i had TRHR July 27 and it went well and I was progressing nicely for 4 weeks or so when I started having groin pain and pain on the outside of my hip. Long story short, X-rays showed nothing but my surgeon put on total non weight bearing for 4 weeks, fearing a stress fracture ( they don’t always show up on X-rays until they are healing). Looong 4 weeks but saw him last Friday and sure enough X-rays showed a stress fracture healing nicely with bone regrowth too. He cautiously let me ditch the wheelchair and, using a walker, put only 25% weight on that leg for 2 days, then 50% for two days and yesterday I could put full weight on it with no walker. I have zero hip pain! But, my knee on that operated leg is now painful. Anyone have an idea if it’s because I have put weight on that leg for quite a while? Or any other ideas? We live in the US and are leaving October 9th for 2 weeks in Europe. I’m in a panic that after all this with my hip my knee is going to ruin the trip.
Hi Sandy
I had my op on 26th July. I have been having pain in my knee as I start to do more. I feel that various muscles in my whole leg keep having a moan all at different times. As e do things and work different muscles with different tasks we are rebuilding them. Knee pain I think is due to my muscles still not strong enough so it's taking the brunt of it.
I am also travelling for a holiday on 12th October and like you are wonderin if/what I'll be able to do. One piece of advice Renee on here gave me was to arrange assistance at airports as walks to the gate can be very long and also we shouldn't be lifting very heavy cases yet.
Sandra x
Dear Sandy
In a way I had a similar experience. I suffered an ambulance induced fall in the ambulance taking me home from hip revision surgery and it was thought that I may have suffered a cracked pelvis (confirmed on Monday as bone growth could be seen) which meant five weeks non weight bearing.
Two months later having made a very good recovery with a lot of strong walking I got out of bed one morning and felt a sharp pain in my hip joint along with pain in my knee. I took things very gently for about ten days and my hip is no longer giving me that concerning pain however my knee is giving me discomfort when walking up stairs.
I will be asking my doctor tomorrow if it would be sensible to have an X ray to see what is going on. I'm recounting this in some detail in case it may be of some help to you.
Cheers
Richard
Sandy, I hesitate to say this because of your stress fracture and not knowing if you could have further problems of that type. However under normal conditions for us hippies, knee pain is often part of the recovery process. Hip replacement surgery is a bit brutal as they do a lot of hammering and sawing to get everything to fit properly. This often later causes pain in the thigh, hip and groin areas. I was lucky to not have groin pain but I know many did. I had pain around the knee area, not the knee itself as I had an earlier knee replacement on that same side. My hip replacement was in May and I still have some tender areas that occasionally give me pain. I cannot tell you whether you will be able to withstand a trip in October. We are all different and all heal differently. I can tell you it takes a full year to fully recover from a major surgery such as hip replacement. You can have various pains and problems throughout the recovery. Some of your resilience can depend upon your age, your physical condition before surgery and if you have gotten your hip and glute muscles that were cut strengthened enough. Do you walk with a limp? If so they have not strengthened enough to walk without aids or to do major walking. Speak with your surgeon and get his opinion of the trip. If you do make it listen carefully to your body. Rest when tired, raise legs and hips if you have pain or swelling. Bring something to make ice packs so you can ice if necessary. Don’t wait until you have set yourself back before you rest. You do not want to harm your precious new hip. Revisions are harder, you need to be protective of that new hip. Personally I would not do a long trip so soon, but I know some heal quickly and are younger and more able than I am. Best of luck to you with whatever decision you make. Your knee pain could very likely be nothing more then the normal healing process, but if you have pain you need to rest and go slow. As bad as most of us want to rush our recovery, the body is stubborn and takes it’s time. Listen to your body.
Hugs and Good luck!
Peg
I meant to say it causes pain in the thigh, knee and groin areas. Many times the hip itself causes little pain if any.
THR 7/6 and my knee KILLS. It hurts more than my hip. I am a slow healer and this is getting on my last nerve I’m not sure if resting it or exercising it more is the way to go.... it’s really frustrating!
If it hurts rest it, ice it, give yourself a break. You can also tape it with KT tape. The no pain, no gain does NOT apply here. You have to listen to your body. My knee area gave me fits too, it finally stopped, although I still get tender areas from time to time. I am 5 months post op. It takes a year to fully recover.We all need to accept that. Exercise is great when your muscles are strong enough and you have no pain. If you have slight discomfort from movements that are strengthening you that is okay but real pain is not. If you have pain, you rest, you ice you give yourself a break,
Hugs,
Peg
Hi Sandy. I had my THR four weeks ago today. I started to walk at two weeks post-op, My knee and foot (both of which I have previously broken) immediately swelled. My knee is huge with swelling, pain and inflammation. I had an MRI this morning and see my doctor on October 10. I am so afraid he's going to tell me I need a knee replacement. I waited four months to have my hip fixed and I still can't walk because of my knee. I finally got the swelling down and I am hoping I can get a handle on it. I can walk on my hip with no problem if my knee is okay. Sorry for your dilemma. I'm encouraged to read that others have had knee pain as a part of recuperating from hip surgery. Wishing you the best.
My surgeon knows all about our trip and was fine with it last Friday when I saw him. My hip has absolutely no pain now p, I haven’t had a limp and this knee thing just came on suddenly this afternoon. I’ve iced it but that did nothing. I’ll call my surgeons office in the morning and see what they say.
The pain is kind of on the inside of my knee. I had my other knee replaced 5 years ago and it never felt like this does.
Thanks for the input!
If this knee is showing signs of needing replacement when you see your surgeon and get x-rays, get a corticosteroid injection in the knee. It should hold you for a couple of months. Still be sure to take some KT tape, something to make ice packs, and Ibuprophen for swelling with you just in case it does act up on your trip.
Hi Sandy,
I think that your knee is adjusting to being used again --- full weight bearing now after a long time ...
Any type of major orthopedic surgery causes disruption to the rest of your body. In all likelihood, whatever your body has been doing to compensate for your hip pain or malfunction has also been causing problems all on its own. Do you still have PT? Perhaps they can help you, like tape the area so your knee will be a bit more supported while getting adjusting?
Good that you got the approval from your surgeon to travel ... Are you up to it?
Follow your gut feeling ...it is the flight , getting there, the river boat cruise . cabin and tours ...
Sandy,it is not only physically but also mentally and emotionally ...just saying sweetheart ...
let us know how you are getting on, okay ?
big warm hug
renee
Hi sandy
im three weeks post op and since day 1 have had lots of groin pain that isn't getting better. It's ok when sitting or lying down but if I do exercise then it flares up.
I have some discomfort on outside of hip although it's more stiffness than excruciating pain. My worry is I had a SuperPath technique and I was told no precautions are necessary but I'm now regretting putting full weight on operated leg as I suspect I may have same as you in terms of stress fracture.
The problem is there is is so much different information about what we can and can't do it's really hard to follow. Glad you are recovering. X
Hi Gary,
I had an anterior approach and had no restrictions. I had very little pain after surgery and for four weeks, then the groin pain and pain on the outside of my hip started. Hard to tell what caused the stress fracture, but I was never told it had anything to do with putting weight on it in the beginning. I used a walker at first and then a cane. You might have IT band issues. I did for a while. I hope you get it figured out!
Hi sandy
it's interesting, it does seem groin pain is more prevalent with those of us who had the new techniques as Posterior patients I haven't seen say anything about groin pain.
The other possibility is i damaged my tendon before before the operation as I went mad cycling and going to gym to strengthen my muscles to assist post op. But when I kept locking consultant explained that due to the inflammation in my hip due to no cartilage the tendon that goes over the hip was getting trapped. I didn't think of it at the time and I was told to do as much as I could but now I wonder if I've damaged that tendon.
One thing im learning is rest seems the best exercise. X
Hi Sandy: I had horrible groin pain up until the time I had my surgery four weeks ago. Since that time the pain is gone, however, now my knee is preventing me from walking. Pain and swelling, and all I did was try to walk - like from my bedroom to my kitchen! Doctor told me in August I had severe tendonitis, but everything I've read about tendonitis says rest is imperative, but when my doctor told me I had severe tendonitis, he said nothing about not walking on it. Someone else on the forum stated she had it and was given a course of prednisone which helped alot, so when I see my doctor for the results of the MRI on my knee, I'm going to ask for a course of prednisone. My four week old hip prothesis is swollen (the tissues surrounding it), swelling in my knee and my foot/ankle, where I previously broke a bone in my foot. I'm so frustrated - my THR was four weeks ago, and I still cannot walk due to the pressure in my knee. I try to walk with the cane, but it feels like my knee is going to buckle, so unfortunately, I'm still on the walker.
Hi Gary: Since my THR four weeks ago, I've been able to walk one day. My knee swelled horribly, as did my foot/ankle. I previously broke my kneecap and the foot in my bone so those are obviously weaknesses and prone to swelling. Ice is my only friend - the only thing that gives my knee any relief is constant ice. I try to walk a little, like from my bedroom to my kitchen, but even that little bit of walking causes me to wake up with the knee swollen and terribly painful. So far, so good on the hip, except I still can't walk.
You are correct. Rest indeed is the best treatment. I just don't understand why my doctor didn't tell me back in August when he said I have severe tendonitis that he didn't tell me then to stop trying to put any pressure on the knee. The tendonitis is affecting my quadriceps, my patellar and my shin, and the pain and weakness goes down my leg into my foot. I am so frustrated! Haven't walked since May when I had my accident and broke my hip. That's the part I don't understand too - it's not like I wasn't putting any pressure on the operated leg through the months leading up to my surgery, and I did the exercises designed to strengthen the quadriceps. At first it felt bruised, but I chalked that up to whatever they did to me during surgery. I didn't even mention it to my doctor as I thought it was silly, perhaps having to do with how they manipulated my leg during surgery. I had horrible groin pain leading up to surgery; now, no hip pain whatever, no groin pain, which was the worst, but horrible, painful and debilitating knee pain. I sure hope when I see the doc on October 10 he doesn't tell me that now I need knee surgery.
Hi
was the knee swollen before the THR? On a positive note you seem a lot further ahead than I am hip wise as that's brilliant to have no groin or hip pain. It may be the knee issue is totally separate.
It may may be worth going for a scan on the knee. I can imagine it's very frustrating but it sounds like your hip is doing well.
I had had some knee pain before the THR but that's gone now. Apparently knee pain is related to the hip before any replacement. So the fact you have it now may mean it's unrelated which will be good news if the issue in the knee is just ligament damage that needs rest. Fingers crossed for you but definitely push hard for a scan of the knee.
Hi Gary: I had a procedure done on my knee last March, a radial ablation (burning) of the nerves in my knee so it wouldn't hurt so much. It took 6 weeks to kick in, but I can honestly say the pain was half of what it was before. I did injure the knee again when I fell in May and broke my hip, but I have hardly put any weight on it up until now and as I previously stated, did the quadriceps squeezes and the other recommended exercises to strengthen the muscles supporting the knee and hip prior to my operation on September 6. I had an MRI of the knee on Wednesday. Hoping and praying my doc doesn't tell me I need a knee replacement. I understand that is a lot more difficult to rehabilitate, including physical therapy, which I cannot afford since I haven't worked since May.
So, I got in to my surgeon’s office this morning for my knee pain. They took X-rays and saw nothing alarming at all - not any arthritis, nothing. Good news!! They do think the pain is because I haven’t been putting weight on that leg for almost 5 weeks. I got a cortisone injection, which should be effective in the next day or two or sooner and I got a hinged knee brace. My knee feels a bit better already. Whether it’s the injection or the brace or both, I don’t know, but I’m glad it’s going in the right direction. Our river cruise in Europe is on!!! Taking a four prong cane, getting early boarding and a wheelchair at each connecting flight. I so hope it all goes smoothly. My hip is still pain free too!
Sorry to hear all you’re going through, Janet. Maybe get a wheelchair and don’t put weight on your hip at all. That was the turning point for my stress fracture. I hope things turn around for you soon.