Physio

Bones, joints and muscles
1

I have just returned from my first physio session 3 weeks after my TRH and now I hurt all over !!

She asked me to lie flat and raise my bad leg up and it was so difficult..

I thought I was doing well but are we really meant to be able to lift our bad leg up straight from lying down at 3 weeks ?????

Oh well now to take a couple of paracetamol lol

2

Hi Jay

Thanks for the post, always appreciated when post op hippies keep the pre op hippies informed.

3

Hi Jay,

I'm 7 weeks out and I still cannot do a straight leg raise while laying down. It is heavy, painful, and awkward. My physical therapist said that this is very common. She now helps me lift it or I use a belt to assist in lifting it. If you are like me, you had a great deal of weakness in the bad leg before surgery. Now the weakness is combined with the surgical pain, swelling and weakness. It all comes in time. I'm slowly regaining strength in that particular muscle, but it still hurts me to do straight leg raises from a lying position. Make sure you let them know and they can just assist a little bit so you're not torquing your back trying to lift that leg. All my other exercises have become a breeze, except that one. And yes, I feel like I've been hit by a truck when I get home and the next day after physio.

Be honest with them and yourself, if something is painful, let them know. It should be very challenging, and you will be quite sore, but it should not cause severe pain. Best wishes, stronger and brighter days ahead! :-)

4

Hi Jay,

Ive been able to do a lift with the operated leg for a couple of weeks now and have been doing 10 reps of this since week 3 (I'm week 4 now). Obviously, what I'm going to say is what applies to anything regarding post op recovery and that is that we are all different and will progress at different speeds. There may well be something that you can do no problem but which I still struggle with.

What you can and can't do is no matter. You will be able to do all of these things in time. If it bothers you that you can't do this particular thing then maybe you could do some exercises to strengthen the muscles that will aid you to do it. 

There is no 'should I be able to do this or that' at any point in our recovery. We all recover at different speeds so please don't compare yourself to others. If there was something majorly wrong you would have no doubt about it.

Good luck for your continued recovery 😊

Take care.

Ali xx

5

You'll be fine. We are all different and we all perform at different levels. Be patient and they will work for you to become well.

6

Well put, Ali.

7

Yes I call my physio miss whiplash but know she was pushing me for my own good. She had me stretching my legs wider than I had done before operation and each time I thought I would get a pat on back she said it wasn't good enough. I used to get fed up after seeing her but stuck with her for next hip replacement too. However think I needed a little push but a little more encouragement too and the pain the day after meant back on meds again. It will get better.

8

One physio said that she would settle for half an inch of movement. As long as it quickly improved

9

Hi Jay just keep pressing the leg into the bed and holding it ...then do the butt clenches and hold them too, and think internaly, imagine the builders are in and rebuilding your muscles like a team of builders, your internal builders rebuilding you, but before that you have to pressurise your system with some deep breathing excersises then go through the internal squeezing...pushing the air into the muscles tissues and cells...Worked so well for me...dont be sceptical give it a go....!!! TLC  Ian ++

10

Thankyou all for your comments . It is good to know that I am not the only weakling lol

11

Hi Jay I would just like to say keep on keeping on....I was so dicouraged as well ...but I kept going and giving her dirty looks ...she is a sweet kid and just laughed at me ...my problem now is I am 3 1/2 moI am belly dancing and swimming and walking my dogs...the problem is I am fine until I go to physio and then I am in so much pain that I don't want to go...I see her tomorrow and am going to ask her why this is ...Keep going Jay you will make it 

Brighest Blessings Jay

12

 Hey, I resemble that remark!  Lol

13

Hi Jay

I remember not being able to raise my leg even an inch. My physio said this was quite common. I tried every day to do this exercise and all of a sudden at about 6 weeks post op I was able to lift the leg. It just happened so please be patient. I used to take a few pain killers before physio knowing what was coming! Just keep trying and you will get there I promise!

14

Oh-oh, I think you should google

iliopsoas tendonitis after hip replacement

Your physical therapist should not have you doing ANY straight leg lifts.

Geeze! The protocal is to rest the tendon/muscle and let it heal.

Tendonitis is little rips in the tendon, tears. You want those tears to heal up, not make them deeper by using them.

Think of it this way if you bumped your head on a door frame and got a big bump on your forehead, would you the next day start banging your forehead against the wall seeing if that would make it go down? Or would you be cautious about tghe bump, protect it and let it heal?

I can hardly believe that at 7 weeks your physical therapist is having you do straight leg lifys with pain. Do print up the information you will find by googling and bring it with you to your next appointment.

I had ilipsoas tendonitis but my physical theerapist diagnosed it immediately and had me cut off all exercizes that aggravted it. It healed up in about 3, 3 1/2 weeks. At 7 weeks hmmm. Well my advice is to lay off that tendon, don't try to do straight eg lifts at all, for a good 3 weeks at LEAST. If it doesn't heal in 3 to 4 weeks you really need to go back to your orthopedic surgeon. It is orthopedic surgeons who treat our tendons as the tendons connect to the bones.

Do keep writing so you can help others, what is happening with you. And the VERY best of luck to you.

15

Please read my comment to Karen.

16

Probably you could "suddenly" do a straight leg lift is becuase your iliopsoas tendons healed up.

17

Hi Jay ,

It is torture isn't it .... I have my own story about PT ... long and boring one, I am afraid -

I am 14 days post op 2nd THR and just had a session with my 3rd therapist - 

more my age - nothing wrong with the young ones though ... He pointed out that there is no gain for him to whip me in shape - it is not meant to be torture and to go at my own pace and comfort, especially in the early stages ... but do  them - slowly and mindful - 3 or 5 or 10 - some soreness and muscle pain is normal - mine are so weak and shortened and need TLC - 

We all want to move on and feel "normal" again ... and we will, soon, with patience and awareness .... 

One of my problems is that I don't want to appear weak and whimpy and want to show him/her of waht I am capable of .... paying the price afterwards -

be gentle with your self - 

Oh wouldn't it be nice to be  together and do our exercises - all of us ????

big warm hug

renee

 

18

Well what an awful night following my physio session . So uncomfortable and my thigh was aching all night like a really bad toothache !!

hopefully it will improve today 

no pain no gain ??????????

19

Hi All,

Some of you may remember that a few weeks after my op, I skidded in the garden and slammed my operated leg hard on the ground. A few days later I was taken to A and E in great pain. By the end of the day, the pain subsided and I was told I had 'soft tissue damage' and to go home and rest. My gp told me to give it a month.

When the month was up, I realised that, if I lay on my good side, I couldn't move my operated leg upwards and couldn't walk as well as I did when I was discharged from hospital after my op.

I decided to go to a private physio, who said that my abductor muscles were almost useless and gave me several exercises to do. And yes, they are sooo painful, but I know I have to do them! It's going to be a long haul I know, but its going to mean the difference between being able to walk again or being stuck on my sofa!! No choice.

I'm just dreaming of getting back in my garden in the spring!

Oh, and I can now move my leg about 6". Onwards and upwards now?!

Good luck with your recovery to all you hippies!! And take a lesson from me - be careful where you put your crutch!!!

Love, Anna x

20

Crutch warning received !

Glad to hear that you are on the mend x