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Total Hip replacement 18 August foot on op side very swollen!

Posted , 10 users are following.

pat85215UKGlos
pat85215UKGlos

I believe it's quite normal for your knees and feet to swell and is result of trauma from open but what's the best way to reduce swelling? Normally you would elevate but I've been told my knee should be lower than my hip! My toes are now rigid!

0 likes, 20 replies

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  • lindylollypops
    lindylollypops pat85215UKGlos

    Posted

    i am lucky as I have a bed with the ablity to raise the  foot end of my bed at the touch of a button and i sleep every night with my feet higher than my groin. NO swelling at all in my feet or knees.

     Ice packs may help reduce swelling and  gentle massage of your feet and legs by someone who loves you lots! At least 3 times a day will help a lot. Plunge your feet in to a bowl of pretty cold water and that shock will redice the swelling as will continued gentle mobilization. I am now 23 days post op. Good luck

    • pat85215UKGlos
      pat85215UKGlos lindylollypops

      Posted

      Thanks for the suggestion! I am probably overdoing things by walking on it too much. If I sit I stiffen up I guess it's getting the balance right!!
  • karolina33830
    karolina33830 pat85215UKGlos

    Posted

    Hi Pat ,

    I had mine done 3months ago. And for more than 1,5 months my operated side from hip to toes were almost 2the size. It's very normal some get whole leg bruised, some swollen.  If I do too much I still get ankle and knee swelling. 

    Karolina x

  • crissy_wissy
    crissy_wissy pat85215UKGlos

    Posted

    Ice and elevate ....just be careful ...its more about the angle of your hip joint...I was fine with my leg up on a stool and some frozen peas!!
  • Amnesia3637
    Amnesia3637 pat85215UKGlos

    Posted

    You'll be fine to elevate your toes higher than your nose if you're lying down. Put a pile of pillows under your leg and rest for an hour every day for a while. My feet and ankles were elephantine for a couple of weeks but having had a rest they slowly went down. Even nine weeks on, if I've overdone it, my ankle swells and my leg feels tight. You won't dislocate your leg by raising it and supporting it and it will help drainage from the tissues.
  • pat85215UKGlos
    pat85215UKGlos

    Posted

    Thanks for all of your experiences! I'm finding the forum really useful now I'm at home! Amazing how our bodies can react so differently! It was always going to be difficult for me to be patient but finding disruption to sleep especially hard. I seem to get 1·5 to 2 hours max at the moment before going walkabout/make a drink/move to a chair/back to bed etc. How long before I will feel more comfortable?
  • judiwoo
    judiwoo pat85215UKGlos

    Posted

    I was told in hospital it was fine to elevate if you are in bed or lying down 
    • pat85215UKGlos
      pat85215UKGlos judiwoo

      Posted

      Thanks Judiwoo. I'm mostly sitting in a chair with my legs on a pouffee!
  • lorraine46575
    lorraine46575 pat85215UKGlos

    Posted

    Hi Pat,  I had my THR one day after you and this morning I woke up to a very swollen knee, so I think this is normal for us and I am going to take all the dvise you were given, ice, elevation and not to over do it.

    Good Luck.  Lorraine.

    • pat85215UKGlos
      pat85215UKGlos lorraine46575

      Posted

      Thanks Lorraine. Keep in touch re your progress. Will be interesting to compare notes (though I realise we will all progress differently!) I hate the sleep deprivation! Limit to what you feel like doing in the middle of the night!!
    • crissy_wissy
      crissy_wissy pat85215UKGlos

      Posted

      I found Nytol helped with sleeping for the first few weeks especially on your back...just couldn't get used to it and then that awful heel pain...Its a like a distant memory now though and soon will be for you too!!
  • DawnDedee
    DawnDedee pat85215UKGlos

    Posted

    For me elevation and ice packs and those white long surgery compression socks.  I even bought a second pair of the ugly things!  I wore my socks for the first 6 weeks and believe that it helped to control the swelling.  (Of course I kept them hidden with long skirts...Hee hee!...They are not exactly a fashion statment but they do the job!)  

    My best wishes to you Pat!

    Dawn

    • joy47826
      joy47826 DawnDedee

      Posted

      I wore the compression stockings as directed, forget how many weeks....

      I didn't have much swelling/fluid build up but I have been taking a powerful antioxidant for almost 2 decades and it reduces any fluid build up...it's grape seed extract and it's a miracle in my life....addresses SO MANY health issues and body systems.....

      It keeps our blood thin and "clean" so if one takes a drug blood thinner than don't do both. j

    • pat85215UKGlos
      pat85215UKGlos DawnDedee

      Posted

      Thanks Dawn. I seem to remember buying compression sox for my husband. No-one suggested them in hospital nor at doc's when I went for wound redress yesterday!!
    • crissy_wissy
      crissy_wissy pat85215UKGlos

      Posted

      I didn't have them either...had 28 days of Fragmin injections instead.....I had the pneumatic leg warmers in hospital too!!
    • pat85215UKGlos
      pat85215UKGlos crissy_wissy

      Posted

      I had same! Now wearing sox and leg does feel better. I've suffered restless legs in the past and have experienced again last couple of nights.
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