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Limp after hip replacement

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kathlyn72890
kathlyn72890

I had a hip replacement 3 weeks ago.  My legs are the same length but due to pelvic tilt, my non surgery leg is now 1.3 inches shorter than my new hip leg.  I am having excruciating pain in my back and both legs now, plus a big limp.  Has anyone ever recovered from the limp and how long did it take?  Did anyone have surgery on the non surgery leg to make it technically longer to stop the limp?  Does the pain go away?  I am going to physical therapy twice a week.

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  • Sredni393
    Sredni393 kathlyn72890

    Posted

    Limp! You are not one tenth of the way yet. My leg was 1.1/2 inches longer but over one year it settled and now they're even.  Like you I'm left with uneven pelvis but we don't know how much this is due to the many years of deteriorating hip capsule.  Limp and pain will resolve.. How long is anyone's guess.  Painkillers will help you do the exercises. I would have died without them.  The osteo can realign your pelvis but mine keeps clicking back out.  Our bodies were uneven all those years so some things are going to just be. ......my limp comes and goes depending on how I comport self!  Stick with it.  I know the pain is so bad you assume something is wrong but it's just the way it is.  You'll know more at the next x ray but even that won't show soft tissue.  If things don't slowly improve then they can scan you. . At two weeks I was at deaths door but am normal today one year on. ..
    • squall1223
      squall1223 Sredni393

      Posted

      hello, my wife did her right hip 2weeks ago, after the surgery, her right leg is about half inch longer than the left. she is 25 and healing very fast without pain. but the only thing bothers us is the limp. what did u do to make the 1.5 inch go away? are you walk normal without limp now? thank u for your information, I saw a lot of people saying limp will not go away and the difference of their legs seem permanent. kind of worried about it. 
    • Sredni393
      Sredni393 squall1223

      Posted

      Took 10 months for my leg length to be identical. Left with misaligned pelvis. Went osteo couple of times fir pelvis re alignment but it soon clicked out again. Your wife is younger so more chance of it staying put. The Pilates teacher showed us a floor exercise to do which one woman said her boss,  a spinal surgeon said to do twice a day.  Difficult to instruct on here.  As for the 1.1/2, believe me it does settle down. Theres swelling which will all shrink and the prosthesis will push into the socket as more and more pressure is put on.  It may take weeks or months.  You have to wait and tell what your outcome is at the next 6 month xray. The pelvis alignment stretch exercise may be too early. You must check with physio or surgeon.  You lie down legscurledlike a baby then you make circles  with one bent leg then the other side;, clockwise then anti clockwise. Maybe you cd research online and find a diagram. But I emphasise it is early days. You gotta let things knit and heal while working muscles at the right speed. Dont do anything without physio or surgeon input. For 6-8 weeks its only the exercises the hospital send u back with. Leg length will almost certainly resolve but I understand your worry. Very few left with permanent difference as surgeons use sophisticated measuring techniques.  Stick with it
    • squall1223
      squall1223 Sredni393

      Posted

      thanks for your reply, it really help me a lot and make me feel better. cause my wife's surgeon told us, during the surgery, he found the hole in her bone is smaller than normal people, so he drilled and put the stem in it. I am worried that maybe means it is extra tight and does not have enough space to make the half inch away.also, maybe that's the cause of the half inch difference. I am in Houston, Texas, United States. Are u in UK? I think doctors doing things differently in different places. But patients always facing the same problem. Just need to know some good experience that can open my mind. BTW, my wife has two spikes or screws on her pelvis to reinforce the hip joint. Do you have the same things? 

      Again, thank u so much for your sharing. I think u just give a lot people confidence to get better. God bless u!

    • kathlyn72890
      kathlyn72890 Sredni393

      Posted

      Thank you Thank you!  I feel much more positive reading your reply.  I figure if my pelvis changed while my hip deteriorated, then it can change again as my alignment improves.  I do know I don't have arthritis in my back so that should help
    • Sredni393
      Sredni393 squall1223

      Posted

      Well she's got a lot going on but the narrow shaft not so bad as prob means she has good bone matrix whereas older patients may have degree of osteoporosis etc.. may take longer for body to adapt to pins in pelvis but there's a lot of it about and results are durable.  Just give it time.  When I think back to my early days I really thought I'd never walk.  But play tennis etc now.  Yep UK vs USA vs France. ..all a bit competitive.  Surgeons have not yet been standardised worldwide! Having read a lot on here I'd go to France given the choice. ...
    • jen47557
      jen47557 Sredni393

      Posted

      Hi, had a total hip replacement 2 months ago and I'm a pilates buff... would love to know the exercise you mentioned.  if you describe a bit of it, i'm sure I'll recognize it - thanks!
    • anna87839
      anna87839 Sredni393

      Posted

      Hi there I had my LHR two weeks ago and been worried to death about the pain i feel I no it's early days ,I found your letter a great comfort especially about the limb and time will sort it out. Many thanks

  • juliette39133
    juliette39133 kathlyn72890

    Posted

    I had the same problem, legs were same length but pelvis was severely tilted. The surgeon sent me to physio where I was given some exercises to rebalance the tilt. The simplest was to consciously realign it each time I sat or lay down. It feels pretty freaky doing it but together with the exercises it did work for me. I so did not want a limp, I was quite determined. Now I walk normally. It's still early days for you so take expert advice.
  • frognrose
    frognrose kathlyn72890

    Posted

    Hi stay on crutches or two supportive sticks, one stick will make imbalance worse. there is a very gentle theraphy called Bowen technique which can help considerably to re align the pelvis in some people. the pain will move arround as the muscles are being used  in a different way while those in the area of the replaced hip have to mend and heal. I used to get the most terrible cramps at night numbness in the area where the scar is lower back ache now 6 months later most of that  has gone. pacer poles(you can Google it) have helped me to straighten my back and get rid of the waddle and limp. good luck.  3 weeks is far too short  a time to judge how things will be in 4 months time or a year. good luck I am sure  you can find the right method to improve your mobility etc.
  • ceboyd
    ceboyd kathlyn72890

    Posted

    I had my hip replacement 4 months ago and am still struggling with learning to walk without a limp.

    Like you I had pelvis tilting/rotating issues before surgery and hindsight now says that I really should have tried to fix that as much as possible before surgery as now it's alot harder, due to stretching restrictions/lack of comfort.

    I gave up on not taking pain killers this week and have decided to take them and focus on the gait retraining which is tiring/uncomfortable. I'm using my cane as soon as I get home from work just to give some relief.

    What I just discovered, that seems to make a difference for me, is stretching my hamstrings. I do this by half sitting on a table (we have physio tables at work as I work in a gym) with one leg dangling and the other straight out. I also do a hip flexor stretch, particularly on the side that always wants to tilt up. I couldn't, or wasn't sure, if I should do them early in recovery so I'm extremely tight already as I have been pretty active. Definitely make sure you're good to go before doing bi stretches.

    When I walk I try to concentrate on striding the leg forward as I think I was do more "side to Side" movement and the cane can establish that as a bad habit. If you have a four wheel walker you get to see what that movement feels like more.

    I'm trying to hit the rehab on this hard this week and I'll let you know how it goes but I will say that the Physio told me I had a long road ahead with relearning to walk, although I was pretty darn fit/strong. Obviously there's a reason that I needed surgery when I'm not older, heavy or unfit so that reason probably was big muscle imbalances that still remain, but on a weaker body right now.

    • kathlyn72890
      kathlyn72890 ceboyd

      Posted

      Thanks!  I was fit before the surgery also and never had a limp prior.  I hope there is hope for getting rid of the limp eventually.  I know I do that side to side walk to avoid limping sometimes.  I also keep my new hip leg slightly bent during my stride so it doesn't appear I am limping.  I will try the stretches.
  • kathlyn72890
    kathlyn72890

    Posted

    Has anyone, after several months, elected to have the other hip done and have that  leg length made to balance out the limp rather than have both legs made the same length?  I wonder how that outcome might be?
    • squall1223
      squall1223 kathlyn72890

      Posted

      you better do the other one later. my wife's therapist told us she has a friend do the same surgery like my wife's age 25. at that time, her friend knew she's gonna do the other side, but she waited 4years to do it.I think it is the better way to do it. let the first one fully recovered then u will have an idea how much inch you really need.
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