Low back pain after double hip replacements

I had the posterior surgery on both hips. Smith and Nephew cobalt chrome cementless long stem. My scars are about 10 inches long on each side. I think what helped me was I worked on Towboats my whole adult life and was very strong because of it. I was bound and determined to go back to my job because I loved it. My hips don't bother me themselves. It's the nerve pain shooting down both legs and in my feet and the horriable back pain. It's also caused me to have depression and anxiety problems. I play musical beds at night going from my bed to the couch to the recliner just trying to get some sleep. I hate taking medicine but I'm forced to right now because I can't stand not to. Idk it's just really got me down and I want to work and tried everything including PT, acupuncture, chiropractic and massage treatments. Nothing helps very much.

Hi Justin,

I am sincerely sorry for your situation - in continuing pain and unsure of next steps to resolve it.

I hope I didn't offend with my earlier comments - I simply haven't heard of such rapid recovery from anyone before. And while I am not an elite athlete by any stretch, I considered myself reasonably fit before my hips became so painful.

As you are at wits' end in terms of views of the medical professionals, I offer two thoughts which may or may not be be naive.

I am very allergic to ASA and therefore I could not use any anti-inflammatories - this made things quite rough as my hips were not considered the culprits at first due to degeneration in multiple discs - my surgeon was fairly shocked when he first saw the x-rays of my hips me and chastized me for not going to see him sooner. Thankfully he had the flexibility to truncate the assessment and surgical wait times. However, this still meant a number of months with escalating swelling and pain.

Thankfully, I was referred to an aqua gym with underwater treadmills and related equipment. They also used specialized water jets which help use the lymphatic system to flush out much of the swelling.The 2nd element was the work of an amazing athletic therapist (who works with many elite and professional sports teams in our city) who helped break through deep tissue issues that multiplied over the months pre-surgery and caused several muscles and connective tissue to be in constant spasm - simply never turning off. His persistence and skill allowed him to work on the deepest muscles so that we were able to fully straighten my leg for the first time in 6 months. You can imagine how that felt .

I mention these as two examples of non-traditional routes that helped me considerably - because they look at the issues from different perspectives.

Given the neurological diagnosis they have given you, it may be that there will never be a full resolution for you (please God not) but perhaps they could help to manage your pain better.

It sounds as if you are still early in life - so I hope one these might help or that some form of stem cell regeneration will become feasible for your condition before long.

It is no wonder you feel anxiety and depression. The pain and uncertainty of this alone, would drive anyone in these directions.

I am not one given to prayer but you will be in my thoughts and prayers for a long time with the hope that you will find a way through to enjoy life more fully someday soon.

With hope for healing and peace.

L

Thank you Linda I appreciate that and no you didn't offend me at all. Most people and even my own surgeon couldn't believe how fast I was recovering. He even brought in his colleagues to show them how fast I was regaining my strength. I've always been a fast healer up until this low back and nerve pain started. I'm really happy to hear that you had a good therapist who was that skilled. Man idk if I could have made itwithout anti-inflammatorys. That must have been really hard on you. Inflammation causes most of the pain and restriction of movement. The cramping and muscle spasms were absolutely horriable for the first several days so I feel your pain on that. They aren't your typical muscle spasms, they are rip your muscles apart spasms. Lol I live in a small town about 2 hrs east of Memphis and 2 and a half hrs south west of Nashville. We don't have a therapy place like what you are talking about but I wish we did. I did a lot of swimming after my staples were removed because like you said aqua exercise is amazing in helping recover. I just turned 39, my kids say I'm really old but I disagree:-) Lol I have it in my heart and in my head I'll beat this i just need to figure out how. How are you doing now and when did you have your hip/s done? I will put you in my prayers and also on our nameless prayer request at church as long as you are not offended by that. Thank you for talking to me and telling me your story. It doesn't feel good to know others are in the same condition as me but it feels good to be able to talk with people who understand what I'm going thru. Does that make sense to you? It's like it doesn't do much good for me to talk with someone who hasn't felt the pain or the level of discomfort and the psychological effect it has on me. It's not their fault but they just don't understand and don't have any answers for me so I feel like at that point I'm just complaining. So I feel bad for complaining. Lol Anyways I would like to know how you are doing now and if certain things help you better like any tricks you might have I would greatly appreciate hearing them. Thank you so much for your time:-)

Hi Justin,

I am 64 and have always been active. I had my left hip done in Feb this year - posterior approach. Tbh, it would have been hard to wait much longer - even with all Jay's fabulous work as it was a toss up which one to do first. Recovery was okay but slow and the right hip started worsening almost right away. But everyone agreed that I was better off waiting until the left had recovered enough to support the right through the procedure and it also gave more time for therapy. I had my right done last week and from the get-go the whole experience was better although we weren't able to smooth out problems with my blood pressure which tanked and stayed quite low for the first few days ( spoiled their record using the new anaesthetic and quick discharge) 😉

But my head was so much clearer that it made up for it. Recovery is going much more rapidly but I remain more dependent than I would like ( guessing you 'get' that).

I just started walking outdoors again and I hope to manage w just a cell for company by week end. I have to stay partial weightbearing for 6 weeks due advanced osteoporosis, but begin therapy again next week and I am looking forward to it - for the help and the motivation. And Jay doesn't suffer fools easily so I will have to keep up.

One of the toughest things for me is that I usually recharge my batteries  in nature and it hasn't been easy to accommodate this much over the last year. So I am bound and determined to be good enough for snowshoeing this winter.

Re finding community - there are some phenomenal people in this forum and the majority are good and generous people who truly understand the mental side of this journey. It is the hardest part by far ... The newness of challenges we encounter, the frustration of extended dependency and the uncertainty of what is next even when recovery doesn't take any detours is wearing. It can sure eat away at you and your confidence esp if you don't have people around you who are equipped to understand.

I recommend finding a few more good people here with whom you can talk about some of the tough stuff (you can use the private message function if easier for some stuff). And jump in where your experience is relevant and could help others (very satisfying). Finally start new conversations that might connect you with new people who might have found a route to help you in your specific situation.

You will always have an ear here and I would really welcome updates from you.

The hardest thing I suspect will be to find inner peace. I wish you ...

Deep Peace of the running wave to you.

Deep Peace of the flowing air to you.

Deep Peace of the quiet earth to you.

Deep Peace of the shining stars to you.

Deep Peace of the gentle night to you.

Moon and Stars pour their healing light on you.

Deep Peace to you and your family.

Linda

That's awesome you have a good PT guy. Rehab is very important and make all the difference in the world. Hate to hear you just had your other hip replaced though but I'm sure you will be happy and in a lot less pain in a few weeks. My hips did the same as yours. I hurt my left hip on the boat when I jumped to the barge from the boat and it was instant unbelievable pain. I stayed on the boat for another 16 days working but hurt really bad the whole time I couldn't walk very well. I was 1st mate and my crew helped me out a lot. I basically just told them what I needed and they did the work. From April 2nd till July 10th I had babied my left hip and did enough damage to my right it had to be replaced to. It was fast downhill like yours did. It was weird how it all happened and the Dr's didn't really understand why my right hip did what it did when it was my left hip that I hurt. It's good that you made it this long between surgeries. Your left hip is healed more to be able to help your right to recover better. I also love the outdoors and find peace in the woods and on the water. Being on the boat and on the water always made me feel more at peace and calm and cleared my mind. That's why I loved my job so much. We would work 28 days on and then depending what I had going on I would either ride over and do 10 weeks on and then come home for 2 weeks and then back on the boat again. Since I was just a young kids 10-11 yrs old I'd get my grandma to take me to the lock and dam and tour it and watch boats come thru. It's hard to explain but I was drawn to the river like I had river water running thru my veins and I felt at home out there.

Be careful trying to snow shoe I imagine that would be pretty tough on your hip. But it would be awesome for you to get back to doing what you love to do:-) If you don't mind me asking where do you live at? I've lived in Anchorage on Elmendorf Air Force Base and I also lived just outside Ottawa Ontario Canada. I loved snow shoeing, skiing and playing hockey. Do you do any cross country skiing? I live in Tennessee now.

I'm glad they were able to get your BP under control. Why did it drop so low did they know? I spent 2 and a half days in the hospital for each hip. They had me up and walking the same day of surgery.

. My wife is amazing and not only takes care of me and supports me but she also encourages and comforts me. She's really the only one who comes close to understanding me execpt other hip people. She does do a lot for my mental health. When she sees that I'm down she'll do something goofy and make me laugh:-) Lol do you have anybody that's close to you that you can rely on for support and able to talk with? I believe that's important that everyone has people they can lean and rely on.

I'm looking forward to meeting some others here and hearing their story.

I pray that you heal quick with no complications or set backs. How is your pain now? I'm excited for you to be able to get up and get back out driving and going to the grocery store and all the little things you miss doing because you can't get out and walk much.

I also had my dog Camo who was with me the whole time. He was a big comfort to. Only problem is he was a puppy then so he sat in my lap and laid on my chest a lot back then and now he's 80 pounds still thinking he's a lap dog and he'll sneak in bed and sleep right next to with his nose in my neck:-) Lol

Sorry I know I got off track there for a minute I just thought I'd give you some background on how I got hurt and explain my support thru it all my wife and my dog. Lol I have 4 kids but they live in Arkansas and didn't have them with me during and between the surgeries because I wasn't able to take care of them as far as driving to go pick them up or go to the store and things like that.

That's another thing that really gets me is being in a vehicle for any extended period of time. How does driving or riding affect you?

Well ... you sure carved yourself out a beautiful life. In a way, this is great as it sustains you through tough times. But is must make you miss the fullness of it even more. 

I live in the west - end of Ottawa! Originally a Montreal-girl but hooked up with my man at 17 and we have lived here most of out lives. Like your wife, he is my (sorry if it sounds corny! but .. he is my) rock. We have both been through some tough stuff medically and in recent years cared for both sets of our parents. And he continually 'messes with my mind' - doing things out of character to distract me when I need to shake it up a bit (he is usually a very straight arrow kind of guy).

You really learn a lot about yourself going through this, don't you? About how lucky you are in choosing your partner, about who your real friends are and which ones will overlook their fears to help.

Mom died three days after my first surgery - that was hard. She had had absolutely no quality of life for the previous 5 years and was unable to communicate in any way - although I believe she enjoyed it when I lay down to cuddle with her - sigh. I got a call from a night nurse the day after my surgery to tell me that Mom was failing. Thank goodness my daughter arrived as, according to another floor nurse whom I adore, my daughter really 'sorted' out the physician on duty to ensure that Mom got ongoing pain relief - he wanted it to be on demand, when he knew Mom could not communicate! Then my daughter set up a circle with close caregivers, my Dad - holding Mom's hand. And a moment that I will never forget - she called me at the hospital to link me into the circle. Boy oh boy did I cry - for my Mom but also with pride in my daughter.

Between the members of that circle, Mom was never alone until she died two days later (I got there 30 minutes to late to say goodbye, but it was okay as Mom and I said everything we needed to over the years and I know she knew how much she was loved).

Dad has vascular dementia and rarely remembers that Mom passed on. But he laughs when I tell him that it is okay - she is pretty busy setting up the biggest damn sewing/knitting room that heaven has ever seen!

Our jobs sure have been different - I was mainly an administrator/instructor in health services research with the good fortune to work all over Canada, with many partners in Europe and Asia and esp in the last 10 years - across the developing world. I loved my job too but I retired about seven years ago - too hard balancing work and family life with parents and husband struggling through health crises. I keep my hand in doing volunteer work for a small hospital based in northern Uganda and a handful of other projects that I love. The connections grew from my work and I help when I can because working with people trying to make things better is very, very satisfying.

Justin - do you have confidence in your neurologist? Does he really held out no hope for improvement? Do you feel he has given you the tools to keep searching for other help? The steps already implemented by your neurologist are impressive and I 'get' that they have helped to a point. But the field of neural regeneration is evolving rapidly. So .... I would also keep searching and pushing periodically for avenues to explore.

This forum seems like a natural starting place, but I can't help wondering if one of the other forums might have better breadth of experience with neural damage. And there is an amazing resource of patient and health professional leaflets and research papers available on this site - it is a matter of narrowing down the right key words to find the stuff that relates to you. 

There are several amazing US sites as well: the Mayo Clinic, the National Institutes of Health and the University of Southern California are all doing a lot of research in this field. It might not be a bad idea to ask your neurologist if he has leads in other clinics for you to pursue. Or as Renée suggested with hypnotherapy - it is hard for me to imagine there is a downside to this approach.

Re BP - it seems that this is simply a side effect that I get from several anaesthetic options - lucky me! But honestly, there are worse ones and this time through was far easier than the last. Driving in a car for any length of time is still rough - partly because we have bucket vs bench seats and getting in and out of the car is just plain uncomfortable still - but getting better. No dog - we both travelled too much for this to be an option. But the idea has pulled at us more recently as our cat Eggroll who lived to the ripe old age of 22 was a real character and great company while my daughter was growing up.

Please keep in touch. Your story is real and we've gotten to know each other a bit. I would really like to keep in touch and know that you and your family are doing okay. And, be sure that if I ever hear of new developments pertinent to your situation - I will be in touch.

In the interim, hang in there and keep the faith.

PS - one other thought. Several people have spoken about the effect of magnesium deficiency (muscle spasms, aggravated pain) and my surgeon checked my levels and added a wee prescription for it. It may be worth getting a proper work-up on your blood levels to ensure this and other elements are at proper levels.

Hugs,

Linda

Hi linda thank you for taking the time to write back again. Love your cats name Eggroll:-) Lol I am sorry for your loss though. 22 yrs? Wow that is really awesome:-) Our dogs are family members and from the way you talk I'm pretty sure eggroll was a family member to y'all as well:-) They definitely find a way into our hearts and fill it with happiness:-)

I lived in Stittsville Ontario and played Hockey for the Stittsville Redmen. Played a lot of soccer there too. My stepmon and stepbrother we both born and raised in Montreal. I loved living up there.

I am really sorry you lost your mom and at a time you were unable to be there like I know you wanted to be there. That had to be really hard on you. How is your dad doing in his day to day life? My great grandma who I was really close to had Althtimers and it got to where she didn't even know who I was. She would tell me stories about me but they were all from when I was a kid. She didn't know it was me sitting there talking to her. It was really hard to watch but I did and it took years with a steady decline the whole time. I loved her very much and miss her a lot. And then I lost my grandma who was pretty much my mom this time last year. That was really tough because she lived in Oklahoma and I live in Tennessee. One good thing about not being able to work these last few yrs is I got to go to Oklahoma many times and spend a couple weeks here and a few weeks there with her. I had nothing else I had to do but just sit there and spend great quality time with her. My wife was so amazing thru all of that because she encouraged me to go spend time with her when I was feeling guilty leaving her here to take care of the kids and everything else by herself. Not many spouses, husbands or wives would go for that and I am forever greatful she gave me those opportunities. You definitely find out who loves and cares for you sincerely and who your real friends are in times like these. I have to say I've been truly blessed with an amazing wife, kids and a few real friends. I can't ask for much more than that.

As far as my neurologist he is good but limited as to what treatments and stuff can be done because of where we live and my insurance. We live 3 hrs south west of Nashville and 2 and a half hrs due east of Memphis. We are on a fixed income with her disability check as our only income right now. We don't get any other government assistance. I got a settlement from getting hurt which wasn't a whole lot but enough to get us set up so we don't have a lot of big bills to pay each month. I wanted to keep my job, I didn't want a settlement. I made really good money for around here and was fixing to go into the wheelhouse and be a pilot making very very good money. I was seriously heart broken how all that happened. I don't know if you believe in God or not but I believe and I believe everything happens for a reason and he has a plan for me and all I have to do is keep my faith. And I will.

I'm going to bring up what you are telling me about with my neurologist and also the one that's going to do the neurostimulator implant on the 13th. Something just isn't right inside me that's causing most of my back pain and no I really don't think it's all from the sciatic nerve damage. I'm a very quick healer and I have a really high pain tolerance and that's why I feel we are missing something. I had rotator cuff surgery and bone spurs shaved in my right shoulder not quit 3 months ago. I have full mobility back and can throw a football and pull back a 70 pound draw compound bow. My shoulder feels great. Gets stiff if I sleep on it and takes a minute to loosen up in the morning but that's it. But my back won't let me do these things I love to do. I wish I could get it to pop. It feels like it needs to be adjusted really bad but won't budge for anything and hurts really bad when i or the chiropractor tries.

I take potassium and magnesium supplements every day and also take a fish oil supplement. I'm definitely checking into the hypnosis. I almost felt like an idiot because I hadn't thought of that already. Lol This is the first group I've been in and it's been a pleasant surprise. I'm not real good with computers or phones so I don't do to much on them. My grandma knew how to text before I did. Matter in fact she's the one who taught me:-) Lol My kids make fun of me all the time:-) Lol

How was your day today? Did you have much pain doing your PT? That'd awesome you have a good husband who helps and supports you and is your rock. It's even better because he messes with you:-) Lol me and my wife do the same thing. We pick on and harass each other all the time just playing having fun and laughing. Sometimes we team up and go after the kids and they are like crap not both of them again😂 LOL We love to laugh in this house and all of us are pranksters and jokers so we all love it:-) it sucks being uptight and serious all the time and it's not allowed in our house. Lol

Your job sounded really neat and allowed you to meet people from all over the world. I would love that because you get to talk to folks and learn how they live and their customs and attractions to their part of the world. Different things they eat and do for fun. That would be so cool. Did you get to travel overseas? Crazy we didn't live that far from each other at one time. When we left Canada they had just got the Ottawa Senators Arena built there in Kanata. We went and skated there sometimes. We use to sled down Terry Fox hill in the winter and skate on the Rideau Canal and eat bever tails and poutine. We used to have a lot of fun in telling ya. Lol

I pray you continue to heal up fast and without much pain. I pray for you and your husband to be safe healthy and happy. I pray your dad is at peace and in comfort and stays as healthy as possiable. I pray your daughter is watched over and blessed every day. And I am thankful and greatful for meeting you and you sharing your life and experiences and suggestions with me. I will take them and seriously look into them and see if there is a route I can take to try them and see if any of them work.

I hope I didn't offend you with that little prayer. If I did I am sorry I wasn't trying to.

Have a good night hope you get some good rest and have a great day. Looking forward to hearing back from you:-)

Thanks you again for talking with me and offering up suggestions:-)

Dear Linda and Justin, 

I love reading your stories and how you express your gratitude about your spouses - you don't know how blessed you are ... no, you DO know how blessed you are -

I am in Holland right now and it is Sunday morning - I am getting ready to go the senior citizen centre to help out with coffee/tea etc -

Wishing both of you a very good night with hours of uninterrupted sleep -

angel blessings

renee

I'm really sorry to hear about your troubles. It really turns life on its head and disrupts everything. I ended up going to a neurologist and he did a nerve conduction test on my legs and a MRI of my lower lumbar spine. The conduction test showed drastic loss of conductivity in both legs of the sciatic nerve. He said that since it's been so long the damage is permanent. He said with the 2 tests and under my circumstances that it was due to scar tissue damaging, growing into and/or around the nerve in my hip area. The MRI didn't show anything wrong with disks or vertebrae. The neurostimulator will mask most all of the nerve pain in my legs which I'm extremely happy about but doesn't help my low back much. They say the permanent implant is better than the trial but not enough where they expect it to make much difference then what I had for my back. Sounds like you need to go see a neurologist soon and don't wait like I did.

I just recently found out there was another way. I guy I go to church with just had his hip replaced and had the anterior surgery. He was telling me about it and how they spread all the muscles and not cut through them. He's still using a walker though so idk if it's actually better or not. He's only a few years older than me and mine were done 4 yrs ago so I'm not sure if age is the problem for him.

That is great news that you didn't hurt yourself further. I was same as you bound and determined to get back to where I was before surgery. I was there to and was very proud of myself for several months. Then I get knocked back down with the back pain. I'm still determined to beat all this and won't give up. How are you feeling now? I had posterior surgeries. A guy I go to church with was telling me about the anterior that he had. How did the surgery go for you and what was your recovery time?

Regarding your back issue first. I did have a couple of years dealing with sciatica before the surgery. One leg was a 1/4 inch different than the other before the surgery. The surgeon thinks this issue may have prompted the back pain. No problems since the surgery. As for anterior, it seems to be the way to go in my opinion if you are a candidate and have an experienced surgeon. Mine had done almost 500 and had over 2000 hip replacements to his credit. The anterior approach does not damage the muscles as much. He will not do it if you are overweight or overly muscular. The surgeon asked me again today if I am glad I did both at the same time. I was very pleased with it. He only does 1-2 patients a year with the bilateral and reminded me that it was a three hour surgery that wore him out!  I was back to work in three weeks. I walked, stretched, and did the recommended exercises religiously for the first 3 months. Other than three days in PT after surgery, I did not start up more formal PT until after 3 months when I realized I needed more exercises and guidance. By the end of six months, other than some things I may never do again, I was back to my same workout schedule. Back to one question you had, I was approved for 7 days in PT following the surgery but they kicked me out after the third day. The biggest thing I wanted from PT was to be able to return home and climb 13 steps to my bedroom. I refused to have to sleep on the sofa or to have a hospital bed brought in. I am very understanding that not everyone can say they had the same recovery that I did. I also know that the psychological side of finding people and groups like this one is huge to know you are talking with those that have gone through the same issues. Sorry to be so long winded!!!

Don't worry about being long winded it helps me to better understand what experiences you had and be able to relate to them. I worked on Towboats since my early 20s and it's hard and heavy work so I was really muscled up especially in my legs. I guess that's the reason for the posterior surgeries. Mine were done left hip June 8th 2012 and right hip July 10th 2012. I never had any back problems before I got hurt. The low back pain started about 4 months after my last hip was done and progressed to sevier pain as time passed. Both my legs before and after surgery are the same length. My surgeon did an excellent job on me. I rigorously did PT and worked out to. I was jumping off 15-20 ft cliffs into the river the day my staples came out. My surgeon even brought in his colleagues and fellow surgeons to show them how great i was doing and to talk to me about my rehab and workout routine. They were really impressed and I was really excited because I thought I was on track to get back on the boats at the 6 month MMI date. MMI is maximum medical improvement. Scar tissue grew into and around my sciatic never in him hips though causing neuropathy in both legs. The neurologist told me since it's been so long the damage is irreversible now. I'm getting a neurostimulator implant on the 13th of this month to cut down on the leg pain but doesn't help my back much. At this point I'm just trying to cut down on medicine as much as possible. I hate taking medicine. This might sound weird but I'm an all natural kind of person. We buy our vegetables from farmers markets and we have a pretty nice garden. We raise chickens for eggs and to eat. We do a lot of hunting so we don't have to buy very much meat that has been pumped full of steroids and antibiotics. We don't buy canned goods, boxed or frozen meals. My wife makes everything from scratch like bread, pasta and snacks. We even make our own seasonings from spices and herbs we buy at specialty all natural stores. My wife has MS and many or the preservatives really do a number on her. I'm praying I get enough relief to go back to work. Right now there is no way anybody is going to hire me with all the issues I have and medicine I'm on. It's extremely depressing and makes me feel like lesser of a man. It's embarrassing to me to be in the situation I'm in and I hate it.