There will be SO MUCH PAYOFF to doing it slow and doing it right. Walking normally. Living pain-free. If you don’t follow orders, if you push too hard, if you slack off on PT…you can and probably will have pain going forward, a limp, the socket can pop (omg totally a thing, happened to my aunt) or even worse - LONGER HEALING TIME!!!
Keep your eyes on the prize. The reason you did this whole thing in the first place. Being pain-free.
Mom had one and she’s better than ever. She did the recovery outside the home because she could. She actually got excused from jury duty due to the steps she’d have to climb before. Now she takes steps with ease.
Now, her problems aren’t over, as she has a missing disc in her back from a car crash long ago, as well as possibly problems with her other hip. But she’s very happy she did it, and unhappy she waited so long.
Do your PT EVERY day. If your regimen calls for twice/day, do it twice/day - every single day. Don’t overdo it, but do it to the absolute best of your ability every time. Use proper technique on every rep of each exercise. There will be days where you just don’t feel like doing the exercises. Do them anyway. There will be days where you feel like “phoning it in”. Don’t. Slacking, skipping or poor technique will not only lead to a longer recovery time, but can also lead to a poorer overall recovery.
You did the pain and spent the money/time for surgery, don’t waste it!
Thank you for this. I am determined to do exactly these steps. Everyday perfectly slowly increasing the repetitions as permitted.
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An unanticipated twist. I am not supposed to leave the house until Saturday, now I am in a rented minivan leaning way back going to the doctor.
Seepage around all Steri-strips overnights. Surgeon wants to do a visual. … jeez
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The procedure for the acetabulum (the socket) is pretty much the same as what happened to you; they ream out the socket (power tool) and they put a metal cup in there (very likely you have a ceramic liner as well). In your case they sliced off the femoral neck to put the prosthesis down into the bone. In my case they just prepared the femoral head (again, power tool) and glued down a ball shaped fixture that fits into the cup.
It makes a lot of sense (why cut away bone when you don’t have to) but it is not without controversy. I am thrilled with mine, but I would hesitate to recommend the procedure to others.
By the way, I also had mine done at HSS. Great place.
As far as recovery is concerned, everybody is different. One thing that happened my first time is that about a month out I started having pain in both my knees. I kept doing my exercises and it passed. Basically, you might have some setbacks, but that is ok. Do your exercises but don’t overdue it. More is not always better.
Ha- you know, some day two Dopers will wind up as hospital room roommates…
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My hubby went in for a total hip replacement (the first, ugh) and is not home, less than 30 ours later.
Miles better than when he had the rods put in his back. I am hopeful.
Fingers but NOT legs crossed for your Hubby!
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They get you out fast. When I had my first hip done in 2010 I was in the hospital for three nights. For the second one in 2016 I was out of the hospital less than 24 hours after I woke up in recovery. Same operation, same surgeon, same hospital. I am ok with that. I had a bad night the first night home the second time, but better home than in the hospital.
get into the pool! even walking in the water will help with weight loss, ask a physio to suggest exercises to strengthen the necessary muscles and you’ll have a start on your recovery, it’s pretty boring though! best of luck with it!
[quote=“Chronos, post:3, topic:793693”]
But it turned out that sitting was the most painful position for him, especially sitting for an extended time. He could stay in a chair for a half-hour at most before he had to get up and walk around.[/QUOTE
does the chair need to keep hips higher than knees or something? and sleeping upright with a big wedge between knees?
Sorry, but do not get into any pool, bath or other water until cleared by your surgeon. That can be a fast track to infection until the incision is sufficiently healed.
Fascinating. Months out, my Surgeon said I’d have it done on Friday morning, release Sunday afternoon UNLESS I had a drainage issue or any other issues.
I got out about 4pm Sunday.
And, as I sat up with help from my Dearly Beloved, I had a real wave of sadness. Depression I guess, but it passed. Because what ran through my head for something like the last 400th morning in a row?
" Good morning. Good morning, Pain. "
Fuck. I’m done with pain. It was a week ago this morning, so…8 calendar days but they call Surgery Day as Day Zero, so I’m told. So I’m 7 days in. Man the next 7 days need to see a serious turnaround in pain. I’m doing the bare minimum of Dilaudid ( sp? ) every… 4-5 hours? Not denying the pain, just keeping it at bay without taking ANY more narcotics than need be. Tylenol is in the mix and I believe is helping.
Fuck. I look at people half my age, moving along the sidewalk on a cane or walker and wonder to myself, " Self? Just how intensely is the pain screaming inside their skulls right now? "
I have two family members who have had a knee and a hip replacement respectively. I also have some friends who have had the surgeries.
First of all, the good news is that a hip replacement is the preferable of the two surgeries in terms of painful rehab and duration of healing. The key is how religiously you stick to your rehab. My SiL had a knee replacement and did her rehab like an athlete. The result is that you can’t even tell she had the replacement. She has full mobility and feels totally normal. A friend of hers, on the other hand, did a very poor job at rehab and has healed stiff. She walks like “Gort” in the original movie, “The Day the Earth Stood Still”. If you’re going to do it, do it right. because you’re going to have to live with the result for the rest of your life.
This is exactly what I was talking about in my “do your PT” post. Days like you are describing are the very ones where you need to grimace and think “Time for the exercises”. Proper technique will require more focus and determination today than ever before.
I get what you’re going through. I think after about 3 days I told my wife, only half jokingly, “OK, This game is no longer fun, can I be done now?”. She, the PT, looked at me, smirked and told me what I told you in the first paragraph. PT, after all, really stands for “Physical Terrorist”. 
It will get better.
Physical Terror - Ha !! I love it.
Thank you for these words though.
Dear Pain,
You are no longer a welcome guest at the table. An expected but distasteful relative who overstays her welcome and in the process becomes anathema. Your intrusion is not useful. You are not an educational method.
You are just A Thing. To be endured with the hopeful eventuality of being shown the door.
Feh.
The surgery was a week ago yesterday. I’ve already been actively tapering down the Dilaudid. Every…5-7 hours I take one, when the pain is showing its gnarly face. While I’ve been given zero instructions as to when I should have initiated this, i was told by surgeon and hospital people that I’d know when i was ready to ease up. And I am. So I am.
Quick update. Today is the 5 week mark. I’ve been off of all opiates for almost 3 weeks now. Tylenol - and Asprin for blood thinning- are controlling pain very well.
The site itself doesn’t hurt but its…thick. Bit sore, and long and ropy. I’m all about scar control but my urge to rub vitamin E into the scar is being suppressed till I see the surgeon next Wed.
On that day he will shoot an XRay. ( FINALLY ) and inform me as to how thoroughly the bone in my body has grown into the porous area of the implant, taking it in and making it a part of me. This is everything. IF it has been moderately to very successful, I am led to believe I will be allowed to walk unaided for the first time since, well, Like… September. I was using a cane just to get me through the day all of autumn.
No clue what happens if it did not successfully embed. So, much fear of the unknown in my brain.
One unfortunate result is some significant nerve damage. On the outside edge ( the median ) of the mid thigh area, in a 2-3” wide stripe that extends down past the right ankle and then spreads across the top of the foot and makes it to the big toe, I have extreme pain sensitivity to any pressure. Clothing is fine. The slightest touch is agonizing- as though someone were touching a 2 day old burn site. This has not resolved in the least since the day of surgery. My guy examined me shortly after I got home because of this issue. He said it was a damaged nerve and there is just no way of knowing how long it will take to resolve- or if it will fully resolve.
Aside from that, the hip socket itself is just…tight. When I make myself stand up straight, I feel tension there at the site inside of the new implant. I know muscles/ tendons/ ligaments are still healing and will be for a few months. Continued slows PT and stretching will get them back into shape.
I cannot say I am walking pain-free because I’m not walking yet. But I sure hope to be in a week.
Nerve damage heals slow. After my accident(which included a severed sciatic nerve and significant nerve damage through the leg), I was told it could take as much as 18-24 months to have a clear idea of how much damage would heal.
I had similar sensitivity (below the knee) that took at least a year to gradually reduce to a background level though I still have discomfort 14 years later.
Brutal.
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