When will I be able to tie my shoelaces?

hi,love-im no expert,by any means,but my physio told us to gently reach down the leg,no forcing,and eventually you ll be able to reach your feet-its a real bugbear,isnt it,having to struggle,or have help for such a simple thing!i live on my own,my daughter used to help me-with those awful compression stockings!but i must admit,i contorted myself probably a bit more than i should,to relieve her of that job asap.best wishes xx

Hi

I am 13 weeks posterior and today I noticed I can stretch half way between my knee and ankle when sitting down. The weakness can be in the legs too, I'm doing small exercises like when walking lift the knee higher, when sitting do 5 leg lifts rest and repeat. It's all about getting strength back I believe. Least I can shave half my leg unaided 😏 good luck and remember if it hurts the hip then go slower.

It took quite a while for me to be able to tie my shoelaces, too. I found it was easier if my chair was lower to the ground so I didn't have to reach too far. I remember constantly asking my husband to put on/take off  my sock/shoe/tie laces for the left foot (had left THR). When I could finally put them on (using grabber) I was excited at the progress. The day I could tie my laces, I showed him. Wow! What a great feeling to do that.

All takes time. I still have some difficulty cutting my toenails on that foot. Fortunately they don't grow too fast.

Hi bridget, I do aquafit, Pilates and Yoga and at 7 months post op have no problems touching my toes etc. I re started Pilates at 6 weeks post op with the physios at the hospital where I had my op. After 6 weeks of their sessions I rejoined my normal Pilates class and could do full roll downs. I was able to cut my toenails at about 12 weeks too although not fully comfortable which I am now. I can even sit cross legged now in yoga. Exercise is the key and Pilates and aqua fit are great for mobility. Yoga I started back at about 16 weeks I think but it really helps too. I only go once a week for yoga. Aqua and Pilates I do on 4 days a week. 

All the best

Ann 

Here is my trick, hope you love it. To put your shoes on and tie your shoe laces, lay down flat on you back on your bed, bend your knee and draw your foot up to your butt, there now your foot is drawn up and oyur hand can reach your feet :-)

I did he same thing for cutting my toenails, however be very very careful about cutting your toenails, you don't want to accidentally cut the skin and give an opening in the skin for a strep infection or a staff infection to get in, which risks the infection going straight to your surgery site. Someone on her just posted that they got a strep infection after surgery and the drastic measures that had to be taen, in the hospital IV antibiotics, oral antibiotics for an additional 3 months, so infect in another part of your body is something you want to minimize. Especially your teeth. If you lose a crown, or a cavity filling falls out anything like that go to the dentist right away as the rotting teeth produces a staff infection. You may not even experience any pain in your teeth, doesn't mean that there is not an opening for a staff infection to develop. In France I ahd to go to my dentist and my dentist had to inspect my teeth and certify that there were no holes or open cavities and then I had to give the dentist report to the surgeon. As it turned out the dentist pulled 2 of my teeth, it would ahve taken to long to do root canals and crowsn so he said it was iffy for the crowns anyway, and i said just pull them, they had always bothered me off an on for years. When he pulled the teeth there were HUGE sacs/abscess of infection at the very end of the root of the tooth, in the jaw bone, so good thing I had them pulled. Those had been bothering me off and on for years.

I’d ask your physio to recommend some specific exercises. I have been able to do my shoelaces from about 6-7 weeks but still can’t cut my toenails at 13 weeks. I prefer to get a pedicure so I’m not concerned about that 😀