Pain after hip replacement

Hello Jennifer,

Everyone experiences different outcomes from a THR. I had my first THR on my left leg in April of 2013. I have pain on a daily basis, 18 months post surgery. My primary care giver tells me that I shouldn't be having any pain after this long. And his remedy is 'pain management through drugs'. Since the x-rays indicate no issues with the implants. I for one, do not want to be narcotic dependent.

I am scheduled for a THR for my right leg in mid November. And I am a bit apprehensive about having it done. Although, this time they will be doing an Anterior Approach through the front of the thigh. Claiming it is 50% less intrusive on the muscles and other tissues. And the recovery time is also about 50% less. I certainly hope they are right!

roadglide1959

There is a better way of dealing with the pains. Although it is illegal in some states. And the medical community does not endorse it totally. Even though we know it really does work.

You sound just as I did when I came out of hospital, it was a nightmare! I've never taken so many drugs in my life.....if people are pain free after A WEEK I would say that is a miracle....I do believe in them but I didn't get one, I'm 70 and am 3 months post op now and still having trouble walking properly although the pain is just about gone now. I do get very stiff though. Night time is definitely the worst, I couldn't sleep for more than a couple of hours (with pain killers) for weeks so I think you're probably recovering 'normally' if thats the right word! As people I know who had the op here in my area said....it will get better but time and patience! Believe me what you're experiencing is more common than many are led to believe as far as I'm concerned. I wish you well but don't try to rush things as you could do yourself more harm than good (so I was told!). God bless

So sorry to hear you in so much pain. I must admit I was pretty much pain free immediately though on similar cocktail of medication as you after 6 days. But wondering if you shouldn't talk to your consultant about it - if for nothing else than managing it better. Also wondering if the pain is more 'inside' the groin/hip area and/or the wound itself? My physio warned me I could experience pain in/around groin for 6 weeks (though I haven't) but seems quite common. Sorry not to have any concrete advice but wish you best and to soon be pain free

I had a lot of pain also Jenn. In fact the subject line of my very first post here was, "Oh Lord give me some relief" I think I wrote it about 2 in the morning. I was nto able to take tramadol, I had bad dreams and dark dark thoughts with it, in  my dreams I would commit suicide and trust me I am so totally not like that.

I was in a French hospital for a week that did not have internet, so it wasn't until I got home and found this forum that I found what I needed, information. I was determined to stay off the Tramadol, even though I was in severe pain, I did it. In the morning I called my general physician he made a house call and prescribed Codeine, OMG codein is GREAT! I was on (2 pills) of 400mg Paracetemol + 25 mg of Codeine three times a day. For those of you outside of Europe Paracetamol is Tylenol. I needed that from day 8 then for about anohter 10 days. After anout 10 days I was able to cut back to (1 pill) of 400mg Paracetemol + 25 mg of Codeine three times a day, except at night I still took the 2 pills not 1.

Eventually I got a prescription from my general physician for a pill with only 20 mg of Codeine in it and I was able to cut that pill in half so that half a pill had 10mg of codeine in it, the other pills that had 25mg of codein in them they didn't really cut in half well. So I worked my way down to taking a pill that was only 10mg of codeine.

The pills with 400mg Paracetemol + 25 mg of Codeine really controlled my pain very well. I can't take morphine, I found that out in the hospital. On this same website search for information on Tramadol, you might be surprised.

Codeine is very constipating, and I didn't even know that, I found thout out from people here, so I drank a full glass of prune juice every day and took a stool softner.

The other thing that helped me a real lot was Voltarene cream. It is a topical pain reliever, rub it on the skin. I used the Volterene on my back and butt. For some reason most of my pain was in the butt. I never experienced any bruising nor did my leg swell at all, I had no swelling and I understand from readers here that swelling can be quite painful, but boy did my butt hurt. If you have a good relationship with your general physician there is no need to bother or wait on the surgeon, your general physician should be able to prescribe you codeine. Just tell him/her that the Tramadol is giving you dark thoughts, it is a well known side effect of Tramadol.

In order to heal you need your sleep, the body does the most healing while you sleep, in order to sleep you have to get on top of your pain and control it. And don't worry about becomming addicted, although it is highly addictive, when you are in pain you won't get addictedc to it, one day I took a normal dose and I was like drugged up and I was extreemly tired, that is when I realized that it was to much and I needed to cut back. As long as you have pain, you don't get drugged up on the Codeine, it does what it is supposed to do, it cuts the pain, but once your pain goes down your body will tell you, "hey that is to much codeine" and you will get that druggie feeling. I never felt druggie like taking the codeine as long as I had pain.

I am a big fan of codeine ;-) eventually you will work yourself down to only taking paracetamol during the day and codeine at night. I tried to cut back to early worried about addiction, it was miserable, I put myself back on it and when the pain went down then and only then did I cut back on the codeine. You have to be careful not to overdoes on paracetamol. The hardest was at night trying to decide if I could make it through jsut taking 2 paracetamols, I would try it, it would NOT be enough then I had to wait at least 6 hours to take the codeine because that pill has 400 mg of paracetamol in it also. There is a real danger to your liver if you take to much paracetemal, my friends daughter had to have a liver transplant because of it so I personally know this as a fact. So after I had taken the 2 paracetemals at night and regretted not taking the pill with the codeine,  I did tough it out for 6 hours and then took the codeine pill. It is hard to gage your pain and self medicate but we all have to figure that out, not to much, not to little. But I do knwo one thing for SURE you have to have pain medication that in fact does work for you and takes away the pain. Codeine did that for me very very well.

Not pain free immediately here but 3 weeks out I only use half a percocet when I feel like I'll be in too much pain to sleep well. Although sleeping is horrible for the first couple weeks then tapers off.

I hope your pain gets better.  I wish I knew more about the meds you're taking, perhaps you could talk to your DR and get something stronger so yummy can sleep.

Where is your pain?  Is there a certain spot or are you talking about all over?

It should calm down and get better everyday.  

Will be praying for you!

Hi

I had a right hip replacement 4 years ago, I remember when I first had it done I was in quite a bit of pain myself. You must exercise that will help you in the long run, and if you have swelling try sitting down and putting a bag of frozen peas on your hip. As the swelling can make it feel more painful to.

Have they given you injections to inject your self in your stomach every day? That has to be done for 6 weeks I think?, that is to stop any blood clots.

Hope your feeling better soon?, but if you are in a lot of pain then go back to see your doctor.  C

Jennifer, I took Norco every six hours around the clocj for the first 4 weeks.  Everyone warned me to stay ahead of the pain.  That really worked well along with ice continually on my hip.  The hardest part was getting off the pain meds.  It took about 5 days but I survived.  I still have some pain (6 weeks post op). I feel I am coming along.  I have been told it takes a full 6 months to a year, to fully recover.  About 3 months to have real progress.  Hang in there.  This site has been wonderful for me.  Wendi

Hi Jennifer

You are very early on in your recovery  As you've no doubt discovered now from the posts we all recover at different rates. I was told.......dont play catch up with the pain.....stay on top of it 

The sleeping  I found awful........mostly because of sleeping on my back

Can you  back and talk to your GP?

Tell him what you have told us

Love

Eileen

I am 6 weeks post op. First few weeks I was in a lot of pain but my knee was the worst at night so I slept with my leg from knee to foot on a pillow layed length ways , I had telephoned the hospital and one of the physio said this was ok to do. I also had really bad lower back pain which was getting worse by the night. A week later I had my 1st appointment with the physio, a different one to the one I spoke to on the phone, I explained about the pillow for my leg and the increasing back pain which was now unbearable it took me 20 min each morning to pluck up the courage to even try to move.To my surprise she said take the pillow away immediately because my leg must be kept flat at night to stretch muscles and liagments and the pillow was stopping that process. To ease back pain she said put a pillow across the lower part of my back. This definitely eased the pain overnight, didn't go completely but I could move in the morning if when I woke in the middle of the night. Now a couple of weeks on I still use the pillow still sleeping on my back but very little pain if any.

Hi Jennifer I'm now 9 weeks post op and almost pain free.  I remember the first couple of weeks very well!  I even said to my husband that it was far more painful than I had expected.  I kept getting out of bed during the night - just didn't know what to do with myself. Seemed I'd eventually drop off for an hour, pain would wake me up, get out of bed, try to get back to sleep etc couldn't wait until morning! I found some relief from putting a pillow under my knees and, as has been suggested, pillow across the small of my back.  Even now, I sleep with the pillow under my knees!  I had been on Naproxen pre op and was allowed to take it again about 3 days after my op.  Topped this up with paracetemol every 4 hours.  You really do need to keep taking the meds if only to enable you to get as mobile as possible as quickly as possible.  It's still very early days but I agree with others that maybe you should talk to your GP and see if he/she will change your medication to make you more comfortable.  It's a vicious circle! If you're in too much pain, you perhaps do not exercise as much as you should.  Meds help you to keep on top of the pain and regular short walks really do help with any swelling you may have because it improves the circulation. This in turn reduces the pain.

Pat

H Jennifer, thought I would explain my last post when I said I was pain free I meant my back. At 6 weeks I still have muscle and ligament pains and a swollen knee which the drs tells me is because I have not stretched my hamstring enough.

I spoke to a few who had THR and people who had a friend or family member who had it done but no one mentioned the after pain. 

I wish someone had because it would of saved me a lot of stress. I thought my op had gone wrong or I had sat or turned wrong. When I phoned the physio he said "oh yeh don't worry it's normal" Keep your meds up and keep doing the exercises. I did expect pain but not like that.

If you take tramadol and codeine also have lots of water and prunes, figs anything that keeps your body functioning.

Like Pat said the first few weeks are the worst and then you do suddenly begin to see light at the end of the tunnel.

keep the faith you doing great 

Hi Jennifer Also forgot to say each day can bring a different pain depending on what or how much exercise you did the day before