**Does anyone from any medical social media websites find that there are many numerous patients who end up in more pain after than before and yet amongst my friends a joint replacement surgery is commonly compared to plastic surgery.
For three replacements one knee and two hips I was never warned of the possibility of being worse after surgery than before.. I was warned about infection which required me having a revision 3 months after the first. and pain now worse than before.
I think this is lacking in a full discussion. This is being hidden and many are in disbelief when it happens and the subject
seems to be hushed up. It is vital that patients are to be fully informed that there is a possibility.that it can happen in many different ways as seen discussed on websites like this.
hi not sure where you are in the world but I live in the UK. there’s no way here it would be allowed under our NHS to be for what you term ‘plastic surgery’. we have to jump thro hoops and back again to get listed for the OP never mind the wait time for it ! what happens if you pay privately is a different kettle of fish but all surgeons are bound by a code of ethics and I’d like to think they wouldn’t do it unless it was really needed. most I’ve read on here have benefited immensely from having a hip replacement . I was certainly warned re -not making it any better or even worse pre surgery besides the risk of infection. but it is was a risk I was prepared to take .
ive had no issues and im doing great. maybe im just lucky.
Hi there
Infection is discussed where i am as part of a informed consent process. Whilst infection is always a possibility it is a low one. There are many people at risk of infection from numerous operations and implants of various sorts. Its a hard one but its the whole idea of benefits outweighing the risks…
I am sorry to hear that you have had trouble…
Im 7mths post op and so far im doing incredibly well after losing 40percent of my blood during the surgery.
My husband has a cousin who is 31 and has had a revision done a few years back…she is doing incredibly well too.
All i did was think of everything that could go wrong it would be fair to say i was preoccupied with that. Thankfully apart from the blood loss and subsequent transfusions all is well. I still worry about late PJI but this is very low with regards to likelihood.
I wish you all the best.
i am in spain and i was not advised pre surgery LTHR of possible problems except infection i am 9 months post op and have never been in such pain in all my life
after seeing 8 doctors ,apparantly the prothesis has come loose !!! now i am scheduled for revision surgery in 2 weeks time!!
really scared for the outcome
Oh god, having read this firstly sorry for anyone who has bad post op problems, most of what I have read has indeed been good and well informed from all those who have had thr, I am now more worried about pain after, I know and understand all about the infections and all the ‘stuff’ we in the UK get warned about pre op, I am worried about pain after and can’t get my head around the fact that hopefully the pain I have now will be better and more manageable, at the moment i’m struggling with pain and quite frankly not being able to move about 
I do think we are well informed pre surgery here in the UK, and i’ve never associated thr with plastic surgey 
Compared to the majority of people who have hip replacement surgery in the UK it’s a tiny percentage who have problems especially here, our surgeon’s treat hip replacement surgery as major and I’m sure they would never group it along with plastic surgery, pain after from what I can gather if your in pain before then the level of pain after will be way less.
Are you having GA or spinal
hi Sonia. what the nurses sd to me after my op was that those who have the worst pain get the most benefit. this was after I’d commented to them that I could stand without excruciating bone on bone pain even 2 hrs after coming out of surgery. they keep you well topped up with pain killers and were constantly checking if yu needed any extra. we had a pre op dose and 12 hrs later a post of of onicontin ? think that’s what its called then went straight onto tramadol ibuprofen and paracetamol. I had to ask them to halve the tramadol dose as I was too dopey and that dose worked well. ok it was sore but I’d expected that and compared to pre OP I’d have sd my pain was a gd 8-9/10 and that was taking codeine paracetamol and ibuprofen 3 x a day but post OP besides the times I’d over used my muscles was an easy 3-4/10. once home theyd put me on codeine ( I took 60mg 4x a day for abt a week then reduced it to 30mg for another week then only took at bedtime now almost 6 weeks none ). they also sent me home on paracetamol and ibuprofen 3-4 x a day which im still taking but def more 3x than 4. the muscle pain has almost gone now and it’s just a bit sore when I’ve over done it. I’ve tried to stop both but the im more comfy with it so mobilise better which is the main aim - my understanding anyway.
so after this long message what I’m saying is you do get pain post OP but my experience of it’s nothing like it was pre OP. I’m sleeping better for longer and even tho i may wake abt 4 if i need my next dose of pain killers i soon drop off - so am getting in total a gd 7- 8 hrs sleep.
just make sure when you go in that you tell than abt you’re worry abt the pain they will listen. good luck
HI thank you, I am planning to go spinal. I don’t react well to GA and want the best possible recovery, from what i’ve read and surgeon said GA is a good option.
I think perhaps I should have described the surgery not as plastic surgery but renewal of life they used to have before the problem started. But it takes a lot of work to get back to normal for many patients. Perhaps I was suggesting that doctors do not emphasise that in order to recover, even if everything is ok, that there is a a lot of work to do with physios and exercise and hydrotherapy
. Perhaps I have been on to many websites where you read about so many issues that can happen. Unfortunate incidents but I still believe that there is not enough explained even if it is scary to be told before consent is signed.
The new way of doing the surgery to knee and hip in the United States is an overnight stay then discharged home.
And by the way I am in Australia with Private Health Insurance!
Hi thanks, surgeon definitely described it as major surgery, but also my choices are carry on in agony or get it done, thought I was going through as urgent but now found it’s routine, I have an Oxford score of 4 and total femoral collapse plus cyst, so possibly Sept (fingers crossed )I was told, everything after scares me, I have had ops before but this feels so different, I feel like this should not be happening to me, I have got medical stuff going on but my hip wasn’t really one of them, 2 years ago xray showed mild degenerative change and now suddenly in last five months this, i’m finding it hard to get a grip lol I think not knowing what i’m supposed to do after, you know when can go outside and walk two miles etc, I am already worrying how I do the stairs when I get home, I live in upsatairs flat! I think it’ll become apparent and this forum now is very informative for me, i’d say it’s deblitating (I don’t sleep either, little bit here and there you know, never a proper good old kip)now so as my family keep telling me it can only get better, that’s the plan 
I do hope you continue on a good recovery, it’s great seeing everyones progress, i’ll dig out my positive vibes, thanks again and apologies for the ramble 
I was informed that the infection risk was 1 out 100k & I have two infections in my implant, I’ve gone thru the 2 stage process & now the infections have spread to my pelvis & are in my newest implant. I’ve been told that one of the infections has never been found in a 52 yr old womans hip, per the CDC & Mayo clinic! I’m in more pain now than before the original surgery! i wish I’d never had it done! good luck to anyone who is suffering as much or more than I am!
Hi Sonya,
Please do not obsess yourself with post operative pain. I had never been in hospital, rarely went to the doctors and left my hip 8.5 years before finally having the op because I was do scared, I gave penguins a bad name with my penguin walk!!!
I googled post operative pain a lot before my hip, I was terrified, the outcome after op - no pain at all, I did not need painkillers but they were forced on me. Do not assume you will have pain, it is not mandatory.
Bussy,
My surgeon told me after the op you will not have any pain. I have not had any at all, not everyone does. Maybe it comes down to the surgeon’s skill.
Sonya I’ve learnt from forums to take what I need from them and ignore what I dont lol. maybe harsh but how it has to be. remember those who do very well longterm often leave such places quite early . they are very good for selective advice imo.
theres no hard and fast rule as to how much you should be walking etc its very individual and your stairs to your flat have to be taken into account each time your going out. im certainly not regretting anything abt my OP at all. good luck x
They reckon that hip replacement surgery is the most succesful operation in the world. The percentage if problems is very small. Hospitals bend over backwards to stop infection. I was asked to sign something about the possibility of my leg length being different though.
Hi thanks, i’m sure i walk like a crab, more sideways than forward lol i want surgery to hurry up so i can get back to normality,
thanks so much, all great advice, take care
i am 5 weeks post op and was well imformed i have not been in any pain like that before i had op. even my limp is starting to go with do as advice from on here
i have found this site helpful and i have stopped stressing since joining which is helping