I am having a THR late in May I am a bit scared and don't really know what to expect - how much pain after surgery - when will I be able to walk the dog etc
You will be in moderate but controllable pain for the first few weeks then each day you get better. I am a 66 year old male. Depending on the size of the dog ( we have Yorkies and a Cane Corso Mastiff) perhaps as early as 3-4 weeks. Relax. Take your Ned's, do your exercises and walk. You will be glad you had it done. We were all nervous leading up to the surgery
Hi Kaura,
I'm also having THR in May (May 15) I'm having the anterior approach, which I don't recall hearing much about that approach on this forum, and I am also a bit scared.
What approach are you having & where do you live? ( I'm in the US)
Hope to compare notes with you in May!
Looking forward to having a better quality of life!
Betty
Well of course much depends on the person as there are so many variables involved. I was 65 at the time of my surgery weighed 10.25 stone and was very fit and positive.
I was in hospital for about five days which was about a day longer then would have been the case as three days post op they realized that my feeling bad was the need for a blood transfusion due to loss of blood during the op. It was amazing because within ten minutes of the start of the transfusion I started to feel normal again! I had been feeling weak and had constant headaches.
I had a bit of walking practice with sticks and was managing on just one but they insisted that I left hospital with two. It's just over twenty years post op so the memory has dimmed somewhat but I think it was only a day or two before I was only using one stick and soon after that it was none.
My walks took place on mostly very rough country tracks as I lived in on a hill farm in Wales in the UK and I always took a sheep dog with me but it would not have been on a lead generally. I had to take care that I did not twist my hip for the first couple of months as it was not a cemented one. I think it was about two weeks before I was driving a manual car.
The new hip transformed my life and I do not remember being in pain during the recovery so perhaps I was just lucky. At just gone twenty years of farming and lots of building work etc my hip has failed with no warning and I'm waiting for a revision which is something that I'm not looking forward to!
Best of luck with your surgery.
Cheers Richard
I'm not going to lie the pain after was insane for me, but I was back teaching after 3 months. The recovery is personal to everyone and having major surgery isn't nice but the results are very rewarding when you can walk without a limp or pain.
Hi kaura it's perfectly normal to be scared. I was terrified as never been an inpatient before.
Afterwards I thought what was all the fuss about and I'd have no resevations if I ever need my other hip doing.
My advice is keep fit, do all the exercises you're given both before and after surgery, take all the painkillers that you're offered while in hospital , practice using your grabber, sock aid and using your crutches around the house. Pretend that you can't bend and think of All the things you won't be able to do for the first 6 weeks after surgery. I found that this preparation before the big day helped speed up my recovery. I'm now 7weeks post op and trying to get back to normal. The healing is a long slow process.
It's so worth it to be able to walk pain free. I'm doing about 45 minutes walk a day.
Yes it is painful around the wound to start with but each day gets better.
I found it useful to keep a diary recording what time I got up, how much rest I needed during the day, what activity I did, what time I went to bed.
It's encouraging to look back on and see the progress you've made.
Good luck when the time comes. You'll be so glad you've had it done.
Hi Kaura
I'm 10 weeks post op and now down to one crutch outside the house and improving all the time. The first two weeks are tough and I found it really hard as I had no one to ask is this or that normal wish I had found the forum in the beginning. It's natural to be scared I was terrified but now so glad I had it done. Still got some post op pain but only on paracetamol now. Excercises and proper meds are so crucial to good recovery. You will have good days and bad but know that each day you are getting better and that rotten hip grinding pain will be gone!
Good luck we will all be here for you
Julie x
Pain levels vary by person.
i had a little pain for 2-3 days post surgery. The sooner you can stop taking pain medicine the better.
Depending on the type of surgery you have, will dictate when you can walk your dog and do other activities.
Usually, the better physical condition you are in pre surgery will help in your recovery.
Listen to your surgeon/physical therapist for your post surgery recovery. Do your exercises that is critical to your recovery.
Good Luck
Hi Kaura, from my experience the pain was only moderate and even that can be controlled with meds and ice packs. The whole experience for me was very positive. The best thing is that your hip should no longer hurt after surgery
Yes, there will be other obsticles, but overall the FHR was well worth it to me.
As far as walking the dog... it depends how well your dog walks with you. If your dog tends to pull, then you'll probably have to wait until the 5-6 month mark. On the other hand, if your dog is gentle while walking with you, you should be fine to walk him/her between 3-4 months post op.
Wishing you the best for your surgery and recovery!
Depends what size the dog is! A pulling Chihuahua is not quite the same as a pulling Irish setter!
Invest in a gentle leader type halter lead. These are actually far preferable to any other form of lead as they provide total control over the dog, prevent pulling, and don't mean your are yanking the dog around by the neck. Who would want to be pulled around by the neck???!
Then it depends on how quickly you recover the ability to walk far enough. For my hip alone, I could easily walk the dog ( large but well trained border collie) by the end of the same week. But my distances are limited by an ankle issue, so a good deal of our "walking" is by mobility scooter. Certainly, if I consider the hip alone 5-6 months would be way over the top.
I have a rescued Lab mix and a dachshund jack russell mix. My Lab mix is only 3 years old but had to have hip surgery due to bad hip dysplasia. She is doing very well but couldn't pull me if she wanted to. We hobbled along together in just a couple of weeks after my FRHR surgery. My dachshund jack russell mix on the other had still gives me a run for my money with pulling and I'm 7 months post op. I'll have to try the gentle lead collar. He's a typical dachshie though, so I'm not sure he'd tollerate anything around his nose... Lol.
There really are so many variables that would determine how many weeks it would take to walk a dog
I am having the incision on the side of my hip, don't know what it is called, I totally forgot lol. I am in Hamilton Ontarion Canada. Yes that quality of life would certainly be appreciated. How much pain are you i right now? I pretty much can't do anything without pain and can't wait for the surgery to over and done with. Let's keep in touch and compare notes.
What an excellent idea to keep a diary I will do that. I have been doing preparations for the big day with regards to bending etc. I have a dog and realized that it would be quite imposibble for me to feed her, (how on earth would I get down to the floor to pick up the bowls?) I have figured it out and other little and big things too, I think maybe I am "lucky" to have 3 months to find all the solutions before they present themself.
Small correction to my post, I was 55yrs old not 65yrs old. My apologies for the error.
Cheers Richard
My furdaughter is just about 22 pounds, I use a gentle heeler all the time, she does not really pull as she is well trained, we do dog agility - or we used to before all this stated - I use the gentle heeler just in case she sees something that "can't be left alone" Thanks for the advise I wish everybodyd would use that kind of leash instead of pulling and pulling at the poor dog.
You have to use the gentle heeler it is the best for a "puller" he might object in the beginning but he will get used to it - good luck
What I find very interesting is how very different people's experiences differ as regards to their pain following hip replacement surgery.
I have obviously been extremely fortunate in experiencing only minor and short term discomfort rather than pain unless my memory is letting me down. Why is it that so many here are suffering long term pain following their hip replacement surgery? Why this large difference I wonder. Just asking.
Cheers Richard
hi kaura,
warm welcome to this wonderful forum --- many members here who will be able to suppport you and give great advice ...
for more information, please go to :
https://patient.info/forums/discuss/thr-useful-resources-487147 - scroll down to A Laymans Guide, where you will find a web site created by one of our fellow members ...
and of course, always come back here ...
big warm hug
renee
Or better yet - train the dog as well! I am constantly astonished at the amount of bad behaviour people actually encourage in dogs. It's not at all in the interests of the dog!
Agility training isn't impossible with our mobility, but it does depend on the dog. My lad can run an entire course from voice command alone, but he is VERY smart - but equally, capable of thinking up VERY naughty things to do! I've been retraining as a dog behaviorist to help homeless dogs who can't be renowned due to behavior problems. It's my retirement plan. And although many pour behaviours we see are about something of a bad experience with humans, an awful lot are down to people giving up their dogs because they haven't trained them and the dog is out of control.
Nice to see you back in your position as official forum hostess!