I'm 45 and had a my right hip replaced 7.5 weeks ago. Some days are good some days are bad with pain and feeling of discomfort, awkwardness, tightness and pressure in the joint and muscles when I'm walking. I'm still using one crutch when I'm outside but was trying to build up the distance I could walk unaided. However in the last couple of weeks, perhaps down to some more intense physio I've been given to do every day, I've not really been able to go without my stick at all. I feel like I should be starting to get used to the feeling of the prosthesis but it doesn't seem to get any more normal. Walking even with one crutch feels as though the joint wants to bend in an awkward way. The pressure to stay upright and walk without a limp can be tiring. Today I've got shooting pains in my groin and down my leg to my knee and shin, as well as below the scar, which feels different from previous days. Has anyone experienced any of this and is it a normal part of the healing process?
Dear Abi
We all heal at different speeds but I wonder why you are struggling with just the one crutch when two is likely to give you a better and faster recovery. You will also very likely be stressing your back which could easily lead to back issues if you continue as you are doing.
Cheers Richard
I had those shooting pains, groin pain and tightness in the joint. I’m 7 months post and still have some of those issues. I no longer have the shooting pain but definitely have groin pain and stiffness. My ortho has told me that it can take up to one year for all issues to resolve. From reading other posts, I’m seeing that it takes others even longer. Hoping that all of these goes away eventually! Good luck.
Have you called your surgeon? Usually the pain gets lighter ad the days go by. I was not allowed to bear weight or start physio till week 8. Once I started the physio, I had muscle pain but never any pain at the hip. I did have that shooting pain to the knee and I massaged with rub 535 and used heat and did stretching exercises. At about 3 months post op, I started feeling like my leg was back. It had been 7 months and sometimes it is still tender, specially if I lay on it on a hard surface like the hard wood floor. I get tightness around the rings that are holding the spacer on to my femur.othetwise no pain. Good luck I hope this helps
Hi Richard
Using one crutch felt like a natural progression a few weeks ago and walking with only one wasn't resulting with any pain or extra discomfort. The awkwardness, tightness, pressure and general feeling that there's a massive foreign object inside my leg is there whether I'm lying down, sitting (which feels like I'm sitting on a brick), standing or walking but in the last week or so I'm experiencing more difficulty. I suppose I'm reluctant to go back to using two crutches but I will if this continues.
The other thing is I started back at work next week which obviously means long periods sitting at a desk. I do try to get up and walk around regularly but sometimes when you're engrossed in what you're doing it's easy to forget and then I'm really stiff.
I'm probably just being impatient but wondered whether others felt these kind of symptoms after the op. My mum and brother have both had hip ops and they were literally pain free right after the op and didn't suffer from the same things I'm suffering from so I've been comparing my recovery to theirs.
Thanks for your help.
Abi
Thanks Geraldine
I think I might just be being really impatient. I'm desperate to feel the benefits of the new hip and get back to doing of the things I've been restricted from doing for the last 5 years. And of course to be pain free would be a delight!
All the best
Abi
Dear Abi
Thanks for adding more detail. There really is no shame in going back to two crutches for a time. I did it for a week and it really made a huge difference to my recovery. Just do it!
Cheers Richard
Hi Abi
I imagine that having a THR so young your problems are worse than some of us older hippies.
So don't worry about how long it takes to get back to normal. Keep walking and perhaps, as Richard says, use two crutches.
Hope you keep getting better.
Mike
Thanks Michael
I had hip dysplasia, which was diagnosed about 4 years ago and after that the hip degenerated really quickly. My surgeon's just told me, with hip dysplasia there can be a lot more post operative pain as the muscles have to relearn everything around the new hip position. My physio says that's why I need a lot more physio than some people with hip replacements through osteoarthritis and that the recovery can't really be compared. Could have done with knowing that sooner.
My family have history of hip dysplasia and osteoarthritis in their hips so one way or the other I was never going to escape but as my dad's side of the family had the dysplasia and he's not around to tell me about his experiences anymore I've been getting all my intel from my mum and brother who both had replacements due to osteoarthritis. Their recoveries have been a pain free breeze! Lucky sods.
Well I'm going to us two crutches for a while and see if that helps. Fingers crossed.
Thanks
Abi
You’ve probably heard it before from your friends across the pond, but are you not permitted to use walkers instead of crutches after a hip replacement? In the US we are given walkers which are so much easier and more stable. Then we progress onto a cane after maybe 2-3 weeks of using a walker. I can remember the days when we used crutches and they were physically exhausting and oftentimes precarious.
Hi ABI. I was born with bilateral hip dysplasia and have osteo arthritis. My hips were never normal so limped all my life , had a total of 45 surgeries, including both hips replaced. Just got my ok and now get to see Dr just in a year's time. My life I'd about keeping on walking, managing my activities so that I don't do too much and stretch and strengthen my legs and hips. I swim, I bike, I walk slower than most people but manage to get from point a to b. Exercise and physio is now part of my life style. It takes longer to achieve things but it can be done, and it takes longer to recover and retrain our muscles. I have lifted my legs with my back so glutes and hip abductors were no existing and I could not bend at the hips to tie my shoes or put socks. Now I can and my brain and my muscles are trying to adjust. I try my best and push forward.
You are having normal sensations. I am at the six month mark and still at times feel something that does not quite belong in my hip. As you strengthen your muscles that too will lessen. I find the more exercises done on my glutes and side leg raises and the clam shell the more range of motion there is. It is all about the continuous exercising a nd using those muscles. I have just been able to bend over and straighten up without butt pain. It will take a year to feel normal again. When you go back to work, be sure you stand up every half hour. You will have stiffness after sitting and then getting up. My ortho told me that most people do but after taking 4 or 5 steps it is better. Take heart, time will fix your issues. Just be sure you do not overdo things. If it hurts ....stop. use the crutches if you need to. I still get shooting pains in my leg sometimes but it is no where near the pain before surgery. All of a sudden you will say, hey, that feeling is gone, woohoo.
I am in U.K. and just after my hip op I started with a walker, but a day later they gave me crutches. I was useless with them. When I got home I left them in a corner where they have been ever since, sad and lonely. I used a stick outside and I furniture surfed in the house.
Hi Abi
I had a LTHR in June last year due to Hip Dysplasia which was diagnosed 3 years ago, I'm 42 years old.
I have found recovery a bit of a struggle, my prosthesis didn't feel in a normal position and comfortable until around the 12 week mark, and now 7 months on I still have to take paracetamol for low backache, my muscles are still quite weak, in fact over Christmas I was in terrible pain, I put it down to doing 8 hour shifts on my feet (which I feel like I should be able to do) it turns out my gluteus muscles had switched off so my hamstrings were having to do the work hence all the pain.
I thought I would recover much quicker than I have been to be honest, I thought having age on my side I'd be off and running, without a doubt I am much better than before the op but my healing is slow.
I hope this helps you insomuch as my 'normal' has not been quick either.
I'm wishing you all the best with your recovery.
Take Care
Lulu
Not sure why but in the UK we generally just get crutches. It may be a cost thing, or because some of our older houses are less adapted for walkers. But walkers are a lot easier. I used a supermarklet trolley as one and it is very easy to scoot about holding on to the trolley. But I travelled up to London on the train using crutches and that would have been very difficult with a walker.
Mike
Hi. I’m almost 11 wks post op on my 2nd THR. I too am dealing with buttock pain. Along with swelling that is below the incision and I can feel it up to the groin when I sit. I use a cane to get around. Sometimes the pain is low enough that I don’t need the cane but later on I may need it. I don’t do any long distance walking unless I’m out but I do the stretches and then feel worse later that when I sit or lay I don’t want to get up anymore as I know how bad the pain will be. I did tell the surgeon at my last appt everything I’m feeling and he said he wanted to take the slow approach and wait and see. I see him in 3 more weeks. He was not my surgeon but he’s a colleague of his. I know some surgeons want to wait as we all recover at different times. I took it upon myself to see a neuro recently for burning pain that goes down to my knee and foot also. He said most likely pinched nerve. Put me on Lyrica and will do nerve test and MRI of lower back. All this started at 4-5 wks post op so I’ve been dealing with it over a month and I’m so tired of this. I was suppose to go back to work the end of December. ☹️
Thanks for your response Elizabeth. That makes me feel better about how things are going and that it's all part of the process. Much appreciated.
Hi Lulu
Thanks for your comments. It definitely helps to hear someone of my own age with similar experiences. I hope things start to speed up for you and I both soon.
Best wishes
Abi
I hope you get your problems sorted very soon. It sounds quite painful and makes me feel like I've really not much to be moaning about. Today is a good day and my hip is feeling a lot more normal than it has been but every day seems to be different. Hopefully the good days will become more frequent.
Best wishes
Abi
Good to read ur having good day. I hope ur recovery begins to get better.
Im having a good day today as I took Ibruprofen last night and that takes most of the swelling go away. Until I start using my leg more than back to square 1.