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Hip scar sunken in and dented

Posted , 32 users are following.

Loral
Loral

My thigh was tight and the scar area was hard in the beginning and now 4 months later my scar is sunk in and dented. It looks dented and feels dented. It also is still sore when I touch it. When I put my hand in my pants pocket I feel the big dented scar. Anyone else have this issue?

5 likes, 54 replies

54 Replies

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  • amanda1827h
    amanda1827h Loral

    Posted

    Hello, I am  6 months just over & my scar feels exactly the same. I still cant paint or cut my own toenails. Still feel sore . I am a carer as well and have a lot on my shoulders. regards Amanda
  • Free_spirit
    Free_spirit Loral

    Posted

    I had a THR 4 months ago and have a huge dent in my hip with a swollen area below it. Fat distribution issues mean that the surgeon or resident didn't pay close enough attention to putting things back correctly. Usually a surgical resident is opening and closing for orthopedic surgeons especially in teaching hospitals. They are less experienced than your surgeon. I have had a lot of pain from soft tissue damage and tight IT band. Also had a period of time with trochanteric bursitis. This is either due to damage from restractors during surgery or pulling things together too tightly with the wound closure. This is not guessing. I am a RN. I have seen many hip scars and mine is more disfigured than any I've seen. When you pick a surgeon with. 38 years experience you think you're getting someone with lots of experience but he only does the crucial parts of the surgical procedure. And then sometimes he doesn't even do that. A little discouraged and I hope that within the year after surgery I can walk without a limp and have less pain. My leg is longer and it's very difficult to walk any distnace as e I balance causes pain in the hip and low back. .I'm not taking pain med but just dealing with the discomfort. Patients should pay more attention to asking exactly who will performing the surgery on them.
    • AnnieK
      AnnieK Free_spirit

      Posted

      Sounds like you have had a very difficult time, Free Spirit. So sorry about your surgical area being misshapen, and your pain/limping. Hope you will heal fully soon! The leg length discrepancy can be very difficult to deal with, I've heard.

      I am 7 months post-op and still have a limp and pain in hip/thigh. It seems to be getting a little better, finally. Have been having different scans done and just got a different orthopedist to give me his diagnosis and treatment plan. Will know more when tests are done and results are in. I am SO tired of not being fully mobile and having the pain on the sides of my thigh, around my hip, in my butt and down my thigh. I know that hip replacement surgery can result in damage to soft tissue, and I think i got that in spades, as did you.

      Best of luck!

    • Free_spirit
      Free_spirit AnnieK

      Posted

      It's impossible to get ortho surgeons to admit that the end result wasn't great. Mine copped an attitude when I told hi that I felt like I had a leg length difference. He was very disrespectful and said intimidating things and I am now in the process of filing a complaint with PT care advocate and she will help me to find a new dr. for my hip replacement. Last thing any patient should have to deal with is being disrespected by someone that you put so much trust in. He just needs to man up and measure my leg and give me the proper insert I need to walk right. They are so afraid of litigation. I told him that was not my intention. I just want to walk pain free. 
    • Loral
      Loral Free_spirit

      Posted

      Are you in USA? I'm 9 months today and my scar looks just like it

      did when I posted this question 5 months ago. I am going to askmy surgeon in May why my scar is still dented and sore. I also

      have numbness on the left side of my hip. And yes I was at a

      teaching hospital... ugh

    • AnnieK
      AnnieK Free_spirit

      Posted

      So true, Free spirit, we deserve respect. It is because my hip replacement surgeon refused to go all the way to try to get a firm diagnosis for what ails me 7 months post-op that I have sought out a different doctor. I don't care if what happened is a result of surgery, as I expect that pulling aside the tissues to get at the hip joint will almost certainly cause some damage. I just want to know exactly what the damage is and what can best be done to fix it, whether that be rest, specific exercises, surgery, or whatever. I don't want vague pronouncements that "something is weak in there" and that I "should do PT to strengthen it" or I should have "a steroid injection in that general area" or that I should have an oral steroid. 

      My new doctor is doing his best to get me that exact diagnosis, and I am ridiculously grateful for that effort.

    • amanda1827h
      amanda1827h Free_spirit

      Posted

      Hello Free Spirit, I am ( Amanda) ,& I had my right hip replaced last march. So just a few weeks short of one year. I have a disabled Hubby too , with mobility problems, & to be honest I too have got other issues, with my knees & other hip, with OA , but I am too scared to have another op, as it was they wanted to do a spinal injection, & on the day of the op, I was given nothing to calm my wretched nerves, I remember I walked down to to the op suite in my dressing gown, then I completley had the biggest MELTDOWN . There was no way a spinal was ever going to happen. I had my op in the woking Nuffield. Even now I have a dented leg, & it still aches, I am not sporty but have had several jacuzzis as I suffer from tension. I also have to help my poorly hubby with his mobility as hes Blind, so my recovery really has not been good. Where are you based? In the uik? If so I would love to talk with you. Regards Amanda 
    • StillAche
      StillAche Free_spirit

      Posted

      Hello FREE SPIRIT

      You are the first person I've read about who has issues similar to mine. I am six months post anterior hip replacement and I have had discomfort, aching on the outside of my hip ever since the surgery. I was told it was common to develop bursitis after hip surgery (I never had bursitis before) - really?.

      I also have discomfort and aching down the side/outside of my leg which I was told was due to the IT band. this has improved, as it was very painful for the first 4 months.

      I was also told there would be some numbness, but mine extends from my hip to my knee on the outer quadrant. The area has begun to tingle occasionally and shoots little waves, zaps of electricity. It’s not very comfortable to walk as it feels tight, full, almost as if its asleep... not painful, but uncomfortable.. This is driving me crazy because it’s constant. . I’ve gone for a second opinion at four months and the surgeon said everything looked fine on the x-ray. it seems they all stick together.

      i also have developed knee pain that I didn’t have prior to the surgery when going up and down the stairs. I am beginning to think I was better off before .

      I am most interested in your comments on closing the wound, being pulled too tight and the use of retractors which could cause IT band problems. Could you comment further possibly? Thanks so much.

  • Free_spirit
    Free_spirit Loral

    Posted

    You have to demand respect from OS. They are just a different breed. I'm not saying that all are arrogant but a lot of them don't even like you to ask any questions. I find it interesting that prior to surgery he was kind and allowed me to ask whatever questions I had. Once they have finished their job they could care less whether they see you again. 
    • sandra16826
      sandra16826 Free_spirit

      Posted

      So true....5 months later no one wants to talk to me....I've e-mailed my surgeon and he never replies, his "assistant" does. This guy is not a doctor.....it's sad how impersonal things have gotten in the medical field.
    • luvinlex
      luvinlex sandra16826

      Posted

      I never had the email address of my ortho surgeon, but I do have my GP's. She's nice and we talk all the time. The Ortho, his PA was so rude to me the first time back for a check up, I was hysterical in tears. I wanted to just choke this guy. I'd slipped, I'd messed w my "special post op bandage silver thing" and all sorts of other things. Not to mention, I was on MORPHINE. I came home w my friend crying and just didn't know what to do. Then, this angel from heaven, Jill. She was the ortho nurse. She called and just said "I just wanted to see how you're feeling?" I started crying, someone finally cares!! I told her my story and she asked me to write it down in an email and send it to her. She said she'd make sure I NEVER saw the PA again, and only the surgeon. That all the people in the office woulld know it also. I believe I have her till the end of this month. That's 3 months. 
    • sandra16826
      sandra16826 luvinlex

      Posted

      So sorry you had to go through that! It's hard enough to try to recover from this major surgery. The P.A. I delt with was very cold and insensitive...thank goodness I am doing well after 5 months...
  • sandra16826
    sandra16826 Loral

    Posted

    YES! It's been 5 months since my left hip replacement and I now have (all of a sudden) a dent in the middle of my scar....it is (just as you said) sore and warm when I feel it. I've been told to massage it (but it is hard).....not much after care from P.T....just more and more excercise handouts I can easily get on the Internet......I have been doing them and go to the gym regularly...on the bike and treadmill....
    • luvinlex
      luvinlex sandra16826

      Posted

      I don't know what the heck to do with my scar. Some say, "leave it totally alone", there are stiches under there. Then I see a video of a therapist telling you how to massage your scar to keep it from being thick, some say lotion, or vitamin E, or Aloe. I've never had a sucker like this before, I am puzzled too. Is it odd, and when you show people odd stuff, they don't go "Wow, that's ODD!" they just go "Hmm" I have only been to the PT gym once, did the same exercises the home PT told me to do, yes, I can watch on youtube with my stupid rubber straps. The doctor insisted I get this PT. One of the things his PA did tell me that time was, "why are you going to PT? You just like to throw your money away?" Now, that made me start thinking. I don't know what it is or the answer, but it got me thinking. 
    • luvinlex
      luvinlex sandra16826

      Posted

      Read this." Uncemented joints are attached using a porous coating that is designed to allow the bone to adhere to the artificial joint. Over time, new bone grows and fills up the openings in the porous coating, attaching the joint to the bone." I didn't know there was any "porous" coating, maybe that's sunken in and cause of your problem. Just wondering. 
    • AnnieK
      AnnieK luvinlex

      Posted

      Who knows. I never did anything special to my scar, and it's just fine. I wonder if any of them really know what's going on with scars. My PT told me to massage it, as that would keep it from being tight and stuck. Well, I didn't massage it and have had no problems there.

      Now if my scar area were sore and warm after 5 months, I'd be worrying a bit and having a doctor check it out.

    • AnnieK
      AnnieK luvinlex

      Posted

      The porous coating is very hard, luinlex. I have uncemented prostheses and got to handle samples before my surgery. The porous part is made of titanium and has very small holes in it to allow the bone to grow into it. It couldn't create a dent unless it had been monumentally bashed.
    • luvinlex
      luvinlex AnnieK

      Posted

      Duh.. I guess since they used the word "coating" that confused me. Maybe it's too late at night and my brain is going into sleep mode. They never actually explained the surgery parts other than to show me the hip implants they use. Titanium coatings sounds like a good thing. Sorry...
    • AnnieK
      AnnieK luvinlex

      Posted

      No need to be sorry! It was an interesting thought that you had. I would have been wondering that, too, if I hadn't actually handled the thing. My prostheses are made completely of titanium except for the ceramic cup. I am exhausted myself. Must go to sleep now. Good night, luvinlex!
    • Free_spirit
      Free_spirit luvinlex

      Posted

      That would not be the reason for a sunken surgical site. Detailed closure ofmthe wound prevents this from occurring.
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