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6 days post THR left

Posted , 12 users are following.

sharon47867
sharon47867

ok I did it! Had a left hip done, lateral ant approach. Doing stairs with two crutches, very slowly . Getting lots of pain down thigh. Aching not sure if this is normal. Pain in scar area expected, using paracetamol 4hrly for pain. Codiene at night. Sleeping is tricky, and waking x4 cause of pain and so stiff not being able to mov. Prob all normal but thought I would check in with you all. Thanks 

1 like, 14 replies

14 Replies

  • jean95000
    jean95000 sharon47867

    Posted

    Yes it is normal sharon . I found wrapping a bag of frozen peas in a towel and putting on the front of the thigh helped a great deal. Sleep goes out the window for a few weeks so rest when you can . I found having to get up loads during the night to go to the toilet so had a walk round albeit with crutches helped with the stiff ness had both mine done one 18 months ago and the left 8 months ago just feel now that ime back to my normal self good luck with your recovery x

     

    • david07650
      david07650 jean95000

      Posted

      Hi Jean. I was interested in what you said about going to the toilet 'loads during the night'' as this is happening to me (I am in middle 7th week post op TRHR). There could be other reasons for me (perhaps prostrate related) but I just wondered how common this need to visit toilet frequently is. It's the main cause of sleep disturbance in my case. Prior to the op I did not experience the high frequency of visits I am making now. Have you heard from others on this? Thanks and all the best. Dave 

    • Ducksoup
      Ducksoup david07650

      Posted

      I read that there is a direct correlation between urinary issues (including uti’s, frequency; etc);and hip issues.  
    • jean95000
      jean95000 david07650

      Posted

      Hi David

      It happend both  times after hip replacement..the good thing is it didn’t last too long . Just get comfortable and you have to get up again lol . Won’t be long before your running about lol x

       

    • Guest
      Guest david07650

      Posted

      Hi Dave, I only had that issue for about three weeks after surgery (literally every hour or two hours at night) but my mom had it for 2 monthes or so after her knee replacement.   Just to be safe maybe you should rule out prostate issues but I have heard others experience the same thing for as long.
    • david07650
      david07650 Guest

      Posted

      Thank you and again helpful to know. Am talking with GP re prostrate but it helps to know there are other possible causes of this and from responses it's a little more common than I thought. All the best.

      ?Dave 

    • Ducksoup
      Ducksoup david07650

      Posted

      Look at some logic.  When the hip that was operated on is inflamed, the general area is as well.  How close is the prostate to the hip?  
  • Guest
    Guest sharon47867

    Posted

    Sadly that sounds exactly normal!  That was one of my main complaints the first couple weeks was that I would wake up every hour or two in the night and not only did I have pain in my leg but my whole body felt like it was run over by a truck.  It is completely normal.  My surgeon suggested a muscle relaxer at night but I didn't want anything more sedating on top of the hydrocodone so I just powered through.  And it did get better fairly quickly in the grand scheme of things.  I'm at 5 weeks and still wake up every few hours at night for some reason, but go right back to sleep now and am comfortable lying down.  The pain down the thigh is very normal too.  Remember, they cut off the top of your femur and had to really move those muscles around in weird ways to get to the joint, so everything is healing up.  My PT had my ice at the scar and the joint, and use a little heat lower down on my thigh where the muscles were sore and it helped a lot.

    Also, when you do stairs, are you doing "good leg up, then bad leg just to the same step"?  Cause if you walk up stairs normally for the first few weeks it will really really hurt.  It's easier to do good leg up, then bring your bad leg up to the same step, then good leg up, etc.  I wasn't able to walk up stairs normally until 4 weeks without lots of pain.  Now at 5 weeks it's fine going up and down stairs even without crutches or a cane (but I'm still slow!).

    It's going to get better faster than you probably think.  And this awful pain/sleep stuff is very temporary!

     

  • Three_timer
    Three_timer sharon47867

    Posted

    Hi Sharon,

    I had THR surgery on my left hip one week ago.  Exactly 18 weeks before that I had a THR on my right hip.

    What you are describing I believe to be totally normal.

    One suggestion I would have is to keep a daily diary of what you are experiencing.  Pain, stiffness, how PT is going, use of medications, mental challenges, etc.  I find this provides a visual history of what you are experiencing day to day.  It makes it easier than trying to remember what you have been experiencing this as you go through it.  I also find that it is a daily reminder of how fast time goes by, and how well you are doing.  I do this by simply sending an email to myself every day with daily updates.  All of the posts are on that one email for you to check back on at any time.  It's also therapeutic....something you benefit from now, but will also be able to look back on a year from now when you're feeling great and think "I did that!".   I find it really helps.  Good luck !!

  • Guest
    Guest sharon47867

    Posted

    I like the idea of sending daily progress reports of what you're experiencing and how you're doing.  At 5.5 weeks I kind of wish I had been doing that.  I was in a funk on Monday about how I am "not feeling like myself as much as I'd hoped by now" but when I went to PT my therapist said I was moving so much better than I had been a week before and since my PT is attached to where I work, when I stopped by to visit some co-workers they all said in just a week they could see a huge improvement.  So, I think the daily progress reports is a great idea to help keep perspective!

  • jen86183
    jen86183 sharon47867

    Posted

    Hi sharon, I am on day 8 after posterior THR, the PT at the hospital sent me home with 3 crutches so I could leave one upstairs. Because of the arthritis I used to go up good leg, bad leg so going upstairs after op was no different and did not cause a problem. I hold on to bannister with one hand and use crutch in the other, then the 3rd crutch is at the top. I have been lucky up to now and not had pain, taking paracetamol as a precaution dropped them to 3 x per day trying 2 x per day today. I only kind of feel stiff at night when I have sat to long and had a bit of swelling.
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