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Hip Replacement complicated with paralysis in foot

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dorothy04749
dorothy04749

I had a traffic accident six weeks ago and broke my femur, was told that i had to have a full hip replacement, unfortunately during surgery my popliteal nerve (motor/sensory nerve) was damaged and woke up to a paralysed foot on the same side as THR.

?Now had four weeks of intensive physio and gained some movement in toes and ankle, but still no balance as pads of toes are not there according to my brain.  The pain at times has been excrutiating and now take lyrica to deal with that, but has anyone out there experienced the same and got any positive words regarding this healing itself and how long it might take.

?The hip has had to take a back seat (scuse the pun) to this paralysis, and every thing has slowed up accordingly, to walk with a stick is really relying on balance which i do not have at present.

?Regards Dot

1 like, 23 replies

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  • Guest
    Guest dorothy04749

    Posted

    Sorry but would love to be able to help.  I have developed sciatica in un-operated leg.  Never had this before.  This is becoming more painful than op. leg!  GO FIGURE!
    • dorothy04749
      dorothy04749 Guest

      Posted

      Franka sorry to hear your news, I posted in the first place in the hope of catching some of the 1400 or so - 2% comp nerve pain in THR -  early on in case their surgeon forgot to mention he had damaged a nerve.  I know nerve pain can be excruciating.  I can only pass on what seems to have worked for me, but these past 8 weeks have been hard won.  Only sheer determination and a sense of humour have kept me going plus my hub bid too who has been there every step.  Regards dot
  • dorothy04749
    dorothy04749

    Posted

    Hi Just coming back on to this website to update on my hip replacement, complicated with foot paralysis.  It is now 5 months.  I had intense daily physio for four and a half months in Spain and just come home to UK.  I can now get about the house slowly even without the cane, although I still need it outside as any sudden movement will just off balance me and crash as they say!  The hip is fantastic, i feel it is as strong as the old one, no problems at all with it, and infact I have to keep stopping crossing my right leg over it (used to cross my legs all the time pre THR) and the brain still wants me to do this.  I believe I can do this, no pain but feel best not too anymore.  The scar is fading and becoming a part of the furniture when I look.  The leg seems normal and unless ?I press hard on the popliteal behind the knee, no pain, the left side of my ankle is pretty normal and moves quite well, but the inside ankle is still pretty nonexistent compared to its right leg counterpart, and so are the nerves to the toes.  The base of my foot and all of my foot looks normal but is pretty cold (started to wear knee high stockings under the trousers and that helps to warm up my foot.  However the base still feels different when I walk, and when i think "stand up on your toes", the right toes move, the left toes just go 'what the hell!' so still not 100% but still so pleased, no wheelchair, no leg brace, no zimmer frame, what more can a gal ask for - I shall start prettying up my cane and accessorise it to what i am wearing.

    ?I have been referred by my GP to RNOH for both the ortho and the neuro surgeons, and just waiting for them to see if they can hold out some hope for 100% within the next year.  If not, well I am mobile and thankful, and even more sure this was down to my physiotherapists in Spain who knew what to do, and really really took care of me.  So if anyone should wake up with my symptoms, then this is the best answer I can give you, and although physio is expensive, what price mobility ?  Because it will work if you laugh through the pain and work the exercises as if you will be beaten up by them the nex day if you do not............

    Regards Dot

    • brenda92532
      brenda92532 dorothy04749

      Posted

      Hi Dorothy 

      Im glado hear how well you have done in Spain.  The problem with your foot sounds the same as mine.  It's 10 months since I had my hip replacement and they have finally agreed it sounds like nerve damage in my foot.  I'm having nerve conduction test next week and I hope to find out more.

      All the best Brenda C

    • dorothy04749
      dorothy04749 brenda92532

      Posted

      Hi Brenda

      ?I am sorry to hear that, do not forget that the nerve usually grows again at 1" roughly a month, so if they measure you - you will get an indication of how much longer you have to wait.  Mine is 18 months and I am 5'4".

      ?Also you want an EGM, (if this is not the nerve conduction test)  not exactly painless but manageable, again it will show what is going on in your foot.  Other than that, it is intense physio to get the foot mobile and 'ready' for the new nerve.   Please keep posting on this, as I do hope if there are any others out there like us they come to our posts early on for advice what to do.  Seems to me a lot of Surgeons and Doctors do not seem to know what is going on or want to know in the early days.

      Regards Dot

    • brenda92532
      brenda92532 dorothy04749

      Posted

      Hi Dorothy

      Thank you for your advice, it was on this site that I was advised to get a nerve conduction test. That was around February and it was 6 months later after perseverance that I got them to listen.  

      I am only 4' 10" and still shrinking because of my spine.  I will keep posting on this site and find it helpful and encouraging to know there are a lot of good people in the same position or even worse.

      Are you a nurse or have been.  I'm 70 years old now but I wish I had been a nurse rather than accounts clerk come nursery nurse.

      All the best Brenda C

    • dorothy04749
      dorothy04749 brenda92532

      Posted

      Hi Brenda

      ​I am 66 and as you can see from my discussion, my THR was not planned, I was lucky and had two perfectly good hips, if there was a case of one being a bit wonky it was the hip they did not replace!  However, being computer literate at my age and also a thirst for knowledge I trawled the internet and sorted the wheat from the chaff (there are a lot of silly scares out there if you are not sure of how to separate them!) anyway, that is where all my information came from.  Also that is how I found this forum which again helped me immensely in the first few months, when the whole thing was quite bewildering and an impossibility to ring up my GP or Surgeon when I was in Spain!  This forum has been a lifeline for me and obviously for the rest of the world by the reading of it.   Regards Dot

    • brenda92532
      brenda92532 dorothy04749

      Posted

      Hi Dorothy 

      I have a thirst for knowledge also.  When I was 15 I was involved in a serious road accident resulting in many injuries including a fractured skull.  This resulted in me missing a lot of schooling at an important time.

      I managed to learn enough shorthand, typing & bookkeeping to enable me to get a job in an office.

      After marrying and having a family I went back into studying when the children were at school.  I continued in an office and worked for a local newspaper.  I took my redundancy and went back into learning new technology.

      i eventually went on to study nursery nursing and worked in a school up to retiring on ill health.  I always regretted not going into nursing but by the time I realised I was too old.

      Keep in touch Brenda C

       

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