After my RTHR my operated leg 'felt' longer, but after the swelling had gone down they were the same length. However, if your surgeon has told you yours is 1/2 inch longer perhaps he has allowed for the swelling? Anyway, I can assure you that things feel very different after the swelling has subsided. Yours probably feels much more than 1/2 inch right now!
I think the only thing you can do is wait and see how it affects you and my guess is it won't be as bad as you think.
I think things will settle down in time. My left leg has always been 3/4 inch shorter than my right and my body adjusted to this. I didn't walk with a limp and I could wear heels. I had my hip replaced at 40 and they have now made my legs the same length, however I really struggled with this after surgery as the difference felt massive. I honestly thought I would never be able to walk 'normally' again. I am now 10 months post op and things have settled down and I walk without a limp. I have had difficulties with my knee and back adjusting to the change as my positioning is different now, but I have managed to wear heels and dance in them.
I know now this is the opposite way around to your situation, but in my experience your body will adapt in time, it just may be a slower recovery than you would like.
I hope the other replies have reassured you a bit.
My experience is similar (except there was no option really to wait for the surgery as both hips were 'shot' (surgeon's descriptor)). I was pretty shocked as like a surprising number of us - I thought it was all part of long-standing back problems!
Re LLD - mine left is shorter by 1/2 after close to 6 months. I just had my follow-up and set the date for my second hip and the surgeon noted the difference, promised to adjust for it with the 2nd hip and suggested that I purchase an orthotic lift that one can get from the pharmacy to compensate for the difference until my next surgery in 6 weeks.
This helps although I was already able to walk without a limp most of the time. It helps most with allowing other joints to readjust to my post-surgery posture and gait (straightened and smoother) 😊.
It may be worth giving this more time - the degree of swelling and healing underway is impressive by any standard and the difference may in fact reduce as these take place.
I'm 2 weeks tomorrow and also feel a leg length discrepancy that my doctor told me will start to be less noticeable the more I walk. So far have not finding that to be true. I'm only 2 yrs older than you and also was quite active and did this surgery early to get it out of the way as I was only just starting to experience pain because of no cartilage in hip at all. I'm not needing another HR now either. I also still take a pain killer every 6 hrs and am out walking on my own unaided and doing exercises.
Im REALLY hoping I don't have to wear a lift insert and will just try and see if the walking helps to normalize how I feel. Stay in touch. Sorry for ur problem.
Yes, I had RTHR on June 28th and now my right leg is longer. It makes my left leg ache when I walk. It throws my whole body off. I will see my doctor for the first time since surgery on Wednesday. I don't want a lift as I wear sandals or I'm bare footed most of the time. When I spoke with the nurse about my concern she said they would make it right when they do other hip, I did not plan on having that one done. I'm very active and clean homes for a living can't afford to be laid up that long.
Hi Cells just been reading your reply and wondered how long ago your op was ,and how long before your swelling went down I no we're all different.
I had a leg length diff before my op I either stood with a bend at the knee bad leg or tryed to straighten the other one that just swung off the floor.
Since my op 4weeks ago I've noticed I still
stand with my op leg bent when not thinking
about it.
I hope things will work out hurting today I think I did to much yesterday it's so difficult to get it right.would love some advice many,many thanks Anna xxx
Thank you for your reply.Like you I chose to have the THR even though I could have waited and become progressively less active.I love to walk and cycle and I believed a new hip would allow me to enjoy this again.
With the leg length discrepancy I felt I had swopped one problem for another!
Starting to come to terms with this now and hoping insoles and heel raises will enable me to walk reasonable distances again.
My op was back in March and it took a few weeks for both the swelling to go down and the stem of the implant to 'bed down' into my femur. So, 5 months now and I would say I'm practically back to normal. I did stand just like you in the early weeks and was convinced my op leg was longer. When I went for my check up at 7 weeks they were equal lengths. Four weeks is still very early in yor recovery.
Hi Anna,Sorry you are in pain today.It is hard to get right but zIm sure we will get there in the end!I didn't take my tramadol one day and it was a mistake.Was crying and depressed.Now back on meds and feel much better.Everyone is different so go at your own pace.Its so easy to think others are doing better!!
It's a minor accomodation for an eventual pain free hip. Pre op instructions were very evident to me including leg length differences. Easy fixes for this minor problem.
I presume from your post that your surgeon has looked at you and decided that there is a discrepancy, as many of us (me included) feel that our new leg is longer which is usually due to swelling in the hip area.
Janet. I'm a walker too.....So our discussion got me going and I just took a mile walk with my niece to see if the discrepancy became less noticeable. Answer is..... It was less noticeable because all I could notice was that I was getting tired😜
Yes I have the same thing except mine was done intentionally. My surgeon told me he left it longer on purpose because he knew my left needed done soon also. He said the same thing, he will even it out when he does the next one. I had rthr in May and getting my lthr on Friday.....Hang in there.....Barb
I don't really have anything to add to previous comments -
my right leg was about 1 cm shorter pre-op because of wrong posture and limping -
according to surgeon he "straightened" it out which made it feel like too long - than left hip detoriated rapidly and needed THR (not known beforehand) - he made sure that legs were at same length for as much as possible - there always will be some difference to begin with -
he also made me aware of my prelvic and how that also was affected by THR - the whole thing felt wacky and unbalanced after 2 THR -
try to be aware of your posture and walk heel to toe - also when sitting, make sure you sit on sitzbones and distribute your weight evenly over the bumcheeks - (I am a crooked sitter, so to speak - always have the right bum higher than left one )