything from scratch like bread, pasta and snacks. We even make our own seasonings from spices and herbs we buy at specialty all natural stores. My wife has MS and many or the preservatives really do a number on her. I'm praying I get enough relief to go back to work. Right now there is no way anybody is going to hire me with all the issues I have and medicine I'm on. It's extremely depressing and makes me feel like lesser of a man. It's embarrassing to me to be in the situation I'm in and I hate it.
Justin--Never give up. I like that you eat as healthy as you do. With the MS going on with your wife and the back issue, you have more on your plate than most people could handle. You have been used to overcoming obstacles in the past and this is the ultimate obstacle to work through. Take it day by day and try to find little things to be appreciative and thankful for.
I'm not giving up and thank you for the kind words and encouragement I appreciate that. I'm happy to hear yours went as well as they did and you were able to regain your life back. What limitations if any do you have? And do you have any tricks to relieve sciatic pain? I soak in a really hot bath with pain relieving epsom salt daily, do stretches, my wife runs a massager on my back and legs and targets the path of the sciatic nerve. I take Gralise which is a new form of gabapentin. I was on Lyrica for awhile but gained a lot of weight on it. I'm on Zanaflex and percocet also. All of it helps some but if there is a way to get relief without meds I'm all for it. I've tried acupuncture, chiropractic, massage and when it's warm I do a lot of swimming. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Limitation wise I am trying to stay away from high impact activities (basketball, aerobics, skydiving, etc). I am really wanting to return to softball and am hoping to do so Spring of 2017. As for Sciatica, until I found a chiropractor with a decompression machine, my regular chiropractor was not helping at all. It basically pulls your back apart to ease the squeezing on the sciatic nerve. Within a month of 2X per week treatments, the pain went away. It came back once but went away quickly when I restarted the treaments. I have never taken pain killers before this surgery and did follow the regimen and not let the pain get ahead of me. Even after ending the drugs after two months. My body had already decided it liked them a lot. I had a week of nausea and not being able to sleep well from the withdrawal and can understand completely how easy it is to get addicted to them. If needed for the pain, dealing with the withdrawals later on may be worth it as long as the doctor knows how to safely approach it. I would keep up what you are doing and try to find the decompression machine. Most chiropractors cannot afford it and those that can charge a ton. I was lucky to have a friend who got me in for very reasonable fee ($45-US copay per treatment.), I don't want to offend anyone and am not a user but have seen too many cases where marijuana is also a benefit to many people.
Hi Justin,
You are such a trooper ... So sorry to hear about the challenges you are having -
I don't know what to tell you -
having read your story I feel that perhaps you are being hard on yourself - Your body did an amazing job, healing so fast so you could start working full time and with great passion ... and now, suddenly, it stopped you in your tracks - scar tissue has formed and affected your back -
This must be very hard on you, having to depend on others and not being able to take care of your family the way you want to -
MRI and other tests didn't show anything wrong except for the scar tissue ...
You are a fighter but maybe you can ease of a bit - allow your body to rest and heal further -
You have gone through so much and tried many healing methods -
I used to be a certified hypnotherapist --- maybe you can benefit from that - there is much more going on, sweetheart ...
good luck and please let us know how you are doing ...
big hug
renee
Justin-My reply yesterday got sent to the overseer of our site. My short answer regarding the sciatica is to seek out a chiropractor who has a "decompression" machine. It is basically like traction with the theory being that you need to stretch things out to releive the pinching of the sciatic nerve. The first chiropractor I used did just the traditional stuff with no releif. The new guy with the machine had it solved in less than two months. Hopefully mt reply yesterday will get released in that it had more detail on some thoughts.