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6 Months post surgery and still have weakness

Posted , 7 users are following.

Shayes
Shayes

Hi everyone!  I am still having trouble with weakness in my left hip/leg after my THP on my left hip.  I am also having issues with tightness in the top part of my thigh, hip and lower back.  I was wondering if anyone has had these issues this long after surgery?  I can walk without assistance, but when I first start off I tend to limp until I make myself slow down and walk one foot in front of the other.  Most of the time once I get walking I am ok,but some days it hurts more and I limp more.  I walk my dog every day (weather permitting) and I do some exercises my physical therapist gave me, but I am wondering if I can do more.  Has anyone used a stationary bike in their recovery?  Does anyone know if that would help with the weakness?  I found some good hip stretches after reading a few posts on this site - so thanks for that!  Any advice would be greatly appreciated!  Also just as a side note, I am from the US and will be visiting London, Scotland and Ireland for 9 days in July.  If anyone has any must see places for me, I would appreciate that too!  Thanks so much and I wish you all a speedy recovery!

0 likes, 19 replies

19 Replies

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  • nashnoo
    nashnoo Shayes

    Posted

    Hi, I am 5.5 weeks post op from a THR and I have done 10 miles a day for the past 12 days and my leg feels much stronger from it, I don't need crutches at all anymore and I can nearly walk perfectly except the first few steps. Hope this helps , Paul.
    • nashnoo
      nashnoo

      Posted

      On an exercise bike on a mid resistance setting.
    • Shayes
      Shayes nashnoo

      Posted

      Thank you Paul! Yes that does help. I will add riding my stationary bike to my routine. I sure hope it helps! Happy healing to you!
    • ginger47520
      ginger47520 nashnoo

      Posted

      Because you can walk that much this soon doesn't mean you should.please be careful because the bone is knitting around the prostheses. That much activity could interfere with that knitting process then the prostheses will become loose.surely you don't want a revision.sad
  • valerie48782
    valerie48782 Shayes

    Posted

    I am using static bike every morning before work (2months post op) and it seems to help -being a weakling I am on lowest resistance and go for as long as I have time for which is not very long!
    • Shayes
      Shayes valerie48782

      Posted

      Hi Valerie.I am glad to hear you are using a bike and it seems to be working. Keep up the good work!  I plan on adding that to my routine.smile
  • barbara17317
    barbara17317 Shayes

    Posted

    While you are in London, you must visit the Tower of London and see the Crown Jewels, absolutely awesome.  Tower Bridge by the Tower of London.   Natural History Museum is good.  Take a tour on an open top bus.  I would have said Buckingham Palace but I don't think that's open to the public until August, but you can see the changing of the Guard.   In Scotland, there is Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood House.  I can't remember the full name of this but there is an underground street, its called Mary ........Street and you go on an underground tour which shows you what the streets were like years ago and its very interesting.  It is off the main street leading to the Castle.  Can't advise on Ireland I am afraid.  Enjoy!
    • Shayes
      Shayes barbara17317

      Posted

      Thanks so much for the advice on places to visit!  I am so excited to visit Europe, but am still a bit scared because my hip is taking so long to get better.  I know there will be tons of walking and I am hoping that adding the bike will get me even further along.Thanks again!  Stacy
  • barbara17317
    barbara17317 Shayes

    Posted

    Had another thought, the Royal Yacht Britannia is moored at Leith, near Edinburgh and it is a fanatastic ship which you can visit if you have time.
  • valerie190541
    valerie190541 Shayes

    Posted

    Hi Shayes, I also had my THR 6 months ago and was still struggling walking too far and was having pain in my thigh. The surgeon xrayed my knee and said I now need a knee replacement, but the physio gave me some knee exercises to do and my thigh pain has now gone. when going to bed press the knee into the mattress as many times as you can manage and also put a pillow under the knee and lift the foot increasing the as and when you can.  I  have also bought a stand for my bicycle and can exercise in the garden rather than chance the road!

    One of my favourite places of interest in the UK is York in Yorkshire it has a brilliant museum and a viking discovery which they have recreated so it is like an old market place complete with smells etc. You may be able to go there on the way to Scotland.  Hope you have a lovely time. kind regards Valerie

    • Shayes
      Shayes valerie190541

      Posted

      Hi Valerie.  Sorry to hear you may need a knee replacement too!  I hope those exercises work for you and I think I will try them also.  I feel like you can never try too many things!  Thanks too for the advice on places to visit while in the UK! I am so excited about this trip but am nervous because my hip seems to be taking so long to get better.  It will be wonderful either way!  Good luck to you with your recovery. smile Stacy
  • MarthaUK
    MarthaUK Shayes

    Posted

    Hi

    I'm now just over 13 weeks postop and still have incredible weakness in the leg.

    I've just got in to see a new physiotherapist who is working on building the muscle front and back of my thigh, then he says he'll work on the sides. I had to put my op off for about 6 months because of work commitments so I think it became so weak that it's now taking longer to recover sad

    One exercise I just cannot do is leg lifts from lying - the pain in my groin is just awful! The physio says groin pain is related to the hip.

    I can't walk more than about half a mile and I limp. I find that if I walk quicker then it eases - don't know why that should be? - also I find that if Ilift my leg/knee higher with each step then I don't limp, but it looks really silly so I can't do that all the time outside or I think I'd get committed!!!! My back hurst when I walk but I have osteo-arthritis in my back and I also have scoliosis.

    Re your visit ot the UK, I agree with the comment about York -or Yorkshire generally, it's a beautiful county, especially for walking. If you've time, we run a B&B called Swiss House, which is north Derbyshire, and it's in the middle of the Peak District National Park. The cities in the UK are ok, but the countryside is much much better cheesygrin

    All the best and keep us posted, Martha

    • Shayes
      Shayes MarthaUK

      Posted

      Hi Martha,  It sounds like you and I are having similar troubles.  I was having a very difficult time doing leg lifts while laying on my side and on my back as well. Lots of pain.  It has gotten better though and I can lift my leg up with only minimal pain.  That will get better I promise.  It is strange but I completely understand what you mean when you say it does not hurt as much when you walk with your knees lifted!  I started marching at home with my knees in the air so it was not so bad! Only at home though! haha!  One thing that makes me more comfortable is to always wear good tennis shoes. Even when I am at home I wear my tennis shoes in the house.  For some reason that helps. Another thing I will recommend is that once your hip restrictions are lifted you find a good massage therapist who knows how to stretch you. The man I found is amazing and he stretches my leg/hip in ways I am unable to do myself.  It hurt so very bad when I first started seeing him but it has gotten so much better!  I also stretch myself every night while watching TV. The strectching really does help.  Just be sure your Dr. says you can do that. Thanks also for the advice on my trip to the UK!  I am so very excited!  Our time is so limited (we only have 2 days in London), but if I am able I would love to stop at you B&B and at least say hello! Good luck to you and please keep me posted on your progress as well!  Hang in there, it does get better.  I think it just takes longer for some of us then it does for others.  smile Stacy
    • Jodi-France
      Jodi-France MarthaUK

      Posted

      Oh-Oh.

      If you CAN do this,

      Lay flat on your back on the bed with your shoes off

      Keeping your heel in contact with the bed, bend your knee and drag your foot up towards your butt

      But CAN'T do this

      Lay flat on the bed with your shoes off

      Keeping your leg straight (don't bend the knee)

      Raise your foot up off the mattress (you are using your hip muscles for this)

      AND your groin hurts like HELL in certain situations, but not all situations, you have iliopsoas tendonitis.

      You need to pay attention and be VERY careful. Think of tendonitis as little small rips into the tendon. What you need to do is rest the tendon and don't do anything to make the tears bigger (deeper). You want to not aggravate it, let it rest and let those little rips heal up.

      Most people think that they simply need to exercize or stretch more, and in factthis is the opposit of what you should do, doing that only makes it worse and can result in a permenet condition as scar tissue will form over the rips.  Trust me on this I had tendonitis in my IT Band that I ignored, kept on working that tuned into a perment condition (Tendonosis). It actually disabled me, so I am rather an expert on Tendonitis.

      During your hip replacement they have to manipulate your leg and move it into positions it is not used to, this can pull that psoas muscle/tendon. OR your prosthesis is to big, or placed wrong and you will have this conditon until they go in and fix that.

      Since I previously had Tendonosis I recognized the pain and symptons immediately. It was confirmed by my physical therapist. What I did was not exercize at all for 3 - 4 weeks. That is the amount of time it took for that iliopsoas tendonitis to heal back up. Only after that was healed up did I take up exeercizing again, my physical therapist simply gave me leg massages during this time.

      I found I had to lay down on the sofa not sit in a chair, as sitting in a living room chair was jsut a bad position for that tendon, so I layed around until it healed. The good news, it did heal up just fine and I have had no further issues with it.

      Google -  iliopsoas tendonitis after hip replacement

      There is one woman on here I was able to help. Her prosthesis was digging into the tendon, her doctors did a surgery and did something (not sure what) and that fixed it. I know she did not have to have her prosthesis removed or changed out, instead they did something with the tendon instead.

      Another woman I was able to help, she was doing great after her THR, about a month/ 5 weeks after her THR she was stepping off a pier to get into a boat and that is where she injured her iliopsoas tendonitis. Of course she was "stretching" and exercizing thinking that would help, which is did not, she followed my advice, simply rested the tendon by not doing anything that aggravates it and in about 3 to 4 weeks she was fine also.

      If you have pain in your groin it is either nerve damage or the iliopsoas tendonitis.

      I am not a big fan of rigerous exercize right after surgery anyway. Think about it, they cut off the top of your leg bone and shove a stick in it. It simply takes time for that stick to get knitted back into the leg bone. I was forced to not exercize because of the iliopsoas tendonitis and at 4 weeks I started. In a matter of one week I went from using a walker/trolly to walking completely on my own with nothing. I just focused on keeping my back very straight and not bending over, in other words being very attentive to keeping good posture. I am more of a fan of , don't push yourself, let the bones heal up, when the bones are good and strong you will be able to get back into the swing of things very quickly. Good Luck to you.

    • MarthaUK
      MarthaUK Jodi-France

      Posted

      Hi Jodi

      Thanks for all that information. I shall read diligently what it says on Google. I might even print it and take it to the physio!!

      I had really bad groin pain before the op- didyou? I could barely put my leg on the floor because of the pain and getting up off a chair was a nightmare. Does that sound familiar or is the condition you describe only after a THR?

    • MarthaUK
      MarthaUK Jodi-France

      Posted

      Interesting thatyou say 'as sitting in a living room chair was jsut a bad position for that tendon' as I find sitting on an upright dining chair doesn't feel good after about 10 minutes. Driving is easier as I can tilt the seat back. In the article I read it said experiencing the pain getting out of a car was a sure sign this was the problem but so far I've only done the 'knees together and swivel' like we did when we wore mini skirts haha!! Next time I get in the car I'll try it the way I did it before I ever had a hipproblem.
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