Bilateral hips Dec 22ndfeet still swelling

Hi Rita

Swelling happens & elevation helps, but I also used ice packs.  If you don't have ice packs, a bag of frozen peas is excellent, but do wrap them in a tea towel before putting them on your legs.  Using your leg lifter helps loads too.  Things will get better, I promise.  I'm 3 months post op this coming Saturday & I have to say having my hip done has made all the difference to me & my mobility.  Back at work from the 7 week point & loving it.  Youngsters where I work still looking out for me bless them.  You will also find some useful tips in your Physio booklet & guide, as well as the post op documentation.  Ray

Dear Rita, I can't imagine getting both hips replaced, I just had one done. You sound as if you are doing well. It's really important to keep up the pain meds, I hope you've got more now. Re swelling, it's perfectly normal. As Ray said, get your legs up, and put something cold on them. Mine were very swollen at the beginning, it was surprising. Hope it goes well with your surgeon today. Good luck, Judith

You will eventually be WONDERFUL--but keep in mind that you literally just had surgery! I had both hips done (anterior) and tried to take myself off of meds at 3 weeks and it was awful! At five weeks it was good without meds (only at night--an ibuprofen), and at three months I went back to work part-time. 

But total adhering of muscles and everything is complete at about a year, so at 6 months, I'm not there yet! 

Try to to be good to yourself--use medicine if necessary, be very careful to try to avoid falling, etc. If it hurts, stay off of it for a while, use ice packs if it swells. 

 

At six months, here's where I'm at: I go to work almost every day and walk around quite a bit on my feel. I never take meds anymore--except yesterday (I got my teeth cleaned and forgot I needed to take amoxicillin an hour before, so I took it an hour afterward--I think it had to do with that). So I took an ibuprofen and today I'm back to normal. 

Do do I feel my hips? Yes. It's not like before you have hip problems when you're not even aware you have hips. But it's so minor compared with before the surgery, and it doesn't require medication. Maybe "feeling them" will go away as I get closer to the one year mark. But I can run and jump (I don't think it would be wise to intentionally do it, but I can in a pinch), and I really feel like I've gotten a new "lease on life."

(For reference, I'm a normal weight otherwise relatively healthy fifty-four-year-old female.)

BE PATIENT, BE WISE, BE GOOD TO YOUR HIPS.

Well, I know why my left leg hurt so much. My x-rays today showed a broken left femur. Drat! So heading back to surgery this Thursday and getting a revision. Good news is my right leg and hip are healing beautifully.

Sounds to me like you need lots of rest, ice and elevation. No PT yet! You have lots of traumatized tissues and bones that need to heal. And, you need to be properly medicated, as the undermedication that you are suffering means lots more pain and less mobility. 

hi rita, 

wow girl, you just had major surgery and doing very well ...

Well, there are many reasons why swelling occurs:

During  surgery  tissues cut, muscles and tendons are  handled and pulled around and can make fluid build up in the hours afterwards. This can stay or ebb and flow for days and even a couple of weeks. 

Also, increased blood and lymph flow; healing happens because there is increased circulation bringing plentiful blood cells, plasma and lymph into the area to supply nutrition and oxygen - all needed for repair and healing ..

You might want to go back taking your pain medication and stay ahead of the pain ..

Let us know how the removal of staples went and what you were told regarding the swelling, okay ...

Big warm hug and happy healthy new years with new hips

renee

I am six weeks out and I still take pain killers in moderation. The first two weeks I was on hydrocodone pretty much every 4 hours then after that I reduced it to 1 every 4 hours. Now I take them only when I need them and it is tylenol3 not hydrocodone. I have been sleeping in a recliner and still am. My incision is on the back side not on the side. It is a tiny scar and won't amount to much and it is right on my panty line so it won't show in a swim suit although I really don't care. Recliner is the best for me I use pillows to make myself comfortable. Just don't push it to much no reason to hurry this you need to get well first! My surgery was November the 22nd and then I had surgery on my left eye December the 22nd. Guess we were in surgery the same day.   I went home alone with no pt and managed okay. I just did everything really slow and used the walker. I still use the walker quite a bit but I can put weight on my hip now. When I do the next day I am pretty sore so I am taking it slowly. Not in any hurry...take care and I hope it all goes well with you!

Oh Rita, so sorry about your left leg. Hope your revision goes well tomorrow, x

Gosh - that's really a rubbish outcome for you. So sorry. Going back to your original enquiry, and leaving out the ankle that is swollen to the size of a small planetary body (the ankle is damaged) - but yes, I am now just eight weeks out and realised only this week how swollen the other undamaged ankle has been. When my slipper started falling off my foot because it was now too big for the foot! So yes, that bit seems to be quite nnormal and goes away in time.

Good luck with the revision and hopefully this time you will be speeding on your way to recovery!