6 Months post surgery and still have weakness
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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!
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MarthaUK Shayes
Posted
An update- I wentto myphysio last week with info I'd printed off the internet re iliopsoas tendon weakness/inflammation. Now I know it's always difficult to see a 'medic' with info you've gleaned yourself but I've never been backwards in coming forwards - if you know what I mean! After a bit of discussion he got me on the couch and started prodding around the groin area - where I have most pain. he found a few very tender areas. he admitted it looked as if my iliac muscle was inflamed. One of the exercises he'd given me was all wrong for this and was making it worse!!!
He showed me how to massage it myself, which I've been doing for 5 minutes twice a day and it's soooo much better already.
According to the internet this is quite rare but it usually shows up later rather than sooner - I'm 15 weeks post op. However, when I talked to my brother about it he said he had the same thing 7 months post op!! One of the classic signs is pain getting into or out of a car- when you put one leg in/out first. I just can't do that, it's too painful.
Hope that helps
Jodi-France MarthaUK
Posted
FWIW it will take about 3 to 4 weeks to have that muscle/tendons heal. IF after about 2 months it doesn't get any better you will most likely need a small surgery. I went from tendonitis to tendonosis (and you can look up tendonosis) of my IT band. Thankfully the THR totally fixed that, and that was a huge relief as my IT Band tendonosis caused me more pain than my bad hip. Please please take very good care of your psoas muscle so that it does nto beocme perment. I didn't with my IT band and I suffered for 3 years, I was basically handicapped becuase of it.
My phyical therapist is the one who about 2 weeks in after my surgery told me it was my psoas muscle, he went and felt for it. He knew. When we had our THR they are moving that leg around in positions it never normally goes when they are dislocating the hip, this is what causes Iliopsoas Tendinitis. If you think of it this way it kind of makes sense doesn't it? Lay down rather than sit, lay around for a month and hope like Hell it heals. If you have to get into and out of a car, wear pants and lift your leg by pulling up on your pants with your arms so as not to aggravate that muscle. Don't do anything that aggravates that muscle, pray that it heals. If after 2 months it never does heal go back to the orthopedic surgeon and ask for a small surgery to repair. Trust me you do NOT want to suffer with tendonosis all your life, it will handicap you.
Shayes MarthaUK
Posted