post surgery pain

[captainahab]

 Had Hip resurfacing with Dr. Brooks in May 2018.  All went well.  Recovery was uneventful and took 1 year to gradually return to normal activity.  Now gradually I'm having discomfort sleeping on the surgery site (Right).  The right side was quiet for quite a while and now seems to be gradually becoming more sensitive to sleep on.   Walking and normal movements are OK.  I still do normal stretching exercises for the hips and this just seems to be coming on, when it should be quiet or neutral.   Any comments?

[jimbone]

Ahab-

Did you do a one year follow up exam with imaging?  I just assumed all surgeons follow that protocol to insure bone ingrowth and no movement in the prosthesis.  Just went through mine a few weeks back was told good to go and don't need to see you again unless....  Felt so abandoned..... Wouldn't you know it 3 weeks later has me packing 75# sections of steel around a job site including the side of a loose dirt, uneven, precarious and very steep hill to put them in place and after a few days of this getting discomfort in one of the hips.  Sure something is wrong but know better just my fears playing with my rational mind.  The work schedule has kept me out of the gym so I'm lapsed on my stretches, elliptical and workout.  I'm chalking it up to overworking the hip/glute muscles, not enough stretching and just plain too much physical labor for a 64 year old guy to be doing.  Taking today off, give it a rest, get some lap swims and stretching in and see if I can't schedule a deep tissue massage- which brings me around to my point- Try a massage therapist- I can feel the back muscles pulling me out of good posture and directly staining the hip muscles.  But you might contact your surgeons office for a consult if it doesn't clear in a week.  Best of luck.

[captainahab]

  Thank you for the reply.   Yes, I did a 1 year at 11 monthes and the radiographs were all good.  What surprises me is the slow onset of this hip like pain - sort of like arthritis, but I don't have a hip there anymore.  Your suggestions of stretching and working all those muscles is good.  I do quite a bit now, but there certainly are other stretches that I don't do.  So the nagging question is - after 17 months is it unlikely that anything would go wrong with the hip implant?  Has this happened? or is it so rare as to not worth thinking about?    Ahab

[jimbone]

Ahab,

I completely understand the concerns that "something is/went wrong".  The last few weeks of situational physical stress the work project has put me through and resulted in  "abnormal" discomfort levels for someone 12-14 months past surgery triggered real concerns.  My approach was to spend time doing some very focused stretching and lighten up the heavier physical aspects of the work I'm doing and after a couple of days, I feel better, can still feel  my hips as somewhat stressed, [when i don't want to be aware of them over any other part of my body] but overall the reduction of impact and careful stretching seems to be doing the trick.  My point is- you did your 1 year follow up and it looks good.  Recovery might take 18 months or longer- lots of it depending on your condition going in to surgery, listen to how your body feels, be diligent in responding to its requirements for both rest and exercise and see if you can't work it out.  If you don't make progress in 2 weeks I'd be making an appointment with my surgeon.