Can't lift op leg more than half inch when lying down

I had the same problem. The Physo gave me exercises to do, they were agony and made me feel sick when trying, and failing to do them. So I stopped trying and at about 7 weeks suddenly found I could raise the leg higher than the un-operated one. If it is causing you pain, don't do it, it's the body's way of saying stop it. Rest the leg and try again in a few weeks. It will come as the body heals. Hope this helps.

It's shocking that you don't have ongoing physio! It's such an important part of the recovery process.

Anyway, this was something I worked on with my physio at 2 weeks post op, as I was having the same problem. I'll try to explain what we did:

My physio would raise and lower my leg for me and said that I should carry on when he stopped. Very simple but it worked! Then he would hold his hand at the point he wanted me to raise my leg to gradually increasing the height. I was then tasked with incorporating this exercise into my daily regime & completing 5x reps of 10. I could do this with ease after a couple of days.

I was amazed at how easy it became - my physio said that the body goes into protective mode and sometimes our bodies need a gentle reminder.

Hope that makes sense. If it feels too much now try again in a few days.

I struggled to lift leg straight up but consultant then said he wanted me to practice bending my knee and then straightening leg and lowering it.  Initially I just bent, straightened, bent, lowered and then built up to lowering it straight. 

Hi attractac

I had this too, it's like trying to lift a dead weight, but I promise with each week that goes by you will be lifting it higher, it's just your muscles healing, don't expect too much too soon, you'll get there.

Lynne.

Hi Attractac, we are on the same timescale as this is my day 10; I have my first physio appt next monday. The discharge letter to your GP should have had referral info for physiotherapy as the op on its own won't do the trick! I have been trying the same exercise and boy does it hurt; lie flat and lift just as much as you can using thigh muscles. It varies from person to person as we all have different muscle damage and pain thresholds but if you do it religously even a centimeter at a time it will improve I promise you. Good luck.