52 - THR in December.One inch leg length difference - in part due to pelvic tilt which has developed since my operation, in part due to THR operation, where consultant put joint in too tight to try to stop it from dislocating. Upshot is 8 months of limited mobility, off work etc etc. If you have pain at your 6 week review and/or leg length discrepancy - Ask to see the consultant. I did not and my symptoms are worse as a result and recovery will be 1-2 years, if at all.
Now a lot of people think that their other "good" hip plays up post THR -because it is doing more work to compensate for the "bad" hip. This may be correct. However in my case both hips turn out to be deformed at birth - one too shallow and one too deep. I found out today I have pincer impingement in my other hip and neat key hole surgery may not be successful. So, as best you can STAND UP for your hips
So my message to all you THR guys and gals is Don't accept pain in either hip post operative after 6 weeks - if you are in pain then get seen. You are vulnerable otherwise to all sorts of secondary problems - stressed tight muscles trying to compensate, pelvis going out of balance, leg length differences increasing ....And you become harder to fix.
Hi Christine! Thanks for your write. I am 10 months out and have had solid pain, often excruciating, in my left hip. I had both hips replaced, one was perfect, the other a nightmare. I am arranging to have a second opinion outside my region. My surgeon is no longer available to me.
My left leg is quite a bit longer than my left. My pelvis is tilted from birth but was not a problem in my life. When I sit on the floor, put my heels perfectly together and raise both knees up, my left knee is way longer than my right one. This did not happen before surgery.
I have been wondering if part of my pain is from 56 year old muscles and tendons being stretched or pulled longer than they have ever had to do before.
My consultant, ironically, is the "go to" consultant in the region and I am happy to stay with his care - I can pm you his details if you want as he is the surgeon all the orthopaedic surgeons would use - and he is a dab at revisions. He has told me to be patient - he laid me off any exercise for a month as it was clear that it was aggravating my pain - I rested and meanwhile had about 5 weeks of acupuncture in the hospital physio dept which was lovely. I have since started swimming and slowly doing active physio now and my hip flexion has gone from 80 degrees to 110 in 6 weeks- although internal and external rotation are still poor and my THR pain is reduced. So be encouraged.
My consultant has not ruled out a revision - but has said that if I can work with the tightness then it should loosen up 1-2 years post surgery and if it does not make progress then he will consider more radical options like putting in a shorter stem. This is not his preferred route due to risk of dislocation which is more likely as I would want to pick up my rock climbing again. It will also last longer for having started out tigher.
Being open in his explanation, ideas and giving me some clear next steps was what I needed. I had to do a hissy fit at one stage and got my physio involved in the review and forward plan. By this stage I was in severe pain and almost immobile and tripping over due to leg length difference and lack of flexibility. The letter I wrote delivered a good response - even if I did have to threaten to raise a complaint. Sometimes that is what it takes and you have to do it. I actually got a call from his secretary within 10 minutes of receipt by email...arranging an urgent review.
Are you getting physiotherapy? The physiotherapists are the best folk to work on your flexibility and pain and you may have to stop completely to let those old muscles and tendons calm down. I would suggest hospital physiotherapists - my hospital physios all based in an orthopaedic hospital - and don't accept a student, as I did, in the early days as they don't have the experience to deal with unusual cases and see the multiple problems you probably have.
In terms of an accurate early diagnosis I limped off to my osteopath who was bang on the money in his assessment but more importantly got to work on some secondary issues - through massage and TENS machine which I used at home. That helped clear the secondary problems away so that my root cause and symptoms were easier to see.
Thats a lot of chat - I hope you are able to pick some useful tips out of it. At 56 you are not on the scrap heap - and you will be amazed at what physio, acupuncture for temporary relief, enforced rest and a smart osteopath can do to alleviate your symptoms.
I still cant walk more than 15 minutes - so I am not a miracle cure - but I have been able to create a bit of light at the end of the tunnel with this progress.
Good luck on a second opinion and let me know if you want my consultant's name - he is a good guy, not at all big egp and has actually offered me a second opinion outside of the region for greater independence - he does 300 hips a year and I am a statistical anomaly for him.
So sorry you have been through so much! i am waiting to be called in,I worked in Orthopaedics for some years so have picked up some tips,also have a close friend wh assists in Theater with orthopaedic cases,so he has given me valuable advice and when I have my pre op assesment is e.mailing all the things to ask the surgeon,he told me definately not to have a cement base as after approx a year this wears and this can leave one leg shorter than the other,so have definately learned a lot from chatting with people on here and now know to ask ask and ask again as it is my body.i do hope things improve for you
I'm 4 yrs soon post op with anterior Right hip and although the recovery was good and until 5th month, things went downhill....now I'm reflecting back about the leg discrepancy...this can cause so much instability and alignment mess....
A podiatrist I saw 2 yrs or so post op saw the discrepancy and at that visit gave me a 1/4" lift and then some months later I added 1/2" lift more....so now 3/4" lift in all.
Could I have saved this misery, I don't know...reading my operative report, the talk is about care with leg proptions and for me, the femoral cutaneous nerve damage mess I'm left with....."care" was taken with both they say....sure, care was taken but we go home with the dmage.
If I were not a saner person, I would like in a constant state of SCREAM......
Good thing, I guess, I'm old as I take care of no one else as taking care of me has been huge.......
Interesting reading you make. I'm another one who fits well into your description, leg 1 inch longer post op, constant pain, waiting to see an 'expert' in the hope he'll be able to perform a miracle.
I've also considered writing to my consultant to complain but am waiting to see what the 'expert' has to say.
What area is your consultant in?
Keep in touch, we need each other on this forum, how else would we stay sane?
I have put this in before on another thread somewhere ???
Four weeks after my 2nd THR I was doing an NHS exercise when I heard an awful crack.
In hospital they x rayed it and said that there was nothing they couold do.....it would heal itself but i would be left with a dip.....Fractured Greater Trochanter bone!!!!!!
It would take a long time to heal....alsmost7 months and I'm still on 2 crutches
and in pain....dont think there is much i can do about it...they discovered afterwards that I have osteoporosis and thats why it fractured so easily.
Oh Eileen, I'm so convinced magnesium deficiency is so connected to osteoporosis and conventional MD's just don't go there with patients...they push too much calcium and not enough magnesium.
I had a mineral panel done in 2005, these are done my integrative MD's...minerals are critical and my magnesium was in good shape....I've been taking XTRA mag for years and maybe if I hadn't been I would have had this hip issues 20 yrs earlier....who knows...so many here do these replacements so young and I'd bet have a lot of mineral deficiencies....your health system doesn't do this type of testing, I'd bet unless one goes out of the govt system....my govt medicare does work for some integrative MD's....to a point....I like PREVENTION.
Eileen, we are all human beings no mater what country we are from. We all need good minerals to keep our body working optimally, country does not matter....the more drugs we put in our bodies the more toxic they are.,..so plain and simple...does this make sense? Do you ever do alternative research with Dr. Google...I use this Dr. for so much....j
Like I said in the post I've just sent ....it mainly my meds for epilepsy that worry me {clashing with other meds} The other ones dont bother me so much.....Where do you get your pain relief from?
i hear you but I would worry more about the clashing of the drugs with one another....
I typed a long message to you on the other post, but lost it....
I've gotten rid of all narcotic drugs....did some before hip replacement and some time during the post op years but hydrocodone was stopped here in the U.S. as was Darvocet about 4 yrs ago and now I take:
2 Pain RX and 1/2 arthritis tylenol at 6AM and stay in bed until 9 or so off and on sleeping. PAIN RX is an herbal pain supplement.
At 12Noon I take 2 Ibuprofen as there is food in my stomach.
6PM 2 ibuprofen
11PM 2 Ibuprofen and make sure I take my stomach protector DGL thru the day.
This works for me, I'm never out of total pain but live with what I have....Ice and heat during the day too.
I checked with an ibuprofen support group and they say 6 per day is OK. One can find a support group for anything today.
Oh, I got a Tylenol 3 which contains codeine and omg the constipation it caused...took one and that was it.....have the bottle in my cupboard.....actually I think I took 1/2 and got horrible constipation....
I was thinking of Celebrex at one point but the cost was horrific...so shined on that one...I've heard too many side effects anyway, so that was a good thing.
I take other supps to control/reduce pain issues like MSM powder, celadrin and turmeric and other herbs....I've tried so many....as I'm MORE alternative than drug minded.....take care...talk later.
Hi Joy, what kind of magnesium supplements do you take and how much is recommended daily ? I was on massive doses of prednisolone (steroid) in my mid 20s to late 30s due to severe asthma. I started taking extra calcium as I had read that steroid could deplete calcium. Unfortunately I didn't take enough because here I am at 50 needing double THR urgently. None of my gps or specialists suggested taking calcium, it was just something I did for myself, in fact when I mentioned it I was told it would probably make no difference !!! Thankfully apart from the hips all other joints seem good and I intend to try and keep them that way !!! Any advice woul be gratefully appreciated. Thanks Maggie.
Hi Maggie, sorry to hear your need for double THR, you do know that the steroid use for so long caused the bone damage/deterioration. I believe it's called AVN.
I have a Magnesium thread here and just posted new info today...check it out, OK.
Personally, I take more mag than calcium daily...Mag intake for me is about 1500mg spread thru the day in 3 doses, and 500mg of food based calcium once a day, and I break the tablet in half and take in two doses....
It's sad that so much damage, I believe, is done with the mag deficiency that is rampant in our population.
I take a couple mag supps as I switch around, one is a mag complex from LifeExtension it has 3 forms of mag in one cap which is 500mg and I take 3 of these a day. The other mag form I keep on hand is mag citrate...
Take less if bowels get too loose, but for me, loose is better than constipation....gotta clean out the colon... too many are full and impacted bowels.
You do know I'm not a doc, but have worked in alternative healing for 25 some yrs.....and have worked on my own health for a long time.....
Are you in the U.S? Do read the magnesium deficiency thread.
Too much calcium also can cause calcium deposits and also stones in the body. One has to keep a good balance with cal and mag and MANY miss out on taking enough mag......bad info out there from the MD's....or no info.
Hey Joy, I am actually in Scotland where up until recently with social media etc, we were pretty much kept in the dark about alternative treatments. ( unless you had mega bucks and could afford a private practitioner ) . Slowly this is being phased out and now the ordinary man on the street is getting information filtered through. Unfortunately to my mind there seems to be a huge lack of uniformity of information available. One practitioner seems to disagree wildly with others so often we wonder what is the correct approach ??? It would be so much easier if they could all reach some kind of agreement that the lay-person could understand !!! Still we should be grateful at least they are trying now !! Maggie xx
That is such bad luck - I am treating each day as a blessing at the moment and trying to do something each day that makes me feel like I have achieved something OR made progress with my hip. Some days I go backwards with my hip - but I try to think thats one less day backwards I have to do again.
Good luck with your healing of you Greater Trochanter - but dont put up withany pain until you have it explained why it is there and what can be done for it.
Am off to smile at and smell my sweet peas - that continue to flower. I grew them from harvested pods from last year - so they are free as well as beautiful.
I am in the Birmingham UK area - do write to your consultant please. They are really busy and if we dont wave at them then then move on through their lists and lose sight of us poor recoverers.
I think you will be surprised at the speed of reaction if you put the word complaint into the letter - what I said was that I wanted to give him a chance to respond to my feedback on my pain etc as I would otherwise be making a complaint. That appraoch kept the door open, gave him the clear message that I was seriously distressed but did not set us into contention with each other - it was a prompt to him that even if the solution is not clear or immediate I needed him to explain his thinking so that I could understand that he was not just "sitting on his hands". I had an hour consultation with him following my letter. The word "complaint", used in the right context can be like a special word which makes things happen.
You can look up your surgeon on the National Joint Registry - it gives you a lot of stats about your surgeon - including how many operations she or he does, death rates etc...
It is good that you are as calm as you are - I put way too much energy into being grumpy and stressed - 2 teenagers in the house and 7 day a week working husband do not make recovery any easier!
None of us is entitled to good health - but neither do I think that age means accepting less - so go girl and get the best you can from your continued recovery
This is the joys of being in a different country even if we do speak the same language
A few questions.....Hydrocodone.....havent heard of that one.....codeine or dihydrocodeine......I tried dihydrocodiene {sp?} I was on the ceiling LOL I took it for 2 days and that was it.
What does RX mean as in 2 pain RX Sorry about the questions
1/2 arthritis tylenol ?? I have heard of tylenol and that as far as i know is the same as our over the counter paracetamol but not an arthritis one?
I am prescribed naproxen.....an anti inflammatory....same as ibroprufen.
I'm not as optimistic as you are but I do try at night {every night}
To write a journal......what i have done etc
On the opposit page I then put what improvements I have seen.....no matter how little they are ....and they are little.....you have to think about it before you realise there have been improvements LOL
As for asking what can be done for it.....Nothing....thats from 2 orthopaedic surgeons. One that saw me when I was taken in when it happened and then a few weeks later the one that did my THR's.....both say nothing can be done, it will heal itself but I will be left with a dip and it will take a long long time to heal?????
