RE: Aches and Pains --too impatient??

[Guest guest]

Hi Eleanor

I am almost 15 weeks post op, and at 10 weeks I was still having

some aches in my thigh, especially at night. Very seldom had " clunks " ,

though. I find that if I do something new, or walk or swim longer than

usual, I do get some muscle aches, but they are getting progressively

milder. Like you, my knee was turned sideways immediately after the

operation, and while it has improved, it's still not properly

straight. I am going to physiotherapy regularly to try and strengthen

the inner thigh muscles that have not worked for four years while my

hip was out of alignment pre-op. Hopefully when they are working

properly, my knee will also work better.

McMinn's office highly recommends doing the breast stroke (i.e.,

frog kick) when swimming, so you could try that. I also find taking

one muscle relaxant at night helps with the pain. Because you live in

England, you probably need to get a doctor to prescribe methocarbamol

(it might have a different name in Europe), which is available over

the counter in Canada.

Since you have such a long commute to work, which would require

a lot of sitting, I think you are wise to put off returning to work,

and to concentrate on your rehab and exercises for now. I noticed a

lot of improvement in the pain levels after 12 weeks, perhaps because

the joint capsule and the muscles were healed by then. If you are no

longer using a cane, you might try going back to it for a week or so

to give your operated leg a chance to rest a bit, and see if that helps.

It seems that we middle-aged ladies (I am 53) who have had

problems for a long time cannot expect to heal as fast as the athletic

30-somethings, and we have to be more patient. I found that going to a

very mild (no impact) fitness class that works on all the muscles of

the body, not just the legs, helped me a lot, although I didn't feel

up to attending it until about 11 weeks post-op. My legs are the same

length, but my physiotherapist feels that it will take me about 6

months to regain a normal range of motion and get my knee and foot to

straighten out more, and he doesn't know if I'll ever have as much

rotation as a younger person who didn't have their hip out of

alignment for over 30 years. However, he notices improvements every

week, and I have heard from other hippies that they keep improving for

at least the first two years, so keep your hopes up!

n

rBHR McMinn Oct.17/03

--- In surfacehippy , " eleanor "

> I am now 10 weeks post op and, if anything, am having more (although

> different) aches and pains than before. This is usually particularly

> in the evening when I am tired and at night, in bed. Where?---not

> always easy to say. Sometimes in the groin, and there can be a `clunk'

> (or something like this). Sometimes an ache in the thigh right down to

> the toe. Sometimes `deep' under the wound feels `tight'. These vary.

> And of course it is always difficult to describe these symptoms exactly.

>

> I am 59 and had a rotated femur pre-op that probably made me more

> susceptible to OA. Have always been a bit `pigeon-toed'. The op has

> seemed to exaggerate this, with my knee quite turned to the side

> immediately after (this is slowly straightening with exercise). Did not

> do pre-op exercises because went in quickly on a cancellation (in

> England—NHS). My operated leg seems to be ½ longer---although I am told

> this can still change when the hip has `bedded-in'.

>

> By exercising too hard, can one damage the joint capsule membrane and

> therefore the natural joint lubricating fluids in and around the joint,

> that you talked about, Jeff?

>

> How does one know if one is exercising too much, or not enough? I swim

> every second day---flutter kick on back and front---and other gentle

> water exercises. I walk about 1 – 11/2 miles. Do Pt exercises---mostly

> muscle strengthening ones. But all pretty tame stuff compared to karate,

> etc one reads about on these pages. My GP has just said I shouldn't

> drive yet, as she thinks my variable pain levels would not make me safe

> for an emergency stop. So am still not back to work which involves an

> hour + driving commute each way or long long train journey and 2 long

> walks.

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Eleanor-

Sounds like you are able to do alot of activities but just might be

one of those people who takes a little longer to heal and

possibly may require some sort of physical therapy to learn

how to strenghten the hip area and bring the leg more into

alignment.

I'm currently at one year and started weekly visits last month

with a physical therapist because I have been experiencing

tightness for the last year on the outside of my operated side leg.

Its been quite an educational process talking with the PT. I'm

49 and I believe that you said that you are 59. I went through

12 years of arthritis pain before my surgery. I am trying to

be patient about this and am able to do so much more than I

could before surgery. I can even jog small distances now which I

couldn't do at the end before my surgery.

What I learned from the PT is there are issues with the healing

of scar tissue and whatever they cut through to get to your hip.

Massage therapy and learning a series of stretching and

strenghtening exercises for your hip might be a good way for you

to go in the near future. The massage therapy shouldn't be

done until the scar area has had enough time to heal and isn't

overly sensitive.

I might be challenged on this one but you might want to keep

your walking to a minimum for a while but keep up the swimming

and pool exercises. The reason why I say go easy on the

walking is that if you leg is way out of alignment then the

walking is going to inflame tendons, ligaments and muscles.

Instead learn how to do stretching and strengthening exercises

to get your leg back into proper alignment and then after some

time of doing these exercises you can go for the long distance stuff.

10 weeks is a short time. We all heal at different rates.

Signed,

Another Jeff :-) (C2K 1-3-03)