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How bad is your post op pain?

Posted , 17 users are following.

sue72746
sue72746

I'm 1 week post op and have read loads of posts where people claim to be pain free after their op. I find it difficult to believe that after having such invasive surgery where muscles and ligaments are either moved around or cut that there is no pain.

Although I dont have the OA pain I have an ache in my buttock and thigh area that resembles being kicked by a horse. I put that down to the brutal procedure of thr. I appreciate the superpath is less invasive but surely there must be some post op pain.

0 likes, 25 replies

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  • Mary8610
    Mary8610 sue72746

    Posted

    I understand how you feel as I heArd people saying the same . I presume they meant that their old pain had gone as you will def have pain for quite a while but it will go . I went for my second check up yesterday am now 18 weeks post op and doing well . Next appt in a years time . 

    Good luck

  • RossshireBuffUK
    RossshireBuffUK sue72746

    Posted

    Hi Sue,

    The night of my THR I had an ache like the worst pain I'd ever had ~ which even morphine had absolutely no effect on.  After 4 days I was released to a local community hospital, purely because I live alone in a Highland rural cottage.  I was taking the prescribed painkillers (paracetamol & something else) for the couple of weeks they'd been prescribed.  It may have been simply because, like so many on this site, I'd be unable to sleep on my back, so that between tiredness & a couple of good stiff whisky & sodas I was unaware of any pain.  But that's how it was for me ~ no pain to speak of by 4 days post op.  Hopefully you too will soon no longer feel bothersome pain, although 'discomfort' can come & go for ages afterwards.

    In any case, hope you're relatively pain-free soon.

    Good luck.

    • sue72746
      sue72746 RossshireBuffUK

      Posted

      The pain I had pre op is gone but I muscle ache in buttock and thigh even though I'm on paracetamol and dihydrocodeine.

      My leg is black and blue from top of hip to knee which is due to the trauma muscles experience in surgery.

      Are you saying your muscles are pain free Ross ?

    • ruth11497
      ruth11497 RossshireBuffUK

      Posted

      Hi there , nice to see someone from the Highlands on here . Did you have your op in Raigmore Hospital ? My sister works there ! What part of Rosshire do live ? I am from Inverness but have lived in Wales for 20 +years now . I had both my hips done 3 months ago now and was pretty pain free apart from where they'd tugged me around . I'm hoping to drive up to Inverness in August sometime , I do miss the Highlands , good luck with the rest of your recovery , Ruth
    • RossshireBuffUK
      RossshireBuffUK ruth11497

      Posted

      Hi Ruth,

      Indeed it was Raigmore.  And I live on a farm outside Tain in Easter Ross.

      Amazing the number of nurses at Raigmore who were married to or had fathers, brothers, etc in the Queen's Own Highlanders.  Bit like home away from home!

    • ruth11497
      ruth11497 RossshireBuffUK

      Posted

      Hi again , my granny was from Ardgay so I may have some distant relatives up that way , do you farm yourself ? We have a small farm here in Wales but I managed to miss almost all our lambing this year . I went in to get my hips done 18 th March so my husband and two teenage  girls had to get on with things . I must say I did miss it . Hopefully by next lambing I will be somewhere near normal and can get stuck in . Take care , Ruth
    • Jodi-France
      Jodi-France sue72746

      Posted

      Sue, I had my THR a year ago but I STILL remember the Butt pain!

      I needed codeine, codeine worked great for me. But then also what you want to get is a topical pain reliever cream. Volterene (slightly different name in the UK) works great. In fact I needed it last night because now my other hip is going. 2% Volterne is the best, try to get 2%. You are going to have aches & pains, one day your ankles will hurt another day your knee will will hurt, smear on the Volterene cream and it really does eliminate the pain, works great for a bach ache also.

      It takes about 30 minutes for the Volterene cream to work, and t doesn't last that long, but it removed the pain just enough for me to fall asleep, together with the codeine & paracetamol (Tylenol).  I took (2) @50mg of codeine + 400mg of Tylenol (paracetamol), rubbed in the Volterene and I was able to get a good 4 too 6 hours of sleep this way. Around week 3/4 I cut back on the codeine, gradually I went form 50mg to 25 mg. Then I had my husband go to the doctor for a prescription to get the 25mg of codeine in tables which I cut in half, so got 12 mg of codeine. This spring I was doing heaby lifying and I really hurt my leg. A couple nights I took half of the 25mg codein in order to go to sleep.

      Just watch out with codeine it is HIGHLY constipating so I took a stool softner every day and also drank a glas of prune juice every day. Also you know it is addicting, but don't worry about that right now, as long as you have pain take the pain meds, people get addicted when they do NOT have pain and keep on taking them.

      Yeah I remember the butt cheek pain, I remember that very well. I never had an inch of swelling nor a single bruise, but I sure had the butt cheek pain.

    • sue72746
      sue72746 Jodi-France

      Posted

      Hi Jodie, I was prescribed paracetamol and dihydrocodeine but found the latter made me drowsy and nauseous so I just take paracetamol 4 times a day. Im not too bothered about the butt ache it was just a concern that so many people said they were pain free.Due to an allergy i cant use nsaids or the likes of voltarol, ibuprofen or aspirin. So ice rest exercise and paracetamol is my limit and im doing ok.

      :0)

  • maggie93798
    maggie93798 sue72746

    Posted

    I was able to stop taking pain killers one week post op. Yes there were aches, itches and muscle cramps as things recovered but They were not very bad and I was able to use them as signals by my body when I needed to slow down. Needed painkillers for a few days after I started walking unaided, as my muscles complained a bit!
  • ian97093
    ian97093 sue72746

    Posted

    Hi Sue my right leg was very swollen for 10 days, and bruised at the ankle and a big thumb print on my lap, that was sore too. Also the glued seam is still sore, but I can lie on it now for about 30 mins, then its back on the back, I take Tramadol to kill the pain thay work quite well and Amatryptilyne 5mgs to help nod off to sleep, I get 6 hrs regularly, then up for a couple of hours, Deadliest Catch, or Wicked Tuna, then back to bed for a 2 or 3 hr kip, then the late afternoon or evening and a walk to the shops, and in bed again at 2.30/3am. well it works for me and an understanding wife.....

    Kind regards Ian.

    • sue72746
      sue72746 ian97093

      Posted

      Hi Ian, what's the thumbprint on your lap?

      I suppose it depends what approach each of us underwent. Mine was anterior, cemented, ceramic ball, plastic socket, clips in wound.

      Walked on frame 2 hrs after op. On crutches next day; full weight bearing. In hospital 3 days as I was constipated otherwise would've been discharged on day 2.

      How does that compare with anyone else?

  • fiona71669
    fiona71669 sue72746

    Posted

    Hi sue, I was relatively pain free after the first week but yes, definitely felt as if I had been kicked on the butt by a horse! I though it was the manipulation of the muscles in that area that caused the discomfort as my wound is on the side of my thigh, not my buttock.
    • Guest
      Guest fiona71669

      Posted

      My wound is in the same place as yours too. | think we refer to being pain free as the horrible pain has gone, I don't have pain as such just a dull ache, as in some of my previous blogs I was taking 11 pain killers plus orimorph before the op now I am taking 1 Naproxin morning and night, thats why I say I'm pain free, the after pain doesn't compare at all to the pre-op pain. Also I can stand up straight and am not bending over as I was.
  • sue72746
    sue72746

    Posted

    Post op my movement was limited and I had some pain but I didn't need painkillers.

    I understand that in comparison many people were in extreme pain and on massive doses of painkillers before their op. Maybe because of this extreme pain the post op aches from muscles being yanked about or cut is no.more than pure discomfort to them? Doesnt it also depend if you are in the UK or on another country as well as what procedure was used? Superpath is minimally invasive but rare in the UK; the anterior approach which I had is the opposite.

    If that's not the case then I must have something wrong as my butt has a dull ache most of the time.

    I'm 8 days post op, UK, no manipulation, massage; just the exercises, walking and strictly following dos and don'ts.

    Please provide the same info since can compare practices and recovery.

    :0)

    • renee01952
      renee01952 sue72746

      Posted

      Hi Sue, I am in Holland and many on this forum are from elsewhere, like USA and Australia - it seems that we all experience some post-op pain but, as said, the gnawing bone-on-bone pain prior to surgery not any more - definitely other pains are coming upo when you physically start doing more - I hit the wall in week 3 and honestly, now in week 12, still have "pain" in buttock, upper thigh, knees and lowe back ...

      Prothesis are put in your body and she is trying to heal as fast as she can - muscles and tendons and all kinds of trauma has been done - it would be great if we all could have the superpath procedure - maybe soon ???? available in Holland in just a few hospitals too ... take care .. I hope we have helped you in a way - we are individuals and healing at our own pace -  however, if you are so  worried, please contact your GP or surgeon - just to put your mind at easy ... be gentle with your self .... 

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