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Heel pain

Posted , 13 users are following.

Ousi9mm
Ousi9mm

hi all,

my 74 year old mum had her left THP on 3rd JAN.

She has severe pain (burning) in both her heels and this wakes her in the night- she is literally groaning with the pain, has anyone else experienced this? have any idea what it is? I think its likely to be nerve related but I'm no doctor.

Also.. because she struggled so much for a year before being able to have her op, her 'good' leg knee deteriorated and its this 'good' leg thats now really hindering her, she was told by a doctor whilst in hospital that she may well need a knee replacement ..but other than that little cheery nugget of information didn't offer any helpful information as to what, if anything, can be done for this knee in the interim so it doesn't impact too much on the new hip / and recovery. Can anyone relate to this at all?

thank you

1 like, 26 replies

26 Replies

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  • jo12628
    jo12628 Ousi9mm

    Posted

    Hello

    I had my left hip done in November and I too had heel pain during the night especially. It disappeared once I was able to move about a bit more in bed. I thought it was more like a bed sore. I found moisturising them and having a slight cushion under them while I slept helped.

    I hope she feels better soon,

    • Ousi9mm
      Ousi9mm jo12628

      Posted

      ah yes my mum said when I massaged them for her, it did feel much better temporarily.

      We tried the cushion under them idea but she wasn't comfortable so i think we'll try the cushions either side as others have suggested. thanks so much.

  • janeane72743
    janeane72743 Ousi9mm

    Posted

    I had this only burning was on side of my leg I was told by specialist it's a good sign of nerves growing back but at 74 I would not take any chances

    • Ousi9mm
      Ousi9mm janeane72743

      Posted

      Thank you, her GP is visiting later anyway so we'll mention it to him.

  • john49662
    john49662 Ousi9mm

    Posted

    After my THR just over three weeks ago I also suffered with the strange burning heels at night. It kept me awake. I found a very quick solution was to do my heel flex exercises as soon as the pain started. That exercise is the one where you rotate your foot in circles from below the ankle. Within a minute of the exercise starting the pain disappeared and has never returned.

    I was very conscious that prior to the operation a lot of stress was passed onto my good leg which had to do the work normally shared by two. Fortunately it does not seem to have caused any obvious long term problems.

    • Ousi9mm
      Ousi9mm john49662

      Posted

      ah great thanks, I'll tell her to try this. Fingers crossed.

      Yes hopefully we may see some improvement in my mums good leg but with the doctor at the hospital saying shes likely to need a knee replacement its driven her negativity to her recovery somewhat.

      all the best for your recovery.

  • AlexandriaGizmo
    AlexandriaGizmo Ousi9mm

    Posted

    I would presume its from sleeping on her back, if you have an old sheepskin coat or a piece of sheepskin put it under her heels, its excellent and will stop bedsores forming which the burning could be a warning sign, i had one on my elbow so you need to be very vigilant.

    I hope that she will be able to lay on her side very soon.

    I dont know if they told you to put a cushion either side of her feet as well to keep toes pointing up ward's

    • Ousi9mm
      Ousi9mm AlexandriaGizmo

      Posted

      great advice, thank you, we'll try the cushion idea tonight (she wasn't told about the toes pointing up) whilst we try and source some sheepskin.

      thanks very much x

    • AlexandriaGizmo
      AlexandriaGizmo Ousi9mm

      Posted

      Your welcome, i had marvelous physiotherapist, she was thankfully old school and her advice was priceless, reason for the sheepskin it has natural oils like lanolin in it and is really excellent at cushioning the body, it can be used after to sit on as it cushions the hip as well, reason for keeping toes pointing up is to keep the hip joint in line so it sits in the cup and doesn't tilt outwards, helping to lower the risk of dislocation.

  • Cyndey
    Cyndey Ousi9mm

    Posted

    HI THERE

    I AM 72 I ALSO HAD MY RIGHT HIP DONE DECEMBER 3rd AND I HAD SAME PROBLEM, I THINK THIS IS DUE TO HAVING TO SLEEP IN SAME POSITION ALL NIGHT, I ALSO GOT A LOT OF BACK PAIN STILL DO, BUT NOW I AM ALLOWED TO SLEEP ON MY SIDE ITS A LITTLE BIT BETTER, I USED A PILLOW UNDERNEATH MY LEGS TO TAKE THE WEIGHT OFF MY HEELS WHICH DID HELP, PERHAPS YOU CAN ASK HER DOCTOR IF THIS IS ALLOWED? I KNOW WHAT SHE IS GOING THROUGH ITS AGONY. I AM ALSO SUFFERING WITH OTHER HIP AND TOLD THAT I WILL BE HAVING THE OTHER HIP DONE ON 18th FEBRUARY! SO HOPEFULLY I WILL BE FEELING MUCH BETTER! I DO HOPE YOUR MUM CAN GET SOME GOOD ADVICE AND FEELS BETTER SOON! BEST OF LUCK

    REGARDS CYNDEY

    • Ousi9mm
      Ousi9mm Cyndey

      Posted

      Hi Cyndey

      I'm very glad i found this forum, its been a great help!

      My mum is going to try the pillow tonight so fingers crossed..

      her Gp has also prescribed something for nerve pain so maybe that might help too.

      Thanks very much for your advice and wishing you all the best for your next one!

    • Cyndey
      Cyndey Ousi9mm

      Posted

      HI THANKS FOR GETTING BACK TO ME! WITH YOUR WELL WISHES IT IS A GOOD WEBSITE. SURPRISING THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT HAVE HAD BOTH HIP REPLACENTS CLOSE TOGETHER! I HAVE FOUND SOME GREAT ADVICE! I DO HOPE YOUR MUM GETS SOME COMFORT FROM THE PILLOW ITS VERY DIFFICULT WHEN YOU CANT SLEEP BECAUSE OF PAIN AND DISCOMFORT IT SLOWS DOWN YOUR RECOVERY GOOD LUCK AND GOD BLESS!!!!

  • HLMUK
    HLMUK Ousi9mm

    Posted

    Hi, I also had this pain. Had hubby massage Soap and Glory Heel Genius on a nightly basis, seemed to soften the heel area and after a day or two it went away. I also found that the TED socks drove me to distraction and I partly blamed them as I can only wear 100% cotton socks as I suffer occasional psoriasis on heels and hands. I reverted to my 'go to' product, Bioskin for that and gave up on the TED's after a few weeks, not advocating this, but as I was pretty mobile after the first week, I wanted rid of the buggers!!

    • Ousi9mm
      Ousi9mm HLMUK

      Posted

      funnily enough we did try this a couple of nights ago and she said it helped temporarily so we'll continue.

      well done with being mobile so quick.. my mum is finding it very difficult to get about .

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